Economy Class & Beyond

Goodbye Virgin Trains… Hello First Trenitalia

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EDITORS NOTE: I’ve published an FAQ into some of the changes here where Avanti West Coast will take over the Virgin Trains operation. Virgin Trains has been part of the privatised railway since 1997 when it took over runing of the West Coast Mainline. This will come to an end this year as First Trenitalia (a joint venture of FirstGroup and ) take over the West … [Read more...]

East Midlands Railway selects new trains by Hitachi

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East Midlands Railway - the incoming Midland Main Line franchisee operated by Abellio - has selected new rolling stock for its network - with the company taking on Hitachi High Speed trains for its new intercity fleet. This is part of the complete fleet replacement that Abellio committed to East Midlands Railways when signing for the franchise. In total, 165 carriages … [Read more...]

Is split ticketing on the UK Railways worth it?

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Rail travel in the UK can be expensive -especially walk up fares. Train companies will tell you to buy advance tickets (very much like the airline market), where yield management is at play. However, rail ticketing in the UK is dumb at worst and unintelligent at best thank to a mixture of the National Settlement plan that appeared during privatisation, and different companies … [Read more...]

Alstom unveils its HS2 Avelia train design

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Whilst High Speed 2 (HS2) causes more than a few political headaches, manufacturers are getting on with the process of unveiling designs for new trains. Alstom has revealed theirs today, as part of the Avelia high speed family of trains Alstom Avelia HS2 Train - Image, Alstom The design for the HS2 trains have some limitations - this design being the "Classic … [Read more...]

CDG Express Delayed until late 2025

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It seems that those of you who are waiting for the new CDG Express service connecting central Paris to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport to turn up are going to have to wait a bit longer -  with an announcement the project is going to be delayed Alstom Coradia Liner, the planned trains to be used on the CDG Express – Image, Copyright Alstom and Jean Schweitzer (via … [Read more...]

Another good set of Eurostar deals

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As some of you might know, I'm a fan of Eurostar for connecting between the UK and France/Belgium/Nederlands by rail. Well - Good News! They've got another set of decent travel deals. Eurostar Class 374 Velaro's at London St Pancras - Image, Economy Class and Beyond. On offer this time both Standard and Standard Premier are on sale. The offers in Standard … [Read more...]

LNER Commences Azuma rollout

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London North Eastern Railway - or LNER - has begun the formal rollout of the new Azuma (Class 800/801) trains on the East Coast Main Line LNER Azuma at London Kings Cross - Image LNER In the first instance, the Azuma fleet will be assigned between London Kings Cross and Leeds and London Kings Cross and Hull.  A total of 65 train sets will enter service (split in a … [Read more...]

Accessibility on the Rails in the UK – There’s a map for that

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A lot of us take it for granted we can access rail services with ease. For those who have different requirements (such as wheelchairs, parents with babies) sometimes using the trains can be more unhelpful than not. Thankfully the UK Rail Delivery Group acknowledges this, and have developed a new map to help those who need to travel independently. The map is at … [Read more...]

Easter Rail Works in the UK

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If it's coming up to a public holiday (or series of them), you can lay money that the UK Railway will have some closures on it. Suprisingly, there's not a lot that's affecting travellers to and from the London area airports. Let's take a look at what's affected on the upcoming weekend: Heathrow Express Heathrow Express Service at Heathow - Image, Economy Class and … [Read more...]

Stagecoach Group looses rights to operate trains – Virgin Trains West Coast, East Midlands Trains will change hands

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In an announcement today, Her Majesties Government has disqualified the Stagecoach Group from taking part in further franchise competitions and instead is in the process of re-letting rail franchises that it operates or has a hand in. Virgin Trains Pendolino at Birmingham New Street - Image, Economy Class and Beyond The disqualification is due to the company not meeting … [Read more...]