Essential UK Train Travel Tips and Q&A for First-Time Travellers

Doug joins me to answer your most common questions about UK train travel, sharing expert advice drawn from years of experience navigating Britain's railways.

• Getting to the correct platform: Arrive with plenty of time, check departure boards, use rail apps, and ask station staff
• Finding first class carriages: Look for platform markings indicating coach positions and ask station staff for guidance
• Managing platform changes: Keep checking information screens and listen for announcements
• Ideal time to arrive at stations: At least 30 minutes before departure for major journeys
• Booking train tickets: National Rail Enquiries provides the most accurate journey planning information
• Money-saving tips: Book advance tickets for long journeys, use railcards when eligible
• Luggage management: Ensure you can carry your own bags, look for storage at carriage ends and between seats
• Left luggage options: Available at major stations, bus stations, and through third-party services
• BritRail Pass details: Offers flexibility but assess if it's worth it for your specific itinerary
• Scenic journey recommendations: Consider factors like time of year, daylight hours and personal interests

Check out Doug's e-book Guide to UK Train Travel for more comprehensive information, and join our UK Train Travel Tips Facebook group for ongoing advice.

📝 Show Notes - Episode 151

🎧 Listen to next

• Episode #43 - Unravelling the mysteries of train travel in the UK
• Episode #80 - Planning your perfect UK rail adventure
• Episode #2 - Tips for travelling the UK by train

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to episode 151 of the UK Travel Planning
Podcast.
This week, doug joins me as wedive into your most asked
questions about UK train travel,including some great ones from
members of our UK TravelPlanning, london Travel Planning
and UK Train Travel Tips,facebook groups.
If you're planning to travel bytrain in the UK, this episode's
for you.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK Travel Planning website,
Tracey Collins.
In this podcast, Tracey sharesdestination guides, travel tips
and itinerary ideas, as well asinterviews with a variety of
guests who share their knowledgeand experience of UK travel to
help you plan your perfect UKvacation.

(00:43):
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
and from the picturesquecountryside to seaside towns.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hello and welcome to episode 151.
So, as I said in theintroduction, this week Doug is
joining me to answer some of themost common questions that are
asked in our Facebook group.
So a huge thank you toCatherine, our moderator, for
putting down the most commonlyasked questions that she's noted
in the group, and for those ofyou who ask specific questions,

(01:23):
it's great.
So Doug can actually answersome of those questions a bit
more directly.
Now I also want to say, beforeDoug says hello, is that Doug
has also got an e-book Guide toUK Train Travel.
So I would recommend having alook at that for even more
information from Doug abouttrain travel in the UK, and we
also have lots of differentother podcast episodes about

(01:43):
train travel.
Doug's also working on YouTubevideos, so do pop along and join
our YouTube.
So I know there's lots ofthings I've just mentioned there
, but there is a lot to help youwith train travel.
And of course, there is Doug'sUK Train Travel Tips Facebook
group as well, which is growingmassively at the moment.
So anyway, I'll hand over toDoug so he can kind of talk a
little bit about that and whatsort of things we're going to

(02:04):
cover in this episode.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Hello everybody.
Yeah, and thank you everybodyfor submitting your questions
about your experiences and thethings you look at to be
answered by myself.
Yeah, lots of things going onat the moment, so very exciting
times for us, with all the traindevelopment of the videos and
everything else we're doing.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm very excited and hopefullywe'll be able to get um at least
the first three videos on um by, hopefully, the middle of june.
We're nearly finished.
We're putting those together.
Youtube videos do take a littlebit more time to do, but we
have got a lot of footage.
Um, and what are those, thosefirst videos that you've got
ready?
What are they about?

Speaker 3 (02:39):
the first one's the caledonian sleeper, the
lowlander sleeper and the secondone is me taking all the
available operators on the EastCoast main line from London
Kings Cross to Edinburgh.
I split the journey up so I'vegot a taste of all the three
main operators on that route.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Oh, that'll be really useful for, especially if
you're considering travellingfrom London to Edinburgh and we
know that's an extremely popularroute that'll be a really good,
useful video for you to watch,for sure.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's it.
I'm also doing one about theEdinburgh tram in Scotland.
Um, so I take the tram to andfrom the city centre to
Edinburgh airport, and justshowing how easy that is and
have you got any other videosthat you plan to put together?
Yes, I've got a lot a longervideo.
I'm putting together me journeyfrom Edinburgh to Inverness via

(03:26):
the East Coast, so that's viaAberdeen, and then I come back
through the Highland Line viaPerth back to Edinburgh and
everything that entailed.
I always say it in more than one, because that was yeah, that
was an interesting experience.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Well, you actually can listen to that, because we
talked about that on the on thepodcast yeah, not that many few
weeks ago anyway, so thisepisode is basically completely
focused on uk train travel.
We know that this is a hugesource of anxiety for many of
you, especially if you're notused to traveling by train yeah,
the questions posed are reallyabout the reality, the nuts and

(04:02):
bolts of actually taking thetrain in the UK.
Okay, so do we want to?
Can you want to give anoverview of the sort of
questions you're going to beanswering, or do you want to go
straight into it?

Speaker 3 (04:13):
I'll just say all the questions posed by everyone.
There's sort of generic topics,but I have tried to break them
down into the specific topics.
So the first one, for example,is about stations and platforms,
so we'll focus on those.
To start with, I've grouped thequestions together, so where
the questions differ slightly, Iwill elaborate.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, perfect, and if there's a particular question
or a particular topic that youwant to listen to, obviously you
can check the show notes out aswell, so you may be able to
head straight to that section,but otherwise I'd recommend
listening to the entire podcastto give yourself a good
preparation for UK train travel.
Also, I will just sneak in hereas well and say that Doug is
going to be developing aworkshop as well about how to

(04:58):
plan a train trip around the UK.
We will also offer an itineraryconsult and we are going to be
offering some itinerary planningas well.
So if you want some help, uh,planning a train travel
itinerary around the uk, thatwill be coming soon.
So that's a bit of a surpriseannouncement that I've just put
out there, but anyway, um, doyou want to go straight into and

(05:21):
me asking the first question?
So I'm going to be asking thequestions and Doug will be
answering the questions.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
I think that works Okay.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Okay, so our first question is from Denise H I'm
not going to say surnames DeniseH, l in our Facebook group.
So for those unfamiliar with UKtrains, how do you know which
platform to go to and whatshould travelers expect when
it's not posted until justbefore departure any tips to

(05:51):
avoid getting on the wrong train?
So thanks very much for thatquestion, denise and it's a very
, very good question.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
That's probably why I put this one first is the fact
there's a very real concern forpeople about getting on the
wrong train.
The main tip I can offer is toarrive at the station in good
time.
So if you're catching a trainin the morning, pays to know
exactly how you get in there,how long it's going to take you
to get there and how big thestation is.

(06:19):
Some stations, particularlylondon one, are big stations.
So, yes, it's unusual for atrain that's running on time to
not have the platform already onthe screen when you get there.
But if it isn't, you knowthere's little tips you can find
out.
So in the main entrance hall,most of the most stations, if
not all, there's departurescreens, departure boards.

(06:42):
Have a look at those and itshould say the platform.
If it's not yet on there, uh,usually means the train's
running late or the platform hasnot yet been allocated, which
is not unusual on a big station.
But don't worry, if you'rethere well before that time, the
platform is not yet displayed.
The train won't be goingwithout you, you know.

(07:02):
Talk to the station staff, Imean.
Another little tip is to lookat apps like the National Rail
Enquiries, the live trains,because it wouldn't be unusual.
I've seen platform numbersarrive on there before it's
actually on the screen.
So, yes, get there in plenty oftime, use the apps available,
talk to station staff.
That is the best tips you cangive for that one.

(07:24):
But get there in plenty of time.
Well before so you go from themain foyer entrance hall there
might be, you might be directedto a platform because it's most
likely to be on there, but it'snot yet displayed.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
So okay, okay, okay, hopefully that's answered your
question, uh, denise, andanybody else that's so concerned
about that?
Um, so our next question.
So obviously we're talkingabout the moment, we're talking
about stations and platforms.
So next question is from uhrose f?
Um, if you've booked firstclass, how do you know where to
stand on the platform to boardthe correct carriage, especially

(08:00):
with long trains?

Speaker 3 (08:01):
that again is a very good question and it's not just
first class, it's standard classor the standard premium if
you're traveling on the westcoast is look for station
markings, look for platformmarkings.
You know these can vary ondifferent operators,
particularly on the long trainsmight say first class at the a
end of the platform or the b endof the platform.
Look at the departure screen.

(08:23):
Some of the screens might havefirst class at the front and
then just talk to one of thestation staff and they'll say
yeah, the train is coming thatway, going that way, sort of
thing.
But look for boards, look forplatform markings.
There will be some indicationand in the occasions where you
can't find anything, try andstand, stay in the middle of the

(08:43):
platform.
That is the best indicator.
It's not failsafe and differentoperators and different
stations work in slightlydifferent ways.
As with the first question youjust asked is get to the station
in plenty of time.
Do not arrive seconds, minutesbefore, particularly if you've
got luggage or mobility is anissue for you.

(09:04):
Do not leave it till the lastminute.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Get there in plenty of time and usually the staff
can help as well.
They'll be able to direct youyeah, the station staff.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
How you know, we've also been there in that same
position.
You're thinking well, we have areservation for coach f, now
whereabouts is that going to be?
You can't say anything.
Talk to stations, andoccasionally I've talked to all
the passengers as well, becausethe likelihood is, if you've got
that query and that you've gotthat question, others will have

(09:33):
the same question.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Okay, perfect.
So next question from an energyhow easy is it to find your
platform and board in time?
So basically, a similar sort ofquestion do platforms ever
change last minute, like inother parts of europe?

Speaker 3 (09:49):
yes, but the answer to that question is particularly
around late running trains.
On some stations where there'sonly one or two, three or four
platforms, it can change becausein this modern world of you
know the, the margins that theycall them, the time between
trains is pretty tight.
In the uk, particularly as youget towards.

(10:10):
You know big cities, you'rebooming manchester, london,
liverpool, edinburgh, forexample and so what happens is
if a train's running late, aplatform may not yet be
allocated, because the lastthing if you're running the
railways in the UK I know fromexperiences you don't want to be
delaying other trains becausesomebody has to pay for delay

(10:31):
minutes.
So again, arrive in plenty oftime and keep your eye on the
departure boards, because if thedeparture board is on there for
platform, you know platformthree, going to, uh, manchester,
you go.
You head all the way over fromthe, the foyer, the entrance
hall to the platform, and it'shappened to us more than once,

(10:53):
hasn't it?
You've got there and there'sbeen a platform change and
you've had to go back again.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
So again, make sure you allow plenty of time to
arrive at that station but also,I mean there can be some last
minute changes and I've had thatbefore.
But you'll find that, a they'llbe usually generally will be an
announcement.
B it will show on the board andc everybody else will be moving
quickly.
Yeah, to change and that's it.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
You suddenly get a great influx of people moving,
heading towards the escalators,the steps, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And to be honest, once there isa platform changes.
There's quite often stationstaff around for that as well.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
Yeah, for sure.
Okay, is that covered?
Yeah, okay.
So Melanie SB, my tickets fromKing's Cross to Edinburgh don't
show a platform.
Is that normal?

Speaker 3 (11:36):
You see the underlying theme here about
platforms as well, but again,it's not unusual and can be for
the same reasons as the previousquestion.
If the arriving train isrunning late and no platform has
yet been allocated, the mightjust not physically know in the
control this is which platformthey can get allocated, because
they don't want to be delayingall the services as well, and

(11:58):
also sometimes it's forscheduling reasons, staffing
reasons.
They might not know untilshortly before departure okay,
perfect.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
So next, laura o n.
How much time should travelersallow when changing trains on
multi-leg journeys?

Speaker 3 (12:13):
that's a good question as well.
They're all very good questionsaren't they yeah?
that is dependent on you reallyaround your level of speed and
mobility and whether you needany assistance to move between
platforms.
Also, amount of luggage you'vegot, really as you need any
assistance to move betweenplatforms.
Also, amount of luggage you'vegot really as well.
And the ability to move up andup steps or escalators.
Even if lifts are available,you know they can be busy as

(12:35):
well.
So when you do your journeyplanning, your itinerary
planning, and you're looking attrains, you can modify the time
between how to allocate betweentrain changes sort of short,
medium or long term.
And if even then it's notenough for you, what you can do

(12:56):
is split your journey up intoone journey and then plan your
next journey, but allow as muchtime as you want in between.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, that's a good way of doing it.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
So the thing is not to rush.
You know that from experienceit's best not to of doing it.
So the thing is not to rush.
You know that from experience,that you're supposed not to rush
between platforms.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
I won't rush because I actually fell over a few years
ago and ever since that time Ithink we were running up steps.
I can't remember now Birmingham.
New Street it was BirminghamNew Street and I fell and since
then I've refused point blank torun for a training because I
don't want to get hurt.
I can't remember what the issuewas at that particular time.
I don't know why I was running,but I won't do that.

(13:29):
So yeah, I would say you needto decide how much time you
think you will need.
And as Doug says, just bookseparate.
So then you can choose how muchtime you want to go, you're in
charge, yeah because if there'sever a delay and say the amount
of time that you've got tochange trains is reduced, then I
personally find that quitestressful.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, and you board the train hot and sweaty.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, it's just more stressful.
I try to find the easiest wayof making things as less
stressful as possible.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
Most definitely.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
And you know we're used to a lot of train travel.
So I know there's a generalquestion, because you've talked
a lot in these previousquestions about arriving in
advance.
So how far in advance would yourecommend to arrive before
train departure?
You know, especially from someof those stations other than
principal London stations.
How long would you giveyourself?

Speaker 3 (14:23):
It's best to give yourself as much time as
possible.
Plain, simple.
If you're catching the train atnine o'clock, um, and your your
journey's taking taking a bigdistance to get there, you know
there's going to be trained,delays, the road delays.
You know if you're waiting fora taxi that could be delayed,
you know it's.
Give yourself as much possibletime to get there to make that

(14:45):
train.
Because something I'll add tothat is well, some of the larger
stations can be very confusingand disorientating.
That's true, you know they'vegot a main entrance hall, but
there could be multipleentrances to that.
Just mention birmingham newsstreet that to me is a perfect
example.
You know edinburgh, where wespend a lot of time early in the
year.
You know that's got severalentrances too yeah, I think

(15:08):
that's true.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
I think it's kind of making yourself, if you can,
familiar with the train stationbefore you're actually going to
take a train from there, if youcan there is maps available of
station layouts.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
Uh, but that that was .
I won't tell you how much timeto allow to get there, because
to some stations as well is ifyou're coming in by car, you've
got quite a walk then to theentrance hall.
So it's best to give yourselfas much time as possible from
arriving before actuallyboarding the train.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, and I think, if you want to become I was just
talking about kind of the mainstations in London we actually
have got a podcast all about thedifferent main stations in
london and we also have got um,an article which covers those
train stations and I thinkthat's something probably would
be a good youtube video at somepoint just to give me some sort
of orientation, particularlyaround some of the bigger one,
like st pancras international,kings cross, victoria woodloo, I

(16:02):
mean there's, you know there'splenty of them, but I think that
that is where.
So now I a rule of thumb for mebecause I can, I was, this is
how I can operate.
It's like what do I do and I,30 minutes before is ideal.
I don't care if I've got youknow, if I'm there, I can go and
do a little bit of get somefood, get some magazines, make
sure I'm on the platform um andand.

(16:23):
So that would be in London.
I would tend to be looking, orif I was doing a major trip, I
would probably be there 30minutes before.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Yeah, and a point to add to that is as well, if
you've got quite a bit ofluggage or for personal reasons
you need to be taking the lifts,there can be a queue for the
lift.
Yes, we've seen that severaltimes.
So again you've got to allowthat extra time when you
actually get to the stationarrival before boarding your
train, before your train'sexpected departure time.

(16:51):
I mean, I arrive plenty of timeanyway so I can look at the
trains.
Yeah, so that's just me okay.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Next question from nancy m.
If you're taking a train fromlondon to somewhere like morton
and marsh, for example, which isin the cot tools, um, how do
you figure out?
Figure out which London stationto use and how do you get there
?

Speaker 3 (17:09):
This?
Yeah, this could be a very longanswer to this question, but if
you're familiar with whichstation you need to depart from
not just London, as other townsand cities in the UK can have
multiple stations.
But you're right, it's not 100%clear at times as to which
station you need to go from.
So that's why you need to belooking at a recommended journey

(17:30):
planner app and that's theNational Rail Enquiries for me.
I never deviate from that forjourney planning because, as to
me, it's the most accurate andup-to-date information.
And also, say, for Moreton inMarsh, we both know you should
be departing from LondonPaddington, but if you're
traveling to London Paddingtonfrom other stations, it might be

(17:52):
other alternatives that can getyou there in the quickest
possible time to start yourjourney from Paddington.
So it's best to look at theapps available to you and plan
that journey, which will giveyou all options okay, good so in
fact.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
That takes us nicely on the next topic, which is
useful apps and navigation.
So we've got lorianne m.
What are your top must-haveapps for train travel in the uk?

Speaker 3 (18:17):
okay, so I've been always looking at great websites
a a bit like ours Yep,transport for London, for all
London services as well.
The TFL Go app is excellent aswell.
I've already mentioned theNational Rail Enquiries I always
use for journey planning, andtheir live trains part their app

(18:40):
as well, because, I've alreadymentioned, it's a good place to
look at for potential platformnumbers, but also it's also very
, very useful if you're on onetrain and you've got a
connection to make.
Uh, everything we've alreadysaid about allowing yourself
plenty of time but I use itquite often is if I'm on train
from I don't know, for example,from london to manchester, and

(19:04):
I'm going from manchester toliverpool, for example, and I
want to have a lot of manchesterfirst, I can always plan it in
advance.
I can always look what theexpected live trains platform
numbers are showing at thismoment in time.
Okay, so that's the ones I usemostly, and if you're actually
travelling around London itself,the City Planner is really good

(19:28):
because it gives you all modesof transport as well, but
they're the best ones I use.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
Okay, cool.
Now next question from Laura SD.
When changing trains in Europeor the UK, do you get clear
directions?
How much time do you typicallyhave?

Speaker 3 (19:44):
So I think you mean by that station information as
to where to go for your nextdeparture platform.
Occasionally on boarding trainsthey'll give announcements,
usually if the trains runninglate, they'll say passengers
looking for trains to x, y and z?
The next train will depart in15 minutes from platform three,

(20:04):
for example.
So listen out for announcementson trains, listen out for
station announcements as well.
But if you push your time onarrival at a station, what we,
we, always do is, as soon as youget off the train, look for the
nearest screen, because there'snearly always a departure board
, departure screen on theplatform you're arriving in.

(20:25):
So that's the best thing to do.
Also, talk to station staff aswell, because there's always
dispatch staff on, particularlyfor the longer trains on the
platform, and they'll just giveyou some guidance.

Speaker 1 (20:37):
Say you know which, particularly for the longer
trains on the platform, andthey'll just give you some guide
and say you know which platformfor the next train to, for
example.
Okay, so one general question,which Catherine brought up, that
comes up in our Facebook groupsquite often, is actually how
much time should travellersallow when transferring between
St Pancras International andKing's Cross railway stations?

Speaker 3 (20:59):
Okay.
So if you don't know, you willnot know that they are right
next door to each other, whatthey basically do.
There's two London stations butthey head off in different
directions.
So, yes, they're right next toeach other, but they're both big
stations.
So on one hand you say it'sminutes but minutes.
But you know, if you get offone train, I would allow myself
still 20 minutes, half an hourbetween those stations, because

(21:23):
you've got to cross the road aswell, which could be very busy
again.
Both have got multipleentrances and exits, so you've
got to find your way into there.
And if you're're going to StPancras, for example, if you're
going on the middle of Mainlandor you're going on the Eurostar
across the continent, you're indifferent parts of the station.
And also, to be honest, StPancras and King's Cross.

(21:47):
They're both nice stations.
There's plenty to see at bothstations as well.
Yeah, they're lovely stations.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
I think King's Cross is now.
It didn't used to be.

Speaker 3 (21:59):
It's funny we're just looking at.

Speaker 1 (22:00):
We're talking about this other day about how it used
to be.
Obviously, yeah, but it'sthey've really improved it.
Good place for train spot inthere, all right, okay.
So next question from carol hif the train station is far from
your final destination, howeasy is it to navigate the local
bus system, and should you booktransport or ahead or stay
flexible?
Actually, I'm just going toanswer a little bit with this
one, carol.
It's that often we will checkthe hotels especially if you've
got luggage are not too far fromthe train station.

(22:22):
It makes life a lot easier.
So that's just one tip that Iwould say.
We've stayed so close to trainstations in most of the cities
in the UK.
It just makes it a lot easier,because there's nothing worse
than having to drag yoursuitcases too long a distance.
So I guess that's why I askedabout buses.
But yeah, well, doug, what doyou recommend?

Speaker 3 (22:41):
I think.
I think the the main answer tothat is do your research in
advance.
So there's many factors.
When you chose youraccommodation away from a train
station and you know thatdepends how long you're staying
for as well, how much luggageyou've got, how easy is it to
get there, what public transportis open to you.
So you do you do best to doyour research.

(23:03):
I mean things like um hotels,bed and breakfast.
Most of them have a websitethese days and most of them have
how to get to them.
Yeah, as to you know, butdepends how long you're there
for.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
To be honest, my advice is don't.
My advice is not to hop on abus.
My advice is to get a taxi fromus at the train station or get
yourself an Uber to yourtransport, to your accommodation
.
That's what I do.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
If that's open to you , if that's an option that you
can pursue, yeah, just easierBuses.
There's multiple companies upand down the country and there's
no one answer to that.
I travel around Wales and I usepublic transport but again,
it's about doing that advancedresearch as to which bus

(23:47):
companies are open to you, townsand cities.
I probably wouldn't use a busbecause it'll take too long to
get there.
Not the easiest with amounts ofluggage, and also, if we're not
talking big cities and towns torely on a rural bus service,
because it'll take too long toget there, not the easiest with
amounts of luggage, and also, ifyou if we're not talking big
cities and towns to rely on arobo service, wouldn't do it.
Yeah, I don't think they areregular enough and frequent
enough service to be able to dothat.

(24:07):
Sometimes you can, particularlyin summer months.
But it's also good to be awareof your onward journey, so how
you get back and have enoughtime to get back to the station
as well after your stay yeah, Idefinitely agree.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
Next topic we are current our train companies,
seat reservations and bookingtips, and I'll get lots, lots
questions about the traintickets.
So this is from Karen T anyspecific tips or insights for
the power?
This is a very specific one forthe Paddington to Penzance
route or the train companyoperating it again.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yeah, we have been talking about this recently and
we're going to do the nightriviera soon.
So this is a regular greatwestern railway service from
london, paddington.
It takes around five hours forthe fastest service, a beautiful
journey, um, and it departsroughly every hour during the
weekdays.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
Uh, and obviously, yeah, the night riviera, which
takes around eight hours, runssix nights a week, not on a
saturday which we will be doingshortly, so there will be a
video and a podcast about that,hopefully by the end of the year
good, and I should point outthat's a standard class only for
night riviera ah, which again,then, sandy s has asked us
what's your take on the nightrivera?

(25:17):
Uh, sleeper is worth doing.
Well, we'll be able to give youa little bit more information
about that yeah, we'll give.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yeah, we'll give you more information when we're
doing that, which I've traveledthe the route, the direction
from london to penzance, quite afew times yeah, not in recent
years, but I have done it quitea few times.
But, yeah, we're going to dothat later this year.
It's the same as the caledoniansleeper service that you get
from scotland to london use onon the west coast main line.

(25:44):
So the similarity is it's verypopular and can get booked up
fast.
So book as soon as you canafter finalizing your itinerary.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
The caledonian sleepers were booked up to 12
months in advance and the nightriviera is around 12 weeks prior
to show yeah, so lookingforward to doing that one,
because we've done thecaledonian sleep I don't know
how many times and I have neverdone the night riviera, so
that'll be good.
So our next one, from karen mm.
I want to go from london toleamington spa with a stop at
bletchley park.
Oh, good choice.

(26:12):
Uh, when should I?
We've got a podcast, I think,which we talk about Bletchley
Park.
Uh, when should I book ticketsand what are my options if I
want flexibility on the timings?

Speaker 3 (26:23):
so yeah, they.
These are on different linesfrom London ones on the
Marylebone Chiltern line.
So the easiest will be totravel from London Euston to
Bletchley and then travelonwards to Rugby and then
Coventry and back to Leamington.
Or alternatively, you can goreturn to Euston after Bletchley
and head across to Marylebonefor the Chiltern line to

(26:44):
Leamington.
You do have choice and you haveoptions, but it depends on your
ticket time.
So look at the cost of thosetickets and when you travel and
look for the best deals perfect.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
So we've got a general question when and how to
book ahead and if it's worthpurchasing tickets on the travel
day, or is that risky to dothat?
And I'm just going to mentionat this point, because we hear
this so often and see this sooften in the Facebook group,
that there seems to be anassumption that train tickets

(27:17):
sell out.
So would you like to kind ofyeah, as of all.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
As of all, that's not possible.
There's certain services,particularly eastern west coast
main line, which arepredominantly um reservation
only.
But in my experience I havenever.
Once in my many, many, manyyears of catching the trains
around the UK, I've never comeacross a train that's entirely
seat reservations only.
Nice theory that they'll stopselling tickets once the seats

(27:44):
are filled, but I'm sorry,that's not the way you run a
rail business.
So journey planning is bestwith, in my opinion, and others
may vary, but I I know, when Italk to lots of other rail
experts as well, that thenational rail inquiries is the
most accurate for travelinformation, journey planning,

(28:04):
tickets for any journey.
This is what confuses people aswell.
Tickets train tickets for uktrains can be purchased on any
of the train operators websites.
They sell them for all thelines even though they don't
operate on.
But to me you're gonna get the.
The best deal is If you lookaround, compare prices some of

(28:26):
admin charges, some do not.
Some say they have no admincharges but they'll charge a
little bit more for the ticketis to do your homework and look
at the tickets available.
The train line for the ticket isto do your homework and look at
the tickets available.
The train line we recommend aswell because or if you don't
know which operator to look at,you don't know which companies
to look at the train line is agood starting place to have a
look and see what tickets theyhave available for you.

(28:48):
For the longer journeys I wouldalways recommend not purchasing
on the day.
Look for these best advancedticket sales.
I won't elaborate too much onit because I could talk on this
topic for the next hour itself.
But not all ticket types aresold at the same time so there
might sell some tickets in alittle batch to see how the sell

(29:11):
.
So it's best to look in advance.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
But some of the shorter journeys, there's no
difference with purchasing onthe day because the ticket
prices are not going to varymuch for today or for three
months time you do go in into alot more detail on in the train
book about the different typesof tickets as well, so I think
it's worth yeah, um, you knowsaying, if you want to know more
about that, really wouldrecommend uh booking, uh,

(29:36):
recommend buying the train bookthat Doug wrote, because it's
excellent and reading that willprepare you hugely.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
Sure and all land as well.
Another reason for the longerjourneys is you most likely will
be looking for a seatreservation as well.
You can't have a seatreservation unless you have a
valid ticket.
Yeah, what about shortercommuter train journeys?
There's little or no benefitfor advanced sales because those

(30:05):
prices are pretty much fixed.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
okay, yeah do you have any money saving tips for
train travel?
So again the general question,and I know we've just updated
yeah, look at our website have Isaid a couple of articles look
at our website.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
Have I said that before?

Speaker 1 (30:18):
have a look at our website travelplanningcom and we
have the londontravelplanningcom, and I am just
going to throw in there as well, because we have a third
website, if you're not aware ofit, and we actually have a
second podcast, which is globaltravelplanningcom, and this
podcast of the same name where dDoug is talking about train
travel and other destinationsaround the world, including tips

(30:38):
for train travel in Europe,which, again, doug's pretty
knowledgeable about.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
Very experienced.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So on our website we have awhole section given over to UK
trains, uk train travel.
You mentioned at the start ofthis.
We have our e-book as well.
Yeah, a guide to UK traintravel, which is very popular.
We know that.
But on the website, in a bookbook in more detail, we have

(31:07):
links to the tickets, nationalrail cards and also the Brit
rail pass.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
Lots of information about those and we have a
specific article 13 ways, 13tips to save uh money on our new
catering job.
Maybe we should turn that into apodcast, maybe turn that to a
youtube video let us know ifyou'd like to see, or um, or
hear that uh, youtube or podcast.
What would you like?
So then, um, another generalquestion, um, this is about the

(31:33):
cot swirls, because we do getasked this a lot, and I will
actually say we have got anarticle about how to get around
the Cotswolds.
But this quick questionspecifically, uh and I know it's
about, uh, train travel.
So is it possible to travel toand around the Cotswolds from
London by train?

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Not in any great depth.
No, uh, that's the truth of it.
You've got the Cotswold linewhich will take you from Oxford
to Worcester, and that's comingout of London, Paddington, and
it's very, very easy to get to.
But once you arrive in, say,morton and Marsh, you're going
to need other means to transportto get around.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yeah, absolutely so I recommend, if you want to do.
There's some other options aswell which I'm going to throw in
there.
If you're thinking about goingby train, if you go by train to
morton and marsh, I recommend,uh, going out on a tour with go
cotswolds.
You can listen to lisa on thepodcast talk about their
excellent tours around thecotswolds.
If you don't want to take atrain and you only want to go
for from london itself, then werecommend the english bus for a

(32:30):
small group tour.
Or if you want a private tour,there is a Victoria of Cotswold
teacup tour so you can take youaround the Cotswolds, which gets
very, very booked up.
But so there are options.
There are different options,whether if you want to get the
train in, or if you prefer get atrain in and they have a
private tour, or if you want totake the group tour instead.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
So we do have other options and there are options on
the website to look at but itis a nice train journey from
london paddington to oxford andthen on should absolutely cost
well absolutely, but don't limityourself in the cotswolds
really, because train travel isnot the cotswolds a huge area
anyway, but you can't get aroundby train.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
You need a car.
You need to be honest.
Now another general questionwhen should I reserve a seat?
And if I'm traveling solo is isit better to reserve a seat at
a table?

Speaker 3 (33:18):
That's a very good question, actually, but there's
no right or wrong answer.
It depends on your preferenceof what sort of person you are.
I can relate some of our ownexperiences.
Solo travel could be good ineither.
Being confident and sociablecould make a journey so much
more fun if you engage withother passengers.

(33:39):
We've done that before, haven'twe?
You sit at a table and youcould be with two or three other
strangers.
We've got our trainers firmfriends with people, haven't we?
It just depends what sort ofperson.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
You know, we've got our trainers firm friends with
people, haven't we?

Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yeah, that's true.
It just depends what sort ofperson you are, but there's no
right or wrong answer in that.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
I have to say, because I do travel solo on the
trains quite often, I don't tendto book a table, I tend to book
the airline seat and I willeither do a bit of work or have
my headphones on, listen to somemusic, switch off for a bit and
just enjoy the countryside asit goes past.

Speaker 3 (34:15):
Well, that's just me.
It's a very personal preferenceI think so.
I mean a table can make it,make it easier to, you know,
make a whole, enjoy, a journeymore enjoyable.
But yeah, with earphones, Isuppose you make your decision
if you're wearing earphones, asto whether you want peace and
quiet and do your own thing orpotentially chat yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Next question from sybil d.
If I don't reserve a seat, canI just hop on and sit anywhere?

Speaker 3 (34:41):
generally, yes, uh, with a valid ticket or pass, you
can sit in any non-reservedseat.
Uh, on the longer journeys,especially at peak times, there
may not be many non-reservedseats available and, as I
alluded to before, some of thepeak times trains from King's
Cross, euston, for example, youknow there could be a few

(35:04):
unreserved.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
Would there be, like a carriage that has unreserved
yeah, there's generally at leastone carriage that's unreserved.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
Usually they'll say that I mean, there have been
times when I've caught trainsand I know I caught a train
earlier this year from Edinburghdown to Birmingham and I
decided to take an earlier trainand I actually had a
reservation for the later trainand I didn't have a reservation.
So it was a bit hectic and Idid end up getting a seat that
hadn't been reserved.

(35:32):
But for some of the busiertrains I think it's free to make
a reservation.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
Yeah, if you know what train you're catching,
there's no reason not to bookyourself a seat.
But before now we've booked aseat and, for whatever reason,
decided the seat reserved isgoing backwards and I've seen a
seat unreserved nearby goingforwards.
I think I'll sit in that one.

(35:56):
There's no harm in doing that.
The only thing I was going tosay.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
I would say, if you sit in a seat that is reserved,
then expect to potentially bemoved.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Yes, that's right.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
The next topic is luggage and logistics.
So a question from Suvi R Nowwe get so many questions about
luggage.
If you want to hop off for afew hours in places like York or
Birmingham, what is the bestway to store your luggage?

Speaker 3 (36:21):
Again, that's a very, very good question.
Birmingham, new Street andseveral other mainline bigger
stations have left luggageoptions available at the station
York doesn't?
Unfortunately, though, there isone just outside the station
York, doesn't.
Unfortunately, though, there isone just outside the station if
you turn right.
It's good to check left luggageoptions, other options as well,
because they can be a bitcheaper.

(36:43):
Actually, bus stations ifthere's any bus stations near
train stations, they quite oftenhave left luggage options
available.
So look at other options too,like, uh, in our london travel
article we have one for stashand nanny bank?

Speaker 1 (36:55):
yeah, there's quite a few different quite a few there
options.
Now, it's just a case ofchecking, and we do have an
article on thelondontravelplanningcom website
about where to leave luggage inlondon, which still would apply
those those different umcompanies available throughout
the uk true, and also what wefound, more it's increasing
really is particularly the moremodern train stations or

(37:17):
redeveloped stations.

Speaker 3 (37:18):
If there's a shopping centre nearby, I've seen more,
more luggage left luggagepopping up there as well, for
daily or for hourly rates, andthey are quite often cheaper
than the ones actually the maintrain stations.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
I would just check.
That's something you're to haveto plan ahead for.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, Really I would do that, but bus stations is a
good option as well.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
Okay, I didn't know that.

Speaker 3 (37:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Okay, david R, any tips for getting to stations and
managing suitcases?
Also, what are your best tipsfor finding the cheapest fares?

Speaker 3 (37:47):
Again, I guess fairs, again, I guess we're talking
about, uh, train fairs, but Ithink, managing suitcases I
think, if it's open to you, Iwould look at private transfers,
uh, or take taxes to the mainstations again, what you said at
the offset is to give yourselfplenty of time.
Now you don't know how longthese things are going to take

(38:07):
you to get there, but if you'vegot quite a bit of luggage and
you've got a longest trainjourney, last thing you need to
be doing is arriving late,hassled, you know, and rushed.
It doesn't make for the besttrain experience.
So if it's possible for you,book yourself a private transfer
or a taxi.
I mean, if you've bookedaccommodation right near a train

(38:28):
station, yeah, you can actuallyjust walk it.
But you've got the undergroundblack cabs, et cetera.
In London as well, we tend toshy away from buses to stations
because you know they can be abit tricky.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
Yeah, that's been my idea of a nightmare trying to
take suitcases on buses.
I have to say, but you know, thebest tip really, as we've
covered before, is allowyourself enough time if you're
unfamiliar with the station orif you need any help with
luggage yeah, and also justthink about how much you're
packing, and I know that can bea difficult one, but honestly,
really, if if you're going to bedoing a lot of train travel, uh
, one option, for example, ifyou're starting a trip in london

(39:03):
and say you're doing a traintrip and around and then london
and back in london is you couldjust leave some of your luggage
at the hotel if you're going tostay at the same hotel
accommodation.
We've done that recently.
Yeah, we've just done thatactually in Malaysia.
We did that uh, we did that inSri Lanka.
We've done that in the UKbefore, because then you don't
have to think about draggingluggage around with you.
So do think about that.

(39:25):
Um, you know, dragging hugesuitcases on and off trains is
not fun.

Speaker 3 (39:31):
It isn't.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
It really isn't.
So, yeah, we tend to get aprivate transfer, we try to book
a taxi and we think verycarefully about the luggage that
we are managing around thestation.
Often there's lifts, butsometimes you get to train
stations and the lifts aren'tworking.
No, that's right, and you'vegot to try and manage that.
Up and down escalators is notfun.

Speaker 3 (39:52):
We found that in spain.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
Yeah, it's just not fun, yeah, so really got to
think about that and say we'vejust had these experiences go
around europe.
So you know we've actually withyeah yeah, we have this problem
in spain, where escalate wasn'tworking and doug had to drag
our uh 25 kilogram suitcase upand down large escalators.
This was in spain.
It was a nightmare which wasnot working because the
escalators were working.
There's no lift, so again, youneed to just prepare that, so I

(40:15):
think there was.

Speaker 3 (40:16):
It was a power cut.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Yeah, that's oh, it was terrible, absolutely, it was
really really bad so the secondpart.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
You questioned david about cheapest fares, which
we've covered, and I could talkon cheapest fares and ticket
prices and ticket types for thenext hour or two.
Yeah, have a look at ourwebsite.
We have an article the top tipsto save money on uk trains.
That is by far your beststarting point.
Or book an itinerary console.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
I was going to say, or book a book, an itinerary
console, or uh planning withdoug, because, honestly, that
that's going to be a great wayto look at how best to save some
money on we'll say people, somepeople, a lot of money yeah, a
lot of time and a lot of money.
So next question, generalquestion luggage facilities on
board trains.
Oh, we get asked this so oftenand I know we've been taking
photographs of as many trains aswe can, of the boards as well,

(41:03):
and for example, the Southamptontrain.
Somebody's asked before aftercruises and also longer distance
trains, For example some ofScottish trains departing from
Kings Cross.
So those are.
I mean, I would say this isprobably one after tickets and
the train stations itself andarrived.
This is our probably mostpopular question there is?

Speaker 3 (41:23):
certainly is, but there's certain rules of thumb
which are very good at basicadvice to give as regards
luggage is if you're takingluggage on board a train, make
sure you can safely carry andlift it yourself if need be, or
unless, if you can't,specifically booked assistance
okay.
So that's very, very important.
Um, and secondly, also dependson the train operator and train

(41:47):
type or what what's scheduled tobe running, as to how much left
luggage there is or how muchluggage facilities are on board.
You've got left luggage whereyou leave your luggage.
I mean actually at the end ofthe saloons or overhead or
between seats.
Yeah, I mentioned between seatsbecause that often gets missed.
You've got people trying tostack luggage at the end of the

(42:09):
saloon and overhead and you finda big gaps in between seats.
Where the seat backs cometogether.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
You've usually got a um nice, yeah, yeah, and also
keep an eye on your luggage.
I will just say that we've justdone that yeah, I guess about
staying safe in london.
But just we should probably dosome stuff about kind of safety
on on train travel as well.
But I think that's worthreminding people keep an eye on
luggage most definitely and ifpossible.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
You know sit and face your luggage not easy, and if
you've got seats reserved andyou know you're facing the
opposite direction, but you knowif you're sitting facing one
direction, that's where the youneed to restore any luggage if
you possibly can.
You've got to go where the gapsare, of course, but it goes
without saying that do not leavevaluables in your main luggage.
Keep your luggage with yourvaluables right next to you yeah

(42:57):
, okay, perfect.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
And another general question how how to plan an
itinerary for train travel,including how long to allow both
platform changes, especiallyfor travel luggage, all that
kind?

Speaker 3 (43:08):
of you can answer the first part of that well, we can
help with that.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
Um, you know, if you, if you want help planning a
train itinerary, if you want usto just go over what you've put
together yourself, um, you canhave a consult we've got, we've
got.
At the moment we have twodifferent options.
One is we have a video consultwhere you can send us your
questions and your itinerary andwe can reply via video.
Or you can have a one-to-oneconsult where we sit and we go

(43:35):
through your itinerary with youand answer all your questions.
So there you have access to us,uh, for an hour, uh, to ask all
the questions that you want.
So that is very popular.
We've actually just opened upum sessions so you can book for
june.
Welcome at july and august aswell to be able to offer that.
Um, we tend to offer the videoone more when we're traveling

(43:56):
and it's a bit more difficult tohave the time to do the one,
the one, and we are going tostart offering itinerary
planning.
So this is first announcementI've made of this.
But, um, you know, if you wantdoug to help you plan your train
itinerary to get the best outof your trip.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
I've done every line.
I've done every main line thereis in the UK.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
Yeah, and I think.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
I'm branch line.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
Fantastic offer to be able to talk to help with that
itinerary, but at the momentwe're putting that together, so
hopefully that will be comingout in the next couple of months
We'll have the one-to-oneconsoles we do.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
You will enjoy it.
We always end up having a bitof a laugh with people.
Don't be shy.

Speaker 1 (44:35):
We're actually nice, normal people yeah, we love to
meet you as well it's just, it'ssuch a privilege for us to be
able to meet you guys.
Yeah, um.
So then the general questionhow to travel, uh, by train with
luggage from Heathrow intocentral London.
So now I'm just gonna throw inthere.
I personally, I am a personthat likes to be picked up at an
airport, especially airport.
I don't know when I'm arrivingwith my luggage, so I'm going to

(44:58):
.
They're going to put in.
Uh, riz from xfa cars.
He was our partner.
He does private transfer, sothat is my preferred way of
being picking up picked up fromhe threw airport when I arrived
with luggage after a long flight.
Yeah, and I'm just going togoing to throw that out because
Riz has become a bit of acelebrity.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
He is.
He's been on the podcast.
We're going to get somemembership cards, I think.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
He's been on the podcast numerous times and if
you are in any of our Facebookgroups, you will know how much
Riz is loved and appreciated byeverybody he has picked up, and
I actually feel sorry for peoplewho don't have risk, because
he's just amazing.
Um, so that's an option, it's astress-free, yeah.
It says if you can afford that,that is a honestly it's
stress-free, brilliant option.

(45:37):
Uh, so that was that would bethe way I'd say it.
But go on then.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
Train travel we have a website to cover this, by the
way.
We do have a very good articlethat covers this all the
different means by train fromheathrow into central london.
So best thing to do is considerall options.
Yes, private transfer as well,but train options.
But how far your destination isfrom when you get off the train
?
If you're taking the train, soif you're going Elizabeth line,

(46:01):
heathrow Express or thePiccadilly line, which is the
London Underground that runs toHeathrow, it's just consider, if
you've got a couple of bags andyou're tired, how far you've
got to walk when you get offthat train.
You've got a couple of bags andyou're tired, how far you've
got to walk when you get offthat train, because it could be
quite a distance.
I mean, the Underground doeshave mass coverage but you know
there is little gaps.
Where there's not, you knowyou've still got quite a walk to

(46:22):
your accommodation, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
So I think it's just fine again thinking really
carefully about where you bookyour accommodation if you prefer
to take the train.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
And the time of your arrival as well, what time your
flight lands.
You've got to stay safe as well, but the Elizabeth Line and the
Heathrow Express have both gotgood luggage storage on board.
Less so with the olderPiccadilly tube trains, but
they're going to be replaced atsome point.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
Yeah, so you've got options.
One next topic is scenicjourneys from Mandy W.
We'll be driving for most ofour trip in September, but would
love to include some scenic daytrain trips.
Any recommendations?
Oh gosh, we could make loads.
Actually, you know what, mandy?
I think that's a kind of wholeepisode in itself, and it

(47:07):
depends where you're going to go, because there's some really
beautiful scenic train tripsthat you can take, and I think
maybe we should concentrate onthat one as well.

Speaker 3 (47:17):
Yeah, a lot depends on the time of year as well, and
daylight hours as well, and howfar you're going to go from
your starting station and whatyour interests are as well.
If you want a beach place or amuseum, you know there is
options.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
I guess it depends where you're going, because I'm
just thinking if you were incornwall, for example, like I
wouldn't drive to saint ives,I'd park at saint earth and take
that gorgeous train journey.
It's not very long from saintearth to saint ives and you
don't have to worry aboutparking as well.
So sometimes it might be worthlooking, not only the scenic one
, but actually might be like alike, a nice way to just park
and then avoid having to park atthe destination.

Speaker 3 (47:55):
But we do cover that sort of thing when we do the
itinerary consoles as well,because we need some engagements
as to what your interests are.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
Where you're going to be, I guess.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
Yeah, what sort of things you want to see and for
how long?

Speaker 1 (48:07):
Okay, so let's go on to the next topic brit rail
passes and flexibility.
So, from jennifer dl, once abrit rail pass is activated, how
do you actually get on aspecific train or reserve seats?

Speaker 3 (48:18):
brit rail pass comes up so often and it just seems to
, uh, cause some confusion.
I will start by saying when youhave a brit rail pass, you do
not have to buy further traintickets, which some people seem
to get a little bit.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Yeah, we get that a lot, so when you have your uh
britvale pass.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
Every person traveling needs a copy of that
pass.
So whether it's a, we'll callan m pass or a paper version.
So you show your pass, there'sa cute little qr code on it and
you have passed through theticket barrier and you exit
through on to a departure mainhall or a platform.
Okay, so your pass must beactivated on your day of travel.

(49:00):
For all passengers.
That is okay, is britt rail?
Come to once free seatreservation and then they'll
charge you for subsequent ones.
Point out, these are all free inthe uk so you don't really need
to book.
So what we tend to advisepeople with a brick rail is use
your one free if you're usingthe train straight away.
It's either if you've got ashort journey, not activated for

(49:24):
that day because it's cheap,it's not worth it because you
could travel by train the whole24 hours.
But if you've only got a shortjourney, don't bother for that
day.
But it might be a good idea touse your one free seat
reservation for that firstjourney, if necessary, or on the
following day and then yousuggest um listen what trains

(49:45):
you're potentially going to takeand get yeah, you, that's what
you work out.
Yeah, that's why the advice fromuh consults as well.
You know it's really you.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
You want to get the best value for your brick rail
day yeah, work out actually if abrick will pass is worth it,
because your travel card mightactually be worth it I guess,
the advantage of brickwellpasses.
It does give you a flexibility,which is we do talk about.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
That's right and you know, if you've got one of the
earlier questions, how much timeto allow between train changes
yeah you don't have to worry ifyou don't have, if you go bit.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
Well, you don't have to worry about that.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
You can jump on the next train next time you get to
the platform.
Yeah, just back trackingslightly.
It's worth noting to make theseat reservations, the bit rail
does not yet have to beactivated, but you will need to
show it as proof of purchase ifyou're making a seat reservation
at a train station okay, yeah,okay.

Speaker 1 (50:35):
So going back, sorry, tell me, gc will be traveling
by train for nine days.
Would you recommend the britrail or your rail pass, and do
we need to seek reservations?
Yeah, I get you know these.
I do wonder sometimes withthese, these sort of questions,
this.
So it's best to actually talkto you individually and help you
with this, because there's lotsof questions that would need

(50:55):
answering.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
There's lots of variables, that's right.
So you know, reading yourquestion again, we'll be
travelling by train for ninedays, it depends where.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
Yeah, exactly how many train journeys are you
planning?
To take, or how long are thedistances and how many of you
are there.
Is it worth, then, getting atravel card rather than looking
at brit rail pass, because itactually might be cheaper,
unless you say you want that,that level of flexibility, yeah,
um, and again, the seatreservation question comes up
against, and, um, you don't needseat reservations quite often,

(51:25):
um, but it's useful to have.
I don't know if you want to addmore yeah, it depends.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
Yeah, it depends where you're travelling into the
UK from.
You might be travelling fromEurope.
It depends how many hours youactually plan on travelling that
day as well, and the length ofjourneys involved.
For some, the sea reservationsare definitely going to be
recommended, so it's just a lotof variables.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
I think there's no question to answer without
knowing your specifics.
Yeah, heather M, can youexplain whether Britwill Pass
offers good value for extensiveUK travel including London,
cotswolds, york and Scotland?
And how does a sleeper end upin?

Speaker 3 (52:03):
Again, getting into quite technical questions, yeah,
again, it depends on how manydaily journeys you are planning.
For a single journey fromLondon to Milton in March the
Cotswolds only for one day Iwould say no, it's not worth it.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
No, and you can't travel around the Cotswolds
anyway by train.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
No, exactly.
So the Caledonia Sleep in theNile Riviera.
You would need to pay asupplement so you can use your
bit of L.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
but then if you want a sleep in birth you have to pay
bit of L, but you then, if youwant a sleeping birth, you have
to pay, because it just coversthis.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm both a bit there to be booked
well in advance, which I alreadymentioned.

Speaker 1 (52:37):
Yeah yeah, okay, and next section, timetables and
booking ahead.
Trisha G, do UK train traintimetables change season?
It good question is, I'mplanning for October and want to
know how far ahead I can checkor book so the answer that
question.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
The UK rail timetable changes twice a year, in
December and May, and that's oneto add some adjustments and one
to remove them.
That's basically it really Someof all train tickets, the best
deal, shall we say, between sixto nine weeks prior to travel.
That can vary for differentticket times.
I've already mentioned it's notall of six to nine weeks prior

(53:14):
to travel.
That can vary for differentticket times.
I've already mentioned it's notall tickets six to nine weeks.
No, some tickets might besooner, some might be later.
Depends on the days of the weekyou travel for weekends, which
I've covered so many times inposts about sunday travel and
public holiday travel, um, andthere's some exceptions, because
train operators as well.
It's not.
It's not one policy fits all,uh.

(53:36):
So it's best to test the watersregards tickets, um, to see how
the prices are, when they'reavailable and if you, if you see
a price that you're happy with,it's best to book it.
Plain and simple and then thennot check again yeah, just in
case they have gone down.
So variations exist for thesame operator on the same route

(53:56):
and on the same day.
So that's why it's again bestto talk to the experts okay.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
So next question actually is about fines and
mistakes.
So from emily c c, have youever received a fine for the
wrong train ticket and, if so,what's the process for resolving
it?
Is it through the magistrate'scourt?

Speaker 3 (54:14):
I haven't personally, but I do appreciate that
sometimes in terms of ticketprotocol, errors can be made.
I can only suggest liaisingwith your ticket outlet or train
company for support and advice.
And on the receipt of the fine,there's usually a phone number
you can call to discuss.
But my understanding is if youhave so many days to pay a fine,

(54:37):
the magistrate court will beinvolved.
If the fine is not resolved orcontested.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
Well, I have to say I've never had a fine, ever in
the entire time I've ever beentravelling on the UK train.
I think if you explain, ifyou've made a mistake and you've
got a ticket, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
Talk to them, talk to whoever you got the ticket from
.

Speaker 1 (54:58):
Yeah, explain the issue.
So I guess we're going to wrapit up, because we've been
talking for nearly an hour,would you believe it?
And thank you for still hangingin there listening to this
episode, because I know it'slong, but I know there's a lot
of valuable information beingshared.
So always end the podcast withthe same question.
I'm going to ask the samequestion to doug what is your

(55:20):
top tip for traveling by trainin the uk?

Speaker 3 (55:22):
I'll say talk to the experts like us, stroke me, yeah
, yes, um, yeah, consults, uh,whether it's a one-to-one or the
video, um, we'll answer yourendeavor to endeavour to answer
all your questions and queries.
And experience has told us fromthe feedback, we have saved
people a lot of time and money.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Yeah and yeah, talk to us.
If you have any issues you'renot sure about, talk to us.
If you've just got a one-offquestion, just go into the Join
Doug's UK Train Travel TipsFacebook group.
And obviously we've got the UKRail Travel e-book as well.
We've got lots of resources,we've got the book, we've got
the Facebook group and we've gotlots of posts on the website

(56:03):
and we have got some affiliatelinks as well.
So if you want to support usand I do want to say this, if
you want to support us, if youenjoy our podcast, we'd love it
if you would become a sponsor ofthe podcast, and that's from as
little as three US dollars amonth, so less than a cup of
coffee, um, would help us, butalso you can help.
Or tea in Doug's case yeah, buyDoug a cup of tea, um, it would

(56:25):
really help, if you know, if youwant to do that.
Uh, to say thank you as well,and we do have affiliate links.
If you're going to buy aBritrail pass, global Eurail
pass or any train tickets acrossthe UK because we do work with
the train line as well you canbuy through our links.
We would really appreciate that.
So they will be in the shownotes and on the website.
Is there anything else that youwant to mention?

Speaker 3 (56:47):
No, thank you everybody who went to the
trouble of providing somequestions for us to cover.
That's very good of you.
Thank you also, Catherine, forgrouping the questions together.

Speaker 1 (56:57):
Yeah, that's really helpful.
So I think that's the end ofEpisode 151, would you believe
it?
151.
Again, lots of links in theshow notes which will be on the
website uktravelplanningcom.
Forward slash episode 151.
So do go and check that out, dogo and join Doug's training
group, which is heading towards,I think.
Is it 3,000?

Speaker 3 (57:17):
Close to 3,000.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
3,000 members, which is amazing.
Do also go and join the YouTubechannel, because there's going
to be some great videos comingout as well, which Doug's
working very hard on getting out, I am yes, but yeah.
So thanks very much for joiningus this week on the podcast.
Thank you, thanks so much forlistening and, as always, we end
the episode with the usualHappy.

(57:38):
Uk travel planning.

Speaker 4 (57:42):
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the
UK travel planning podcast.
As always, show notes can befound at UK travel planning dot
com.
If you've enjoyed the show, whynot leave us feedback via text
or a review on your favouritepodcast app?
We love to hear from you andyou never know.
You may receive a shout out ina future episode, but, as always

(58:03):
, that just leaves me to sayuntil next week.
Happy, UK travel planning.