Today I'm angry about.....

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Plus, in my example, Nantwich is bloody lovely.

Exactly...

And it'd be near family (and my folks will be getting on by then), not that hard for the Reebok, I could play golf Sunday mornings at Hoylake etc.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Mummy - I would struggle with even 90 minutes on 1 train. Being a tall lad, I just don't fit the space provided. The seats on the trains I used to get were too low, about 40% too narrow and about 6 inches short in legroom. They also put metal boxes under the seats, so I had nowhere to put my size 13s. For 5.5k a year you'd hope they could provide at least a half reasonable service

Thanks for reminding me that being under 6 feet tall is occasionally a good thing!

What service was it you used?

Most of my experience of longer train journeys has been on Virgin Pendolinos which, I have always found very comfortable.

Presumably these HS2 trains will be quite nice... I've got 20 years to find myself a nice Cheshire pile.

I was on the Thameslink line, just south of Bedford. In winter it wasn't unusual for only 20-30% of trains to run, and in the main they were in the core sections, us in the sticks were expected to phone the wife to come pick us up from Luton or somewhere!

Standard class on the pendolinos are a bit tight for me. I find it quite narrow and a window seat not too clever. 1st class was alright when I was on it last year. Planes are the worst for me. I literally don't fit in the seat on some airlines.

I'd buy that property soon, as the prices will rocket if they actually deliver the line. I'd save up for the fare too

[Lost Leopard Spot]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I was on the Thameslink line, just south of Bedford. In winter it wasn't unusual for only 20-30% of trains to run, and in the main they were in the core sections, us in the sticks were expected to phone the wife to come pick us up from Luton or somewhere!

Ah, yes - I go out to Bedford quite a lot because my mrs has family in Biddenham. It's not a great service. I know this is a potentially odd and wanky thing to say, but one thing I hate is the lighting, which is too bright and artificial - that's one thing Virgin do really well, in terms of creating an environment you can work or relax in.

[General Mannerheim]

if your on an hourly rate, any time spent travelling is frustrating never mind being delayed! but if you were in a situation where your journey time was incorporated into your day, and you theoretically used this time to actually work then you're onto a winner.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

I think Bobo's point was that you could get to Crewe pretty handily early in the morning.

[General Mannerheim]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

stops at Crewe tho, dunnit?

[Lost Leopard Spot]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

stops at Crewe tho, dunnit?

Yup. Some (but not all) of them will.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

I was on the Thameslink line, just south of Bedford. In winter it wasn't unusual for only 20-30% of trains to run, and in the main they were in the core sections, us in the sticks were expected to phone the wife to come pick us up from Luton or somewhere!

Ah, yes - I go out to Bedford quite a lot because that's my mrs has family in Biddenham. It's not a great service. I know this is a potentially odd and wanky thing to say, but one thing I hate is the lighting, which is too bright and artificial - that's one thing Virgin do really well, in terms of creating an environment you can work or relax in.

The biggest problem, aside from punctuality etc, was heating. They regularly had no heating in winter. One time was in the middle of all the snow, minus something temperature at 6am and no heating. I had hiking boots, jumpers, scarves and winter coat on and I was huddled freezing cold. The southern softies were beside themselves! I agree on the lighting as well.

[bobo the clown]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

stops at Crewe tho, dunnit?

Yup. Some (but not all) of them will.

Plenty enough will stop at Crewe which, for the geographically challenged, is 10 min from Nantwich.

(except at rush hour, which commuters will miss, whereby the 2 mile stretch between the old police college & the station is approx. 25 min away.)

Crewe is one which will be having a new station of of this, a little south of the current one, relieving the blockages and plonking it on the dual carraigeway by-pass. Out of twn however.

As a point of interest, the 1 mile strech mentioned above has, I once counted, 45 take-aways.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

stops at Crewe tho, dunnit?

Yup. Some (but not all) of them will.

Plenty enough will stop at Crewe which, for the geographically challenged, is 10 min from Nantwich.

(except at rush hour, which commuters will miss, whereby the 2 mile stretch between the old police college & the station is approx. 25 min away.)

Crewe is one which will be having a new station of of this, a little south of the current one, relieving the blockages and plonking it on the dual carraigeway by-pass. Out of twn however.

As a point of interest, the 1 mile strech mentioned above has, I once counted, 45 take-aways.

...and how many pubs? [this information is required in order to calculate its civilization quotient]

[bobo the clown]

And anyway, it (HS2) won't be stopping at Nantwich. It's not a 'stopping' service, it's point to point, that's how they manage to achieve the speeds.

stops at Crewe tho, dunnit?

Yup. Some (but not all) of them will.

Plenty enough will stop at Crewe which, for the geographically challenged, is 10 min from Nantwich.

(except at rush hour, which commuters will miss, whereby the stretch between the old police college & the station is approx. 25 min away.)

Crewe is one which will be having a new station of of this, a little south of the current one, relieving the blockages and plonking it on the dual carraigeway by-pass. Out of twn however.

As a point of interest, the 1 mile strech mentioned above has, I once counted, 45 take-aways.

...and how many pubs? [this information is required in order to calculate its civilization quotient]

On it, or just off it, probably about 15 or so.

It's real 'bedsit land' and became little Warsaw for a while. If you have google-Earth take a treck west on Nantwich Road from the station.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

at 15 pubs per mile and 45 take-aways I calculate that it has a CQ of 145. Highly civilized.

[bobo the clown]

at 15 pubs per mile and 45 take-aways I calculate that it has a CQ of 145. Highly civilized.

Note tho that this is Crewe .... not Nantwich, which has at least 25 pubs & bars in the town centre, loads of restaurants and a fantastic jazz & blues festival 4 days acros Easter each year.


.... oh, and as a side factor, totty of a quality way above any similar sized town I'v ever been to.

If that sort of thing interests you.


... and Andy Waller, tho you can't have everything.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Totty of a quality way above any similar sized town interests me (but don't tell the missus).

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Is the quality totty attracted by the numerous pubs? Or by the squillionaires per foot count, per chance?

[bobo the clown]

Is the quality totty attracted by the numerous pubs? Or by the squillionaires per foot count, per chance?

Local. Really, it's worth an evening out .... or a TW meet up at the Easter Blues fest.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Is the quality totty attracted by the numerous pubs? Or by the squillionaires per foot count, per chance?

Local. Really, it's worth an evening out .... or a TW meet up at the Easter Blues fest.

You should'a told me about the quality totty a while back as I've already booked a cottage in the wilds of Scotland for Easter - otherwise I'd have been up for some Easter Blues infestation.

[bwfcdan94]

bloke next to me commutes daily from Birmingham, and hes in for 7.30 every morning! costs a few quid but he has a season ticket which brings it down. he lives five minutes from the station and can park his car there for free. gets his head down for a nother hr on the train too. sounds alright too me but im sure id get fed up of that very quickly. i currently have a 'bed to desk' time of under 3mins.

i like the idea of going home one night to split the week up but my trouble is it often takes as long to get from Mcr Picc to home as it does from Euston to Mcr. it would also cost a bastard fortune.[/quote]


my dad does Wokingham to Redcar 2 times a week, It involes 3 changes and going all the way up to Newcastle and then going down the coast. Do want to think how long it takes him but it is not far of traveling the lenth of the country.

[Dujon]

I worked in the city for 20 years (with a break of 2 years working 35 minutes from home and a couple of years on our relieving staff - which meant many a 'bush' trip). From leaving home to arriving back meant a 12 hour absence. My moods went from acceptance of the situation to hating the wasted time, the inevitable delays and the inconvenience of changing trains or walking from Central station to work. This, looking back on it, operated on some sort of cyclical system that went something like four months acceptance followed by a three month hate session.

Long travel times can take it out of you, as others have commented. I suppose we are all different but I wouldn't recommend such a regime to anyone unless it's for a short time, say, 5 years or less. After resigning my original job and taking over a retail outlet I worked much longer hours trying to make a quid, but after locking up I was a mere 5 to 10 minutes drive away from home. Those years were the happiest of my working life (ignoring the financial side of things). They say that the devil is in the detail; in my case the devil was the travel.