Recent content by plugwash

Sure, but for those of us in the 31-59 age group who are travelling alone, not sufficiently disabled, not in the forces, and not a veternan railcards are not an option.

AIUI There is a "fixed link" between the two new mills stations, so a ticket to Chinley or Furness vale is valid via either. Whether a ticket to one is valid to the other is more questionable, I've made NRE generate such itinaries before, but I've also had people say on here that you can't start...

I'd struggle to call the bank of England a "private organsiation".

Contactless PAYG was recently extended to that area.

I don't recall an excessive wait on the way out, but that may have just been good luck. On the way back I used a bus because I wasn't especially near the front.

I recently used the blackpool north tram stop for the first time, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The new subway was large bright and airy and both ends of it had large clear signs to direct people between the rail station and the tram stop. The walk length did not feel excessive

AIUI until relatively recently the default route was "any permitted" but this came to be seen as "railway jargon" and there was therefore a push to remove it from tickets. As usual on the railway this was done in a half-assed manner. Some tickets are still routed "any permitted", some where...

Yeah, My understanding is that the listed station building meant they couldn't easilly put a footbridge in the middle, and putting one at the south end would mean losing valuable length from platform 2. So the footbridge ended up at the north end of the station, taking space from platform 5...

Having a credit or Debit card is not the same as having a Contactless Visa or Mastercard (or maybe AMEX, but I think other than TfL that is rarely accepted). Many countries have their own card networks with limited international penatration. Some countries are even completely forbidden from...

As quoted above the rules say "An Interrail Global Pass may only be used for two specific journeys" So that leaves the quesiton of what exactly is a "journey". I would interpret journey as travelling from A to B using a route that was at least somewhat reasonable. I can't see how travelling...

"Promise to pay" exists because * the railway accepts and has always accepted cash as a payment method * Northern wanted/were pushed into a penalty fares scheme. * Northern wanted to use card-only TVMs, which are cheaper to buy and maintain and less of a security issue than TVMs that take cash...

mmm. The "oldham loop" enters rochdale from the north, but since it was converted to metrolink, it's connection to the mainline in rochdale was severed. Metrolink has a connection to the ELR in bury, but a reversal on the ELR is then needed to get out onto the mainline.

Seems there are currently 4 trains per day from milford haven to manchsters at 07:01 09:00, 11:00 and 15:00 https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:MFH/to/gb-nr:MAN/2025-04-15/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

At least Wikipedia claims that the UIC franc was replaced by the European currency unit in 1990, which was in turn replaced by the Euro in 1999.

I'm pretty sure there is no connection between the Merseyrail and the line to Wigan at Headbolt lane, nor is there one at kirkby. There is a connection at Southport but it requires a reversal (it looks like historically there was a bypass curve, but at some point it was turned into a siding by...