North East Buses

@Dan
Prague is a lovely city, but isn't as cheap as it used to be.
First went in 2006.
If you get away from the touristy bits, you can find some bargains.

I once travelled by coach to a Christmas Market in Valkenburg with my parents back in 1997.

Never again do I want to spend that much time on a bus.

That reminds me - I had German today so I asked the teacher how we were getting there - we are getting a coach to Leeds Bradford Airport, then a plane from there! Delighted
AND we are staying in a hotel!

Forgot to write a 'review' of my trip to London. Everything was absolutely fantastic, aside from on the Wednesday night, when we went to the Victoria Palace Theatre to watch Billy Elliot: The Musical.....

The show starts at 19:00, and we arrive at 18:15. Gives us the chance to get a sit down after navigating our way here on the tube. We go through to the bar, to find it is unattended, and with an old woman sitting by herself with a glass of red wine. We waited until they started letting people through, and we then head to our seats.

I survey the programme, and find that the boy playing Billy tonight is Ollie Jockim (or Jolly Fockim as I now call him). Then, this little voice comes on the mic and shatters our eardrums. I swear to god he sounded like he was 5 or 6. The opening scene starts, and I am absolutely disgusted at the awful interpretations of the North Eastern accent these actors provide. Literally, as a proud north eastener, I was quite offended at how they portrayed everything in a deep tone with an f-word in front of every single verb. Even the children, some of whom were only about 10/11/12, were using the most repundant language imaginable, for example.

Girl: Hew ya fuckin' queer, is it true ya ganna start ballay?
Billy Elliot: Naw hew, gay as fuck!
Girl: D'ya fuckin' fancy iz, or some-it?
Billy Elliot: Eh? What the fuck?
Girl: Would ya like to see me fanny?

That sort of dialogue went on throughout the entire show. Then at the end, the worst part came. They had like this massive dance where pretty much every castmember was on stage (even the extras who didn't speak a word). It got to the point that Jolly Fockim's smile with self-satisfaction was so unbearable - it was cringeworthy! Then once everybody clapped once, the father asked for another round of applause for the pianist, then another for all the theatre staff, then another for the extras, then another for the main cast - it was like being at a primary school class assembly!

Then, Jolly Fockim was chanted to do some random speech thing, and he just soaked up all the attention like a sponge! Then, the straw that broke the donkey's back came! While £50 per person wasn't already enough from 500 odd people in the audience to feed every single person involved - the father still asks us to remember that stage actors support themselves, and when work dries out, charities like Actors for Actors really do provide a backbone for them. Like charities such as Wateraid and Save the Children don't deserve an honorable mention!!

Never again.

We are thinking of visiting Paris next year. Is it any good, and where are the best places to stay?

(18 Nov 2014, 9:56 pm)Tom wrote [ -> ]We are thinking of visiting Paris next year. Is it any good, and where are the best places to stay?

I wouldn't suggest anywhere near the city centre. I've been to Paris once, when I was little, and don't remember much, but my mam has told me in the past that she booked a hotel just a couple of blocks away from the Eiffel Tower, and there were constantly people walking past the room at about two in the morning.

I'd suggest staying on the outskirts of the city centre, Tom!

(18 Nov 2014, 10:10 pm)Marcus wrote [ -> ]I wouldn't suggest anywhere near the city centre. I've been to Paris once, when I was little, and don't remember much, but my mam has told me in the past that she booked a hotel just a couple of blocks away from the Eiffel Tower, and there were constantly people walking past the room at about two in the morning.

I'd suggest staying on the outskirts of the city centre, Tom!

Ah I couldn't be doing with that! Was bad enough in Spain when kids were running around the hotel at midnight. 
Cheers for the advice

(19 Nov 2014, 7:44 am)Tom wrote [ -> ]Ah I couldn't be doing with that! Was bad enough in Spain when kids were running around the hotel at midnight. 
Cheers for the advice

I think in Spain the kids 'go out to play' in the late evenings and into the nights, and sleep during the day or something.

(19 Nov 2014, 7:45 am)Marcus wrote [ -> ]I think in Spain the kids 'go out to play' in the late evenings and into the nights, and sleep during the day or something.

English kids in a resort this was!

(12 Oct 2014, 6:39 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]I'm going to Prague for four days in December (by Jet2), and, including all of the costs for the activities we're doing there and £100 which has been allocated for day/evening meals, I've got the trip to £400 and I spent Thursday booking certain things.
Really looking forward to it - our Business Studies teacher has done two trips to Prague with previous schools he has taught at, and he said that a starter of a bowl of soup with a loaf of bread, steak and chips, a knickerbocker glory-like dessert and a pint cost him £2.10 in equivalent GBP.

Now that I've returned, thought it would be good to have a bit of a write-up on here to tell you all what I've been getting up to...

The Media Studies teacher at my school has been trying to get this trip off the ground for years, as she'd never been to Prague before and she knew of a couple of Media-related activities which students could get involved in. I helped get the trip off the ground as I hadn't been to Prague either, and when I discovered that our new Business Studies teacher had already taken two groups of students in previous schools he has taught at, I asked if he'd like to help me organise it and also attend. Alas - the trip, which was primarily intended as a Media Studies and Business Studies educational trip (but was classed as a 'cultural trip' to allow Sixth Form students who study neither of those subjects to attend), took place between Sunday 14th December and Thursday 18th December.

We flew out with Jet2 on Sunday, after spending three hours in the airport. The flight was quick and comfortable, and we departed and arrived more-or-less on-time. Upon arrival in Prague, we travelled to our hotel (the Admiral Botel) which was located approximately 30 minutes away from the airport. A private-hire minibus had been organised to take us there, and it was a Ford Transit minibus. After checking in and unpacking, we decided to sample the restaurant there... It was quite a fancy restaurant with some slap-up meals. As Sixth Form students with consent from parents, we were allowed to consume a "small" amount of alcohol with our meals, so the group of nine opted for cocktails. I've never really been one to drink cocktails, and one of the other two lads on the trip wasn't either. He didn't really like many of the cocktails meaning that he passed them to me every time (which I certainly didn't complain about!) After the meal, we went back to our rooms. Alcohol usually makes me tired after a while which is the main reason why I had quite a few cocktails, but unfortunately, even that didn't help me get to sleep... I had about three or four hours sleep, meaning that I was quite irritable when I woke up the following morning.

After a buffet-style breakfast in the hotel (which consisted of hotdog-like sausages, eggs, cereal, cakes, etc), we walked to the Staropromen Brewery for a tour. This tour was meant to assist Business Studies students so we could get a feel for what the production of alcohol (and in turn other products) was like. It ended with a free sample, and as not many of us were keen, the half-pint glasses were shared between the Business Studies teacher and a student. After the brewery tour, we had a tour of the city on-foot. We saved some money by not having to pay for a 'private tour', given that the teacher knew the city inside and out and could do this himself. This tour was mainly on foot, but we did use trams in places. We had remote supervision in places, meaning that a lot of us ended up going into bars and having a few more drinks, before a boat tour at 16:00. After the hour-long boat tour, we had remote supervision for an evening meal, before returning to the hotel. We discovered that we were the only people on that floor of the hotel which we took advantage of. Despite the ruling being clear that boys were not allowed in girls rooms and vice versa, a 'private session' took place in one of the girls' rooms which was rather large indeed as four were sleeping in it.

On Tuesday morning, we had breakfast in the hotel and took a tram to Vodickova, before walking to the Prague Post offices. The Prague Post actually advised us to go to the wrong place, so after arrival at the Prague Post, we had a tour of the city instead. After a tour, we used the tram to get to the Barrandov Film Studios. Serving as another Media Studies tour, this studio housed over 130,000 costumes, props and film sets. It was very interesting to walk around and see everything - but some of the girls were a little disheartened that they couldn't try any of the costumes on! After this tour, we returned to Smichovske nadrazi station by tram and then took the underground Metro to Mustek, returning to Wenceslas Square for remote supervision and an evening meal, prior to a 90-minute long 'ghost tour' starting at 20:00. Rather inebriated from the meal which took place beforehand, one of the lads ended up vomiting inside of one of the dungeons in the Astronomical Clock, so we hurried off back to the hotel via Metro after this to get him to bed (while everyone else carried on the session! ) 

We were all quite tired on Wednesday, meaning that we didn't have our planned tour of the city on the morning. Instead; we had a lie in, breakfast in the hotel, and then free time in the hotel afterwards. So that I didn't have too much TV to catch up on when I got back to the UK, I watched the season finale of Geordie Shore during this time. A couple of others went to McDonalds for the second round of breakfast, and others just slept. At 12:30, a Mercedes Sprinter minibus with reclining seats turned up to take us to the Skoda Factory. It was about an hour away from the hotel, and Skoda were celebrating their millionth car sold this year (last year only sold circa 900,000). An advertisement of some sort was being filmed and it was full of up-beat music and the atmosphere was very good indeed. We saw the history of Skoda, right from the first bike that they created up to their most recent car, and then had a tour of the factory so we could see the manufacturing process. We had to use our minibus to move around the different sections of the factory as it's so big, and I managed to see some Arriva minibuses, buses and coaches during this time. I even saw an Arriva coach which seemed to carry a MAX-like coloured livery - don't know if it was actually MAX or not though as a lot of their coaches were just in plain white, yellow etc and didn't carry an Arriva livery at all. The minibus took us back to Old Town after that, and we had remote supervision for an evening meal. Unlike the nights prior, we (teachers and students) all decided to have a meal together. We finished up in this Czech restaurant quite quickly, so we had plenty of time to buy some souvenirs until about 21:00 when we took the Metro back to the hotel. A drunken man fell over on the escalators at Mustek and ended up getting trapped at the bottom. Everyone ended up piling on top of him as he tripped them up until someone pressed the emergency stop button for the escalators. Our Media Studies teacher was quite worried about us being out at that time to start with, knowing that Prague's "Red Light District" comes into fruition at night, so this shook her up quite a bit, but we all got back to the hotel safe and sound.

We had another lie in on Thursday, and left the hotel at 11:00 after breakfast in the hotel. The same Ford Transit minibus picked us up, and we had remote supervision within the airport for about two hours prior to the flight departing. It landed on-time despite being a rather shaky landing due to the strong winds in Newcastle, and this allowed me to sample one of the Newcastle Airport buses too! I got on the Metro at about 15:15 meaning that I ended up catching all the scholars going home, but still managed to watch a bit of Waterloo Road on BBC iPlayer.


Had a very good time, and I am grateful to the teachers for taking us. I was incredibly surprised at the fact that only one bar attempted to ID us, and we even got served in a shop which was only selling alcohol, tobacco and cannabis... It was a rather worrying prospect really. Although both of the other lads who were on the trip were 18 and could have bought alcohol regardless, the younger of the two looks as though he is 14 or so, yet he still got served for a massive bottle of vodka... Even Jet2 didn't bother to ID us on the plane!
I did manage to get one bus photo while I was there - this can be viewed below:
Martin Uher: 1154 / 9S37414 by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

Not going to quote that, Dan, it'll crash my computer!

Pleased you had a good time, looks like you had more than that......'private session'. [emoji52][emoji23]

I'd love to do Prague one day, but I think it would be boring with the family (sorry!) so I'd rather go with the school. Although not 50-60 of us like they have previously.

Looks like you had a great time!

I'd love to do a whole tour of Europe, including Prague! Poland seems nice too!

(19 Dec 2014, 3:48 pm)Tom wrote [ -> ]Looks like you had a great time!

I'd love to do a whole tour of Europe, including Prague! Poland seems nice too!

Sounds like a great trip away and always handy to sample some of the different cultures in places.
I recently went to Germany for 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, sampled some of my employers offerings should we say I spent time in Munich and Cologne and also visited the "Schwebebahn" in Wuppertal, plus Düsseldorf, Koblenz and Frankfurt (not all in one day!). Can post more if people would be interested.

(20 Dec 2014, 6:45 pm)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]Sounds like a great trip away and always handy to sample some of the different cultures in places.
I recently went to Germany for 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, sampled some of my employers offerings should we say I spent time in Munich and Cologne and also visited the "Schwebebahn" in Wuppertal, plus Düsseldorf, Koblenz and Frankfurt (not all in one day!). Can post more if people would be interested.

Yeah I'd like to hear more.
What did you get up to?

I won't quote the post, cos it's huge - but totally agree about the train you mention.
Used it a few times and the York shire crew who are on upto Newcastle are always chipper. The Scottish crew who replace them are good too.
No idea what it is about that run, but it always stands out from any other. Not always at my wide awake best to appreciate it mind.

If you end up going again (or anyone else), the hog roast shop is a hidden gem.
Located just off the Royal Mile on Victoria Street, it is just off the tourist trail, so is very reasonable.
Just look for the roasted pig in the window! 

To break up the turkey leftover/chocolate/rubbish TV monotony, I had a trip out to North Yorkshire the other day - specifically around the Esk Valley.
It is a lovely, unspoilt part of the region - miles away from anything, but so easy to get to.

Specific to this post, was a stop off in Grosmont and a wander round the engine sheds.
Mainly diesel loco workings (coupled with a railcar) on the day I was there, there was a bit of shunting and some work on some engines in the sheds.

The gift shop had the usual stuff, likely to be found for sale in a gift shop - but amongst that, were some DVD's for sale showing workings of trains around the lost lines of North Durham, some United memorabilia and some very reasonably priced model buses (non-local I am afraid).

Most of this should probably be in the annoying thread but here's a bit of a review from my weekend away in Manchester. If you're my friend on Facebook, you've probably already seen all this.

The reason I was down there was to see The Libertines at Manchester Arena, pretty good gig and it was also quite fun seeing people who can't handle their drinks being carried out by the security staff.

Quite enjoyed the trip although the joy went away when it was time to head home, no it wasn't a case of me not wanting to leave, it was the crap experience of heading home, first of all as is always the way for whatever reason the driver of the National Express coach got off and hung around inside the coach station for 10 minutes, don't know about you but I'd be a bit worried if I had luggage in the storage space under the coach with it being open and unattended for that whole time. Anyway we all moved forward when it arrived then we all moved forward again when the driver returned, I was with my sister who got through the doors as we were some of the first passengers to be waiting for it, so she was showing the driver the ticket conformation, I however was stuck inside the coach station as some woman with hair like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons decided she wanted to be first on the coach, even though the coach driver told her to move so I could get through and she still didn't flaming move so in the end I ended up having to shove my way through nearly smashing the automatic doors with my bags. On the coach I decided to listen to my iPod, unfortunately the driver on the coach also wanted to listen to some music, so he put Radio 2 on so all the passengers got 'treated' to that, didn't spend all that money on an iPod just to have to turn it off because Tom Jones is pumping out of a speaker above my head! So I didn't enjoy my cramped, cold (as the flaming roof hatch was open) and painfully long journey. Then the fun kept on coming after I got off the coach in Middlesbrough, went to Tesco Express before catching the train home and four women including a member of staff kept stopping in the flaming way, first preventing us from getting out of the drinks aisle and then they stood in the doorway just as the whole of flaming Middlesbrough decided to go into this Tesco Express, even though the doorway was wide enough for three people to get through I had to bloody stand there like a flaming melon whilst about six people entered the shop, not as if I had all day whilst you had you're having a chit chat, made some people wait to enter as if I'd have been there any longer I'd have missed the train and at the rate things were going the next one two hours later. Fortunately the staff on my Northern Rail service home cheered me up as the conductor was friendly and provided us with some amusing announcements.

Thanks for reading, I got a few bus photos whilst I was in Manchester, no idea when the photos will be uploaded on my Flickr. Ripon and Harrogate tomorrow.

(24 Jan 2016, 6:19 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Most of this should probably be in the annoying thread but here's a bit of a review from my weekend away in Manchester. If you're my friend on Facebook, you've probably already seen all this.

The reason I was down there was to see The Libertines at Manchester Arena, pretty good gig and it was also quite fun seeing people who can't handle their drinks being carried out by the security staff.

Quite enjoyed the trip although the joy went away when it was time to head home, no it wasn't a case of me not wanting to leave, it was the crap experience of heading home, first of all as is always the way for whatever reason the driver of the National Express coach got off and hung around inside the coach station for 10 minutes, don't know about you but I'd be a bit worried if I had luggage in the storage space under the coach with it being open and unattended for that whole time. Anyway we all moved forward when it arrived then we all moved forward again when the driver returned, I was with my sister who got through the doors as we were some of the first passengers to be waiting for it, so she was showing the driver the ticket conformation, I however was stuck inside the coach station as some woman with hair like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons decided she wanted to be first on the coach, even though the coach driver told her to move so I could get through and she still didn't flaming move so in the end I ended up having to shove my way through nearly smashing the automatic doors with my bags. On the coach I decided to listen to my iPod, unfortunately the driver on the coach also wanted to listen to some music, so he put Radio 2 on so all the passengers got 'treated' to that, didn't spend all that money on an iPod just to have to turn it off because Tom Jones is pumping out of a speaker above my head! So I didn't enjoy my cramped, cold (as the flaming roof hatch was open) and painfully long journey. Then the fun kept on coming after I got off the coach in Middlesbrough, went to Tesco Express before catching the train home and four women including a member of staff kept stopping in the flaming way, first preventing us from getting out of the drinks aisle and then they stood in the doorway just as the whole of flaming Middlesbrough decided to go into this Tesco Express, even though the doorway was wide enough for three people to get through I had to bloody stand there like a flaming melon whilst about six people entered the shop, not as if I had all day whilst you had you're having a chit chat, made some people wait to enter as if I'd have been there any longer I'd have missed the train and at the rate things were going the next one two hours later. Fortunately the staff on my Northern Rail service home cheered me up as the conductor was friendly and provided us with some amusing announcements.

Thanks for reading, I got a few bus photos whilst I was in Manchester, no idea when the photos will be uploaded on my Flickr. Ripon and Harrogate tomorrow.

Did you ever tell us your Facebook name?

(24 Jan 2016, 7:07 pm)DanPicken wrote [ -> ]Did you ever tell us your Facebook name?

No.

(24 Jan 2016, 7:08 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]No.

Thought not.

EDIT: Searched Jimmi and found you.

(24 Jan 2016, 6:19 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Most of this should probably be in the annoying thread but here's a bit of a review from my weekend away in Manchester. If you're my friend on Facebook, you've probably already seen all this.

The reason I was down there was to see The Libertines at Manchester Arena, pretty good gig and it was also quite fun seeing people who can't handle their drinks being carried out by the security staff.

Quite enjoyed the trip although the joy went away when it was time to head home, no it wasn't a case of me not wanting to leave, it was the crap experience of heading home, first of all as is always the way for whatever reason the driver of the National Express coach got off and hung around inside the coach station for 10 minutes, don't know about you but I'd be a bit worried if I had luggage in the storage space under the coach with it being open and unattended for that whole time. Anyway we all moved forward when it arrived then we all moved forward again when the driver returned, I was with my sister who got through the doors as we were some of the first passengers to be waiting for it, so she was showing the driver the ticket conformation, I however was stuck inside the coach station as some woman with hair like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons decided she wanted to be first on the coach, even though the coach driver told her to move so I could get through and she still didn't flaming move so in the end I ended up having to shove my way through nearly smashing the automatic doors with my bags. On the coach I decided to listen to my iPod, unfortunately the driver on the coach also wanted to listen to some music, so he put Radio 2 on so all the passengers got 'treated' to that, didn't spend all that money on an iPod just to have to turn it off because Tom Jones is pumping out of a speaker above my head! So I didn't enjoy my cramped, cold (as the flaming roof hatch was open) and painfully long journey. Then the fun kept on coming after I got off the coach in Middlesbrough, went to Tesco Express before catching the train home and four women including a member of staff kept stopping in the flaming way, first preventing us from getting out of the drinks aisle and then they stood in the doorway just as the whole of flaming Middlesbrough decided to go into this Tesco Express, even though the doorway was wide enough for three people to get through I had to bloody stand there like a flaming melon whilst about six people entered the shop, not as if I had all day whilst you had you're having a chit chat, made some people wait to enter as if I'd have been there any longer I'd have missed the train and at the rate things were going the next one two hours later. Fortunately the staff on my Northern Rail service home cheered me up as the conductor was friendly and provided us with some amusing announcements.

Thanks for reading, I got a few bus photos whilst I was in Manchester, no idea when the photos will be uploaded on my Flickr. Ripon and Harrogate tomorrow.

I feel your pain. I can tolerate R2 on weekday mornings and evenings (Jeremy Vine and Steve bloody Wright drive me nuts, though) but it's dire old lady stuff on a Sunday. I don't mind a bit of Tom Jones, mind

(24 Jan 2016, 7:31 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]I feel your pain. I can tolerate R2 on weekday mornings and evenings (Jeremy Vine and Steve bloody Wright drive me nuts, though) but it's dire old lady stuff on a Sunday. I don't mind a bit of Tom Jones, mind

Was pretty dire, most of the songs were pretty dreary and so was the chat between songs. Had two hours of this torture, somehow it made the journey even more boring. Can't say I'll be listening through choice at any point based on my experiences today.

(24 Jan 2016, 7:20 pm)DanPicken wrote [ -> ]Thought not.

EDIT: Searched Jimmi and found you.

Decided to make Jimmi the nickname to make it easier for people to find me, that and I feared if I didn't people would just think "who the hell is this random?"

Looking to add some more people, possibly sometime this week.

(24 Jan 2016, 7:59 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Was pretty dire, most of the songs were pretty dreary and so was the chat between songs. Had two hours of this torture, somehow it made the journey even more boring. Can't say I'll be listening through choice at any point based on my experiences today.

We only listen to it in the car, though often just play MP3s, instead. Usually have 6 music on, in the house. DH put R2 back on, on a Saturday, when I'm out, as some of the stuff on 6 is a bit niche on a Saturday and he quite likes listening to the old charts and Dermot O'Really (Big'un's name for him!).

I have never been on a Pendolino, so since I am off work this week, I thought I would see what the prices were and if not too bad I would have a go.  I managed to get a First Class single from Euston to Carlisle for £52.

I decided to go from Newcastle to London via ECML, then from London to Carlisle on the WCML and then back to from Newcastle using the Tyne Valley.

I caught VTEC down to Kings Cross with 82224 on the front with 91111 providing the power at the back.  Train was busy but got a double seat to myself all the way down - result.

Had a bit of a play on the Underground for an hour or so - I do love the Victoria 2009 stock trains, the acceleration they have and the speed they come into the stations, makes our Metro system look so old and dated with the rolling stock we have up here and also had a play on the S Stock of the Circle Line.

I got to Euston in time to catch my booked train - the 1130 11 coach Pendolino service to Carlisle, and I have to say I was well impressed.  The speed they go round the curves and then when you feel the train tilt, I have to say I am hooked.  Unsure what the seats are like in standard class, but I found them pretty comfy in First, bearing in mind I was sitting for just over 3 hours. The food was spot on as well and I could not fault the 2 sets of on board crew.  We left Euston at 1130 and we called at Warrington Bank Quay (1314), Wigan North Western (1325), Preston (1338), Lancaster (1354), Oxenholme Lake District (1408), Penrith North Lakes (1433) and then into Carlisle for 1449, arriving 3 minutes late at 1452.

The wifi worked perfectly throughout the journey as well.

We had a crew change at Preston and what I did notice was that the Train Guard up to Preston did all the announcements herself, yet when we left Preston the announcements were automated - clearly the second train guard was not keen on speaking.

Then.....as we pulled into Carlisle I noticed a Northern Rail train standing in on Platform 5 and it was mine, the 1528 to Middlesboro - its was 142018. Now coming off a Pendolino onto a 142 all I can say is lets just gloss over this part of my day and I arrived back into Newcastle around 1650.

Luckily for me, I decided to go down the ECML and up the WCML rather than the other way as with the gas leak in Durham and the trains getting delayed, I think I would have still being travelling yet!!

I found it quite funny that 390153 is named Mission Accomplished as I had a mission today and I did accomplish it.

Have to say had a good day out and I enjoyed it, and I do think I will do it again, but maybe all the way to Glasgow when the line reopens north of Carlisle.

A couple of pics of 91111 and 390153 below.

This coming Saturday, I will be travelling down to Halifax by train to watch Gateshead take on FC Halifax Town in the Quarter Finals of the FA Trophy.

I have free Northern travel, so I made it my aim to travel only by Northern. However I have two options....

Option 1;

0630 Newcastle to Carlisle 0807
0856 Carlisle to Appleby 0956 (Direct Rail Replacement)
1006 Appleby to Leeds 1207
1220 Leeds to Halifax 1255

or

Option 2;

0630 Newcastle to Carlisle 0807
0856 Carlisle to Appleby 0956 (Direct Rail Replacement)
1006 Appleby to Keighley 1134
JOURNEY BREAK / OPPORTUNITY FOR TRANSDEV PHOTOS
1301 Keighley to Leeds 1329
1351 Leeds to Halifax 1426

My return journey is as follows...

1706 Halifax to Bradford Interchange 1720
WALK TO BRADFORD FORSTER SQUARE
1743 Bradford Forster Square to Shipley 1750
1803 Shipley to Appleby 1953
2003 Appleby to Carlisle 2103
2128 Carlisle to Newcastle 2305

I'm edging towards Journey Option 2, to give me an opportunity to relax, however, it will be cutting it fine to make it to The Shay in time for kick off. It will be a long day, but I'm used to them by now having visited Cambridge and Milton Keynes last week.

(24 Feb 2016, 5:38 pm)LeeCalder wrote [ -> ]This coming Saturday, I will be travelling down to Halifax by train to watch Gateshead take on FC Halifax Town in the Quarter Finals of the FA Trophy.



I have free Northern travel, so I made it my aim to travel only by Northern. However I have two options....



Option 1;



0630 Newcastle to Carlisle 0807

0856 Carlisle to Appleby 0956 (Direct Rail Replacement)

1006 Appleby to Leeds 1207

1220 Leeds to Halifax 1255



or



Option 2;



0630 Newcastle to Carlisle 0807

0856 Carlisle to Appleby 0956 (Direct Rail Replacement)

1006 Appleby to Keighley 1134

JOURNEY BREAK / OPPORTUNITY FOR TRANSDEV PHOTOS

1301 Keighley to Leeds 1329

1351 Leeds to Halifax 1426



My return journey is as follows...



1706 Halifax to Bradford Interchange 1720

WALK TO BRADFORD FORSTER SQUARE

1743 Bradford Forster Square to Shipley 1750

1803 Shipley to Appleby 1953

2003 Appleby to Carlisle 2103

2128 Carlisle to Newcastle 2305



I'm edging towards Journey Option 2, to give me an opportunity to relax, however, it will be cutting it fine to make it to The Shay in time for kick off. It will be a long day, but I'm used to them by now having visited Cambridge and Milton Keynes last week.

Option 2.

You have free Northern travel after you called them shite, and you're going long distance on their trains...

You bloody mental?

(25 Feb 2016, 12:09 am)GX03 SVC wrote [ -> ]You have free Northern travel after you called them shite, and you're going long distance on their trains...

You bloody mental?

I'd do the same to be fair. You've less to grumble about when it's costing you nothing... [emoji1]

(25 Feb 2016, 12:09 am)GX03 SVC wrote [ -> ]You have free Northern travel after you called them shite, and you're going long distance on their trains...

You bloody mental?

That was a single day ticket voucher, I have free Northern Rail travel...