Travel in Britain? A breeze

 

When travelling to England the BritRail pass is the way to go. Don’t try buying it here. You can only buy it abroad, to the envy of the Brits. It will save you literally hundreds of dollars on relatively expensive train fares. I bought a pass in Canada for $933.40. Sound expensive? It’s for 15 round trips within a two-month period within England. You can also buy passes that include Wales and Scotland. But if I had bought separate train tickets here I would have been out a whole lot more money. The pass is also good for First Class travel (photo), a bonus in itself. Most trains have First Class sections. And you often don’t need to make reservations. Just arrive at the station and board a First-Class coach. If you’re worried the train might be crowded head to the ticket office and make a seat reservation – at no cost. Once aboard you’ll get the privilege of free food and beverages, including booze. Attendants, like in planes, wheel trolleys down the aisle. But First-Class service varies. The best I’ve had is on the London – York LNER line, where attendants took meal requests and served hot dinners on real plates. Booze was also served in glasses. But on the return trip no hot meals but beverages flowed frequently. Other services and railways didn’t have sandwiches, just snacks and drinks but usually booze. The Southeastern high-speed service had no first class at all.

Train travel generally here is a charm. Trains are frequent, even to long distance locations. If you miss a train there’s usually another in a half hour or hour. On board information is excellent. LED reads outs tell you the next stations, sometimes graphics will display how crowded each coach is and where the restrooms are. Upcoming stations are announced by an identical female voice sounding like actress Emma Thomspon. Beyond that, onboard “train managers” will welcome you aboard, inform how to connect to another train at a transfer point, and let you know why we might be hesitating or slightly behind schedule. Moreover, if you’re late usually beyond 15 minutes you can apply for a Delay Repay refund. Station signage is also good. Even at the most rural stations, and after hours when ticket offices have closed, electronic platform signs inform about next arrivals and departures.

The one downside of train travel – and city buses for that matter – is the passengers. On London buses people invariably talk on their phones. On trains, there’s yakking but also inconsiderate behaviour. Groups are often loud and have no conception of how their behaviour impacts others. Trains can have one “quiet car”; I wish there were more.

London buses are frequent and onboard signage informs of the next stop along with audio announcements. If a bus is delayed at a stop you’ll be told a reason such as a wait to “spread out” service or because of a driver change. Pay is no problem, you just tap your credit or debit card. All buses are accessible and have buttons on the side you push for a ramp to come down from the middle door. About half the tube stations have elevators. And all the stations along the gleaming new 72-mile Elizabeth Line bisecting London are accessible.

This last point isn’t about trains. But upon arrival at London’s Heathrow this was the best Customs experience I’ve had. No speaking to agents just an electronic gate using passport recognition. Sort of what's at Pearson without the added “speak-to-Customs” bit.

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller