The Oxford to Manchester train I was intending to catch was cancelled.. The latter train was getting in too late so took an earlier one. Due to connections not being so good and an additional change I was only 20 mins earlier than originally planned , despite leaving an hour early,
A beautiful day in the far north of Scotland as I set off.
Arrived in Inverness in the dark- took the train to Aberdeen to catch the sleeper service there as no cabins available on the service from Aberdeen.
Each time I come to London the traffic flows a bit better and the air tastes better. ULEZ doing its job.
A long day on the train. Scheduled times, 4:42 Kings Cross to Edinburgh, 3:35 Edinburgh to Inverness and the final leg 3:51. Distances 631km, 181 km and 130km. Trains getting slower as I travel north.
Caught a long delayed train instead of the one that I was meant to catch so I thought I’d get to London early. But further delays due to signal issues resulted in long delays on the way into London. But got there in the end. The train was 47 mins late according to the announcements. I was only 20 mins late.
Anecdotally the ULEZ is a success. London smells better. The traffic moves more freely. Pollution has reduced in London and I wonder if the pollution outside London has reduced. Pollution rises into the atmosphere in London and then comes down in Oxfordshire. Has anyone measured this?
In last weeks election the Conservative Party made much of the ULEZ. Unfortunately the primacy of the car still exists for a lot of people and is considered a vote winner. To me health and the environment trumps-why do we still think that poisoning people is acceptable?
After a dry cycle ride to the station the drizzle started
Dry ride around and about Wareham in the sun.
It’s a sunny warm day for the cycle to Cholsey station. Two changes at Reading and then Basingstoke.
The train from Basingstoke had ten carriages but only the front five going onto Poole. I made sure I got on the right half of the train.
Lots of interesting things to see on this trip including a view of St Mary’s Stadium, a view of Southampton Port, the New Forrest and various Dorset coastal towns.
All demonstrating some of the worst of British train travel.
Firstly not allowed on a train as I had the wrong ticket and then a change of heart and I was allowed on.
Then could not get on the train as it was totally rammed. But the train did not leave when it was meant to.
Suddenly people started streaming off the train. There was no guard, so the train could not depart.
Tried my luck, got on the train which now had some space. Eventually the train started moving, so got to Didcot in the end. No pictures as train too full.
A sunny but cool day for the trip on the far north line.
And then on to the Caledonian Sleeper at Inverness.
All very civilised, dinner (overpriced) and breakfast in the buffet car.
This is a very effective way to get to London, set off at 1632 from Thurso, arrive in 0800, 30 minutes earlier than expected. There were meant to be delays due to engineering works.
After leaving Euston station I encountered action by people dressed in orange tabards, who I believe were Just Stop Oil protestors. This did not affect me for two reasons. I was cycling and I was heading in the opposite direction to the blocked carriage way. Traffic stationary on the other side of the road. A minute later I spotted a single police car trying to make its way through the traffic. Then another few minutes on half a dozen police vans with sirens blaring. The vans were struggling to get through the stationary traffic so they crossed over to my side of the carriage way. All very exciting. Why did they not travel from the opposite direction in the first place ?
After the epic and throughly enjoyable train trip from the far north of Scotland to Porto I am going to continue to blog on less environmentally expensive transport. Looking at some of my trips and some big issues out there.
The trip to Porto. https://my-insight.org/2023/06/01/no-fly-zone/
Insight 