Another trip south by train, this time with bike. Arrived at the station to meet the train to Inverness. It was windy.
And sunny.
Very sunny.Big blue sky with turbines in the distance.Loch FleetRiver OykelSnow on the hills Coming into Inverness
Getting on to the sleeper.
Breakfast Solar panels next to the railway line.
The sleeper was not taking its normal route meaning it arrived 40minutes later than normal. Much of the extra time was spent manoeuvring through London.
Wembley stadium in the distance.
A ride through London taking 19 minutes to get from Euston to Paddington, five minutes of which was spent stationary at traffic lights.
Green Oxfordshire.Didcot.
Oh dear, the English and Union Jack Flags being inappropriately displayed in Didcot. Very disrespectful! What can be more disrespectful than cheap Chinese made flags looking scrawny and scruffy.
From bright sunshine and blue skies in the far north to cloud in the south.
Good morning Manchester Manchester Piccadilly is busy Waiting for the train Birchwood StationBack to Birchwood, the leaves have been cleared.
The train is delayed by trespassers.
Off at Warrington Central.
The delay meant I could not get a decent lunch.
A short ride between Warrington train stations Warrington Bank Quay
The train to Edinburgh was delayed due to trespassers. However there was plenty of leeway to catch the connecting train, especially if I changed at Haymarket.
River RibbleLancaster River Laune
As we headed north the delayed train lost time rather than catching up.
We arrived at Haymarket. As I got off the train. I heard the Inverness train leaving. That added another hour to the journey. Why can’t the trains cooperate to avoid these problems. It was minutes. And why was the Edinburgh train continually slowed down.
Food at Fava Greek Kitchen
Time to kill so time to grab food.
Back to Haymarket
Now this is when things got crazy.
I was looking at the display times for the trains on platform four. A man stumbled down the stairs grabbed hold of one my belt loops, span round out of control, falling off the platform, onto the train track. At that point my thoughts were , was a train coming, how do we get this man off the tracks, going down onto the tracks was not an option, too risky. We coaxed the man to his feet, and four complete strangers hauled the man onto the platform.. We restrained the man to stop a further incident.
I thought that the next train was mine, got on discovered it wasn’t. After getting on the correct train I realised just how traumatic I had found the incident.
Arrived in a foggy Inverness Foggy view from the hotel
The problem with catching the late afternoon train in autumn is that it’s dark. No views.
Onto the sleeper at Inverness.The breakfast has improved.WembleyArrival at Euston A quick ride
The ride from Euston to Paddington was less affected by the traffic lights than normal. As a result I managed to catch an earlier train to Reading.
Then on to Mortimer.
Geese on Wokefield EstateMortimer Station – it’s short
Reading Station
What a smooth journey, all the trains on time. No overcrowding. I had slept very well on the sleeper. A good journey.
And then……
On to the train at Reading to Manchester Piccadilly. It was rammed. Totally overcrowded.
Things started going really wrong and confusing as we went to Oxford. Announced that we would have to change trains. Then announced we would not have to change trains but we needed to go past Oxford into a siding and then come back. A long wait in the siding then back to the station. Then it was announced we would have to change trains after all.
There was a signal failure near Banbury.
We crossed Oxford Station and caught a train towards Hereford, changed at Worcester, heading to Birmingham. This was bad as now I was due to be in Manchester two hours late.
Worcestershire Parkway
Birmingham
Change at Birmingham New Street. This is a very badly designed station. The signage is poor. Very confusing, The ugly side of architecture.
More delay due to trespassers on the track. The train had to go slow as a precaution.
Late!Manchester Piccadilly two and a half hours latePremier Inn Room View from the eighth floor.
The Premier Inn is a quarter mile from the station.
In the U.K. this is not true, as rule 61 of the Highway Code says.
Referring to cycle lanes and cycle tracks “While such facilities are provided for reasons of safety, cyclists may exercise their judgement and are not obliged to use them.”
The Highway Code defines what cycle lanes and cycle tracks are, they are different.
A cycle lane is marked on the road, with either a solid line or a broken line. Vehicles cannot drive in cycle lanes marked by solid lines or park in them. From my observations this is not observed. A cycle lane which is only half a meter wide are worse than useless. There’s not enough space between the bike and the vehicles, and does not comply with Highway Code rule 72. I recently saw useless cycle lanes of this nature in Guildford and Wallingford. This is the part of the road which collects debris.
Cycle tracks are routes physically separated from vehicles, so, they should be good. Unfortunately in the UK they are often poorly designed, with dangerous entry and exit points, obstructions, debris, poor surfaces and no right of way when crossing side roads.
Why would a cyclist not use cycle lanes and cycle tracks? For the reasons described above, the UK cycle infrastructure is often useless. The UK needs to look abroad to see how to make proper cycle infrastructure.
It’s green next to the railway linesInteresting location for a coffee.Debenhams demolition in the distance The worst cycle infrastructure on Epsom Road in Guildford.
The cycle lanes marked out in Guildford are beyond useless. No segregation, suggesting a totally inappropriate position for the cyclists to take on the road. I would cycle at least at the line. I actually cycled in the mostly in the middle of the lane to take the decision away from the drivers, so they did not attempt to overtake at the frequent traffic islands. Of course I was hooted at, but ironically I was going faster than the motorised vehicles. Guildford suffers from pollution,
Clandon
There are plenty of stations in the commuter belt.
Delays
Someone had pulled a communication alarm on a train causing all the trains to be delayed.
Heading into Guildford.
Two days later headed back to Oxfordshire. Dodged the rail replacement buses by travelling from Farnborough.
Farnborough Change at Basingstoke Church spire Mortimer Approaching Reading from the south Boats at GoringBoats on the Thames at GoringThames near Cholsey.Bromptons Didcot – another change CholseyThe Thames at Wallingford – The Boat House.
Heading off in the sun.BromptonsBlue skies and a few clouds heading south.River Helmsdale Helmsdale Beach near Helmsdale Dornoch Firth
Changed from the far north line to the sleeper at Inverness.
Speeding away from Inverness.
Near KingussieBreakfast going through Birmingham
Not sure this breakfast looks appetising. It tasted ok. A few issues on the train. The lock on the cabin was not fully functioning, no pull out table in cabin, coffee machine in buffet car not working. There are some maintenance issues it appears.
AstonCanal in Birmingham Euston
Arrival in Euston is 20 minutes late due to work in the line. I had been forewarned by text.
Cycled over to Paddington.HS2 worksOxfordshire
Then headed back east
Boats on the Thames approaching ReadingReading station
I witnessed an old couple falling over on the escalator just after getting on. while they were heading up. I was heading down. A woman at the top shouted for someone to hit the emergency stop. A hapless woman holding a dog appeared transfixed and unable to hit the button. After what appeared to be an age someone finally hit the button. Chaos. No staff about.
The map taken from the Interrail app shows just how far the journey was, but misses the far north line and the detour to Oxfordshire.
From the Interrail app: 5784 km distance
15 trains on the Interrail ticket, 20 in total.
Seven countries.
Weather
Sunny almost throughout, but a big variation in temperature. Highest ,around 14 centigrade in Augsburg, lowest -10 in Bucharest.
Food
The food was good, but had to get creative in the meat centric countries. I had my first experience of a Lebanese restaurant in Bucharest, the very good Coin-Vert Libanez.
I had to fight through the snow and ice to get to it. A week later I had my second Lebanese restaurant experience in Paris.
Plenty of good food on this trip.
Hotels
I stayed in three Premier Inn plus rooms, three varieties of Ibis: budget, styles and no moniker, a Radisdon Individuals Schiller Park in Linz and Ramada by Wyndham in Bucharest.
Best bed:Premier Inn plus
Best shower: Premier Inn plus
Best view: Ramada by Wyndham
Best location: Hotel Schiller Park- in central location near the railway station.
Best breakfast: Ramada by Wyndham
Best rooms: Premier Inn plus
Most expensive: Premier Inn St Pancras
Best check out times: Ibis / check out by noon.
I like the simplicity of the Ibis Budget.
Locations
Both Augsburg and Linz were amazing places to visit. Smaller and not as busy as Vienna but interesting buildings and history. Bucharest lacked the beautiful buildings but the lake was beautiful.
Travelling by train emphasised the change in landscape and buildings. Farmhouses are tiny and ramshackled in Romanian but huge and well maintained in Austria and Germany.
People
As well as meeting the natives of each country that I visited I was surprised to meet people from so many other countries. I had conversations with Qataris, Russians, Albanians, Norwegians, New Zealanders, Moldovans, Canadians, Taiwanese and probably more. Talking to Austrians in German with their local accents was a joy, including a woman in her 90s from Vienna,
Cycling
Cycling was awful in Bucharest, but faster than cars. Driving in Bucharest also looks awful. Paris cycle way provision is good in Paris, but blocked by vehicles on the Sunday. Vienna was busy, Augsburg pleasant. I heard a tram hitting a car in Vienna and saw the massive crumpled side of the car, the tram just drove off. The closest I came to an accident was Inverness, where a car was being driven at 60 mph in a 30 zone, as I was turning right. The bike gave a good way to cross cities between stations and to get to hotels. It was also a great luggage trolley.
Yesterday there had been issues with the far north line, with rail replacement buses provided, but today the train seems to be running.
Due to the early start Premier Inn provided a pack breakfast.
Yuck! The worst bread ☹️.Inverness station – the Kings Cross Train.River BeaulyNigg in the distance At LairgBetween Golspie and BroraRiver HelmsdaleFlow CountryCauseymire turbines in distanceRiver Thurso
Insight 