Tag: Environment

Environment, Travel

Coast to coast north south north by train

Posted on by insightndes
Low cloud in the far north

This journey, starting in the far north of Scotland, visiting Oxfordshire (twice), London, West Sussex, Poole, Surrey, Cheshire , Liverpool and Inverness.

Cloud still low
Rain has started
Change to the Caledonian Sleeper at Inverness.
Sunny breakfast on the move

No dishwasher working on the train, hence the disposable cup.

Sunny at Euston

The only issue on the cycle to Paddington was a close pass from a speeding motorcyclist. Why are they allowed in the bus lanes and why can’t they ride better?

Paddington

After chatting to the man on the train doing the food trolley he said he would give me a free tea, if he got time before Didcot. Very kind.

Vapour trails
Free tea
The Thames
Didcot
Didcot again

First train issue- train to Paddington delayed so caught a different train.

Cycle across London in glorious sunshine, taking in Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, London Eye…

I came across a new menace in London, motorised skateboards exclusively ridden by idiots. These are not legally allowed to be used on pavements, roads or cycle paths. What happens if collide with an illegal vehicle, with no insurance and no sense?

After a stay in London I trained on from south London via London Bridge to Sussex.

Eastbourne Pier
Eastbourne Pier from a different angle

The trip included cycling on the wonderful cuckoo trail. Lots of birdsong but no cuckoos heard,

Sunny view of the sea
Back on the train again at Eastbourne
Early start, so breakfast on the train
A green interlude
Brighton
Brighton station
River Itchen
Southampton station
Near Christchurch

A stop in Poole then back on the train.

Always end up in Reading 🙂
A rainy view of the Thames
After a wet ride from Didcot Station
Oops, accidentally got on first class at Didcot- on a crowded train

Change at Reading, on to Ash.

Ash

Fun at Ash, delayed train from Guildford due to something being thrown on the line.

A stay in Surrey for the weekend.

Leaving Farnham
London

Another cycle across London.

Euston station
Berkhamsted?
Chester station
Capenhurst
Liverpool

Things started going pear shaped at Liverpool from where I was trying to travel to Inverness.

Liverpool station

Caught an earlier train , which I was only able to do due to having arrived early at Liverpool.

Change at Preston for Edinburgh
Passing through Lancaster
Back into Scotland- sun getting low

The train got stopped, so my connection at Haymarket started looking unsafe,

Edinburgh Airport

Despite warning the conductor and his best efforts we missed the connection to Inverness. ScotRail refused to hold their train. Splitting up British Rail was not a good idea.

Shoved on a train to Perth.

Sun setting on the Forth
I did not expect to be going through Kilcardy

After a late taxi ride from Perth to Inverness I eventually got to bed.

Up bright and early
Back at Inverness station
Crossing the river Ness
Near Lairg
Sunny with a blue sea near Brora.
River Helmsdale
Near Kinbrace
Preparing to disembark
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Travel

Frosty Elgin-Inverness-Far north

Posted on by insightndes

A beautiful frosty day.

Elgin Cathedral

At Elgin station there was no sign of the 1236 train to Inverness on the displays and confusingly the ScotRail app showed the train already at Forres. It turns out that the train shuttles back and forth between Elgin and Inverness.

The Inverness train arriving at Elgin from Inverness .
A sunny but frosty day
Arriving at Inverness
The frosty journey continues from Inverness
Frost covered tree at Lairg
Sun has set and the windows are dirty
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Travel

Edinburgh-Aberdeen-Elgin

Posted on by insightndes
The racks on the Edinburgh trams being put to good use.
Setting off from Haymarket
Crossing the Forth
Yellow tinged Aberdeen station

A cold morning in Edinburgh, cold in Aberdeen and even colder in Elgin.

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Environment, Travel

Didcot to Paddington plus ULEZ

Posted on by insightndes
Didcot Parkway
Crossing the Thames

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?

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Travel

The far north to London in July

Posted on by insightndes
Setting off

A sunny but cool day for the trip on the far north line.

https://videopress.com/v/mwsNr2e0?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Train arriving

And then on to the Caledonian Sleeper at Inverness.

Dinner

All very civilised, dinner (overpriced) and breakfast in the buffet car.

Breakfast cuppa

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.

Arrival at Euston

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 ?

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Environment, Travel

Plane vs train CO2 emissions

Posted on by insightndes

Handily the Guardian Newspaper has published a comparison of CO2 emissions between plane and train (and car). See https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/30/carbon-emissions-from-uk-rail-travel-lower-than-previously-thought?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The example the Guardian cited was the journey from London to Edinburgh, which is one part of the journey that I completed. 12.5kg for the train and 131kg for the plane, more than a factor of 10 difference. All the trains I travelled on we’re pretty well full, so maximum savings achieved.

From the article “The first result from RDG’s new carbon calculator confirms this figure is actually 12.5kg/CO2e – approximately half the previous estimation, and 10 times less carbon than car travel or 13 times less than the equivalent flight.” referring to trains. I am actually surprised how much better trains are than flying and cars.

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