Recent content by DH1Commuter

The Metro is savage. Probably due to larger numbers of passengers and more staff, even the rougher bits of the tube/overground (Victoria line around Brixton and then Finsbury park at the other end, overground between New Cross and Whitechapel, Central line east of the City) feel a lot safer...

ECML south of Newcastle: Best 1) Aykley Heads nature reserve, just north of Durham - in the mornings occasional deer to be seen on the fringes of the wooded areas 2) Tyne Yard 3) The crossing over the Tyne, Dunston Staithes (and the tip that is Forth Banks) to one side, the...

This was sold as displacing imported coal for UK steel-making.

LNER: yes, the Azumas are not as nice as their predecessors, but they tend to be clean, staff are both present and pleasant and their website makes booking/changing tickets much easier than before.

It may not be too bad - in the last week passenger numbers at peak times have dropped significantly, courtesy of covid.

Gateshead East - rendered redundant(ish - I think it would have merit as a stop on the Newcastle-Heworth-Sunderland-Middlesbrough service, which passes through it) by the Metro opening.

Leamside's problems are two: 1) No ONE clear primary purpose (metro vs stopper vs freight vs high speed). 2) No one sponsoring council/LA - it passes through Durham, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead (let's leave aside that funding decisions for Metro also affect Newcastle and North...

Phones break. Batteries die. Paper tickets are beautifully simple.

York, Newcastle, Derby and Sheffield all sensibly-laid out, airy and pleasant. As for New St, I used it near daily for several years, and periodically since - not pleasant, though I appreciate that it is constrained by its underground location and lack of space to expand.

As does that on Lydd ranges.

Sorry to hear this. If it is who I'm thinking of, lovely chap.

I'd disagree - there are significant flows where LNER is either the only operator, or at least the operator with both capacity and well-timed trains that usually turn up (TPE cancellations are not infrequent)- I know there are significant numbers of ST holders to KGX from points south of...

In the summer, Hope is a lovely place to wait - a proper suntrap surrounded by greenery.

My working day can finish any time between 1700 and 2200hrs. I am a season-ticket holder and, pre-covid, valued the fact that I have the flexibility to jump on the first train, whichever operator, was going to get me home. Compulsory reservations would limit this flexibility (particularly as you...

No. The few minutes added to my day, every day, by the need to reserve seats in both directions for a short commute (on an IC line), is an annoyance that serves no purpose, particularly as no-one ever checks (apart from one day just before Christmas when a surprisingly-hostile team were working...