Trivia: Longest time you spent on the same train in one day

Gathursty · 21 Oct 2017

I was following on Real Time Trains the progress of a train from the start of the day until it finished in the afternoon.

Have any of you just sat on the same train all day?
By this I'm not including a sleeper train or anything ridiculously heavily delayed. An example would be a train starting up at Manchester Piccadilly then going to Chester and returning before heading up to Clitheroe or wherever until it goes out of service.

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Peter Mugridge · 22 Oct 2017

Probably doing the Clansman all the way from Euston to Inverness once.

Now... what about the longest time without even budging from the seat? For me that would be King's Cross to Aberdeen.

Harpers Tate · 22 Oct 2017

Are railtours allowed?

Gathursty · 22 Oct 2017

I'll be mean and say no.

Kite159 · 22 Oct 2017

If you are excluding sleepers then probably Inverness to Kings Cross last year when it was diverted via Carlisle on a Sunday.

09:40 to 19:27, and I think it arrived around 10 minutes late. Thankfully I paid the extra when booking to go 1st class, I've done Kings Cross - Inverness in standard class before and decided it was worth it for the extra space.

Multiple journeys goes to a 156 I had back in 2014 when doing route coverage in Norfolk, had it 5 times in a row (Norwich - Sheringham - Norwich - Yarmouth (via Berney) - Norwich (via Acle) - Lowestoft. Thankfully it was another 156 for the run to Ipswich

(Including Sleepers, May bank holiday weekend: 20:26 Inverness to London Euston 09:29. Although I believe we arrived 45 minutes early due to getting a decent path on the NLL)

PeterY · 22 Oct 2017

Watford Junction to Inverness a long time ago now. That was a long way and I'm sure my bum was the same shape as the seat afterwards.

gazthomas · 22 Oct 2017

Kings Cross to Inverness and back again

gazthomas · 22 Oct 2017

Harpers Tate said:
Are railtours allowed?

That's a shame as I did a 5.50am start and a 1.30am arrival on a railtour! Plus an overnight on the GBRf 4 day railtour last year

edwin_m · 22 Oct 2017

On Amtrak you can sit on the same train for several days and nights, give or take meal and toilet breaks and the occasional breath of fresh air at the longer stops. Even longer on the Trans Siberian...

IanXC · 22 Oct 2017

Pah!

It's all about Aberdeen to Penzance...(!)

Ianno87 · 22 Oct 2017

UK: Manchester Piccadilly to Plymouth on a Voyager. Or Llanelli to Pembroke Dock then back to Bridgend on an HST (albeit with leg stretch at Pembroke Dock).

Global, daytime trains: Malaysia, Butterworth (Penang) to Woodlands (Singapore), something like 10-11 hours.

Global, night trains: Warsaw to Cologne/Nice to Lille, both c. 13 hours.

185143 · 23 Oct 2017

5 hours on 508103 doing multiple trips of the Chester line!

cactustwirly · 23 Oct 2017

Mines 12 hours on a return trip on a HST between Reading and Pembroke Dock

Gathursty · 23 Oct 2017

There's a lot of hardy folk on this forum.

5 hours on the same Merseyrail train - what a killer!

Harpers Tate · 23 Oct 2017

Although it wasn't in fact the longest trip by any stretch - the time I caught a GW service from Exeter towards Truro (with the intention of changing for Falmouth) seemed interminably long. So much so that in fact I detrained at Liskeard (I'd had enough) and caught the following service instead. Class 150 to blame. Quite unfit for purpose IMO.

My longest trip, as someone else suggested above, on one train, was from Chicago to the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Kite159 · 23 Oct 2017

Harpers Tate said:
Although it wasn't in fact the longest trip by any stretch - the time I caught a GW service from Exeter towards Truro (with the intention of changing for Falmouth) seemed interminably long. So much so that in fact I detrained at Liskeard (I'd had enough) and caught the following service instead. Class 150 to blame. Quite unfit for purpose IMO.

My longest trip, as someone else suggested above, on one train, was from Chicago to the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Agreed, Exeter - Penzance services are a drag when a high density 150/1 tips up. A 150/2 isn't so bad in comparison (at least you have tables, 2+2 seating)

mervyn72 · 23 Oct 2017

For me it's 150266 on Newton Abbot - Paignton - Exmouth - Barnstaple - Exeter.

Longest on one journey was a Milan to Palermo train that was shunted into the ship and you don't have to get off it whilst this happens. 21 hours in total

Dhassell · 23 Oct 2017

My longest journey was probably Edinburgh to London Kings Cross, Or Maybe even York to Bristol TM via Birmingham New Street and then diverted via Kidderminster.

JohnRegular · 25 Oct 2017

Aberdeen - Bristol Temple Meads, about 9h20m. Not too bad actually, would likely make the same trip again this December but it is cheaper to go via London.

takno · 25 Oct 2017

I did 70 hours across Canada once, although there were a couple of 1 hour stops to stretch your legs, and there were sleeping cars way back in the posh part of the train.

In this country I've done Exeter to Edinburgh a couple of times. It's okay, particularly in first, but definitely requires a good book, some TV to watch, and access to wine somewhere after Sheffield when you realise you're barely past halfway.

Cowley · 25 Oct 2017

In this country mine was on the 6th June 91 - 1V59 0900 Aberdeen - Penzance from Aberdeen to Exeter which was 47616 to Edinburgh, 86253 to New Street and 47822 to Exeter.

Abroad was Jaipur to Udaipur in India at around 12 hours I think but it was a long time ago and I'm not certain.

palmersears · 25 Oct 2017

Longest for me is Kings Cross - Alnmouth a few years ago which is only 3hr30 or so.

The sadist in me has a strange desire to do Aberdeen - Penzance, but I'd have to remortgage the house for a ticket in all likelihood. Oh and my dodgy hip would probably fall off before we got there!

roversfan2001 · 26 Oct 2017

I did Crewe to Holyhead and back in February, 2 hours (give or take) each way plus 20 minutes before departure from Holyhead, 4 and a half hours on 221143!

GRALISTAIR · 28 Oct 2017

At least 72 hours on a rail tour. Also did Penzance to Aberdeen in the 1980s

Cricketer8for9 · 29 Oct 2017

Inverness to King’s Cross in the UK. Longest in a single country was Granada to Barcelona Sants in 1987 on the pre AVE RENFE. 17 hours in the same compartment on an overnight train. About the same time (perhaps a bit less) on the Sud Express Paris Austerlitz to Madrid Chamartin (so two countries). Had a couchette for that one though.

chorleyjeff · 29 Oct 2017

Gathursty said:
I was following on Real Time Trains the progress of a train from the start of the day until it finished in the afternoon.

Have any of you just sat on the same train all day?
By this I'm not including a sleeper train or anything ridiculously heavily delayed. An example would be a train starting up at Manchester Piccadilly then going to Chester and returning before heading up to Clitheroe or wherever until it goes out of service.

Lancaster to Carlisle via Barrow on a Pacer seemed like forever.

70014IronDuke · 29 Oct 2017

Longest time you spent on the same train in one day
?
24 hours in my case.
I have tried to spend more, but it didn't work out. Good luck to anyone trying to beat that.

If you mean longest time in one train? Sometime in the mid 70s - 74 I think - a friend and I came back from Istanbul Sirkeci to Boulogne Maritime - I think we left on a Thursday night at about 19.30 and got into Boulogne on the Sunday around lunchtime. Got to factor in a couple of time zones, but I suspect that is about 55 hours.

DuncanS · 31 Oct 2017

15 years or so ago when they had the emergency speed restrictions across a lot of the network it took me 11 hours to get from London to Glasgow on the one train - at one point the track inspectors were walking past the moving train in the same direction but at a faster speed.

DanTrain · 1 Nov 2017

Well I've done 4 days 7 hours (ish) across Canada - that be 3am Wed to 10am (ish) Sat. Also, I think this scores well on most delayed, it arrived 9 hours late into Toronto before leaving 5 hours behind (hence 3am) and it arrived 2-3 hours late as well!

Bletchleyite · 1 Nov 2017

DanTrain said:
Well I've done 4 days 7 hours (ish) across Canada - that be 3am Wed to 10am (ish) Sat. Also, I think this scores well on most delayed, it arrived 9 hours late into Toronto before leaving 5 hours behind (hence 3am) and it arrived 2-3 hours late as well!

I've done that too - an amazing journey.

Trivia: Longest time you spent on the same train in one day

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