I was planning on travelling from Alfreton, in Derbyshire, to Manchester tomorrow morning. Due to the Whaley Bridge dam situation there are no trains running through the Hope Valley between Sheffield and Manchester. If there is announcement that the line will reopen on Tuesday I may delay my journey by one day. However, I decided to ring East Midlands Trains to check on ticket acceptance by other routes.
The easiest route from Alfreton would be to catch the hourly Nottingham to Leeds Northern Trains Service up to Leeds and then travel by TPE or Northern to Manchester. I think tickets are being accepted that way from Sheffield. Another alternative would be to head south to Nottingham and then travel via Derby and Stoke on Trent.
When I rang East Midlands Trains to check on ticket acceptance via Leeds, my phone call was automatically redirected to National Rail Enquiries. The lady on the phone checked if it was Alfreton in Derbyshire I was travelling from and informed me that there were no trains running beyond Sheffield as the line was closed. I explained that I would like to check whether my ticket would be accepted via Leeds and she said there are no tickets available from Alfreton to Manchester via Leeds. I explained to her politely again that I knew that. I asked as the usual route was closed would my ticket be accepted via Leeds as I understood that route was being allowed from Sheffield to Manchester. I was asked to hang on whilst she checked with a supervisor.
Her eventual reply was that she has found me a route that I would be able to travel!
Alfreton to Norwich, Norwich to London Liverpool Street, tube to London Euston, London Euston to Manchester. I gave up trying to tell her that it was a ridiculous suggestion of a route. I just politely said, if necessary I will split tickets at Sheffield and go via Leeds or the direct TPE service diverted via Huddersfield. What I may do is just travel from Hucknall, my local station, via Nottingham, Derby and Stoke. I was only using Alfreton because it was much quicker and far less money.
But seriously. Telling me to travel from Alfreton to Manchester via Norwich and London. Fortunately my geographical knowledge and my knowledge of the U.K. rail system is quite good. What if I had been a foreign traveller and had taken her advice!
The easiest route from Alfreton would be to catch the hourly Nottingham to Leeds Northern Trains Service up to Leeds and then travel by TPE or Northern to Manchester. I think tickets are being accepted that way from Sheffield. Another alternative would be to head south to Nottingham and then travel via Derby and Stoke on Trent.
When I rang East Midlands Trains to check on ticket acceptance via Leeds, my phone call was automatically redirected to National Rail Enquiries. The lady on the phone checked if it was Alfreton in Derbyshire I was travelling from and informed me that there were no trains running beyond Sheffield as the line was closed. I explained that I would like to check whether my ticket would be accepted via Leeds and she said there are no tickets available from Alfreton to Manchester via Leeds. I explained to her politely again that I knew that. I asked as the usual route was closed would my ticket be accepted via Leeds as I understood that route was being allowed from Sheffield to Manchester. I was asked to hang on whilst she checked with a supervisor.
Her eventual reply was that she has found me a route that I would be able to travel!
Alfreton to Norwich, Norwich to London Liverpool Street, tube to London Euston, London Euston to Manchester. I gave up trying to tell her that it was a ridiculous suggestion of a route. I just politely said, if necessary I will split tickets at Sheffield and go via Leeds or the direct TPE service diverted via Huddersfield. What I may do is just travel from Hucknall, my local station, via Nottingham, Derby and Stoke. I was only using Alfreton because it was much quicker and far less money.
But seriously. Telling me to travel from Alfreton to Manchester via Norwich and London. Fortunately my geographical knowledge and my knowledge of the U.K. rail system is quite good. What if I had been a foreign traveller and had taken her advice!
