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When Are You Impressed By The Railway

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EssexGonzo

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Everyday, pretty much.

Because of the frequency and relative reliability of the service with trains that are 30 years old, used intensively and on a pretty crowded network. It's rare that I don't get to where i need to get to and when I'm delayed, it's quite often not the railway's fault.
 

fowler9

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Every day in my local area when the staff are helpful despite their employers constantly cancelling trains leaving large gaps in service due to insufficient train crew. They must feel hung out to dry in a war zone.
 

lancastria

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London Bridge through and terminal platforms. I think that in the weekday off peak there are just over 100 arrivals/departures per hour. It's exhilarating when three trains are leaving southbound as three trains are arriving.
 

Mogster

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As a daily Northern passenger into Manchester Oxford Road I’m really struggling with this one...

On my occasional work WCML trips I still find the Pendos impressive, especially the tilting.
 

al78

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When things go pear shaped, and it is clear the public facing staff are stressed out and likely taking frustration/abuse from passengers, that they still seem to go the extra mile to be helpful if one is polite with an enquiry. The Vigin staff are very keen to tell passengers to collect and fill in a delay repay form during severe disruption.
 

BigCj34

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Obviously more historic but the viaducts that would never get built today. Genfin, Ribblehead. Chappel to name a few. Even the viaducts on the Furness line that make Barrow to Lancaster notably quicker than by road which meanders around the pensinsulars. In comparison today there is endless debate in whether a Morecambe Bay crossing should ever go ahead but a pretty good attempt was made in the 19th century.
 

ChiefPlanner

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London Bridge through and terminal platforms. I think that in the weekday off peak there are just over 100 arrivals/departures per hour. It's exhilarating when three trains are leaving southbound as three trains are arriving.

A regular place to take visitors from other railways - to see a "real peak" - though a good peak at Liverpool St could be equally impressive. They always appreciated it.
 

Mitchell Hurd

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Interesting thread this :)!

I'm not sure whether what I'm saying in this paragraph is relevant to this but regarding my visit to Plymouth on Saturday 7th April last year, for the first time since leaving there on the June 4th 2006 with Mum (then passing through there on an HST twice to and from Penzance in July both 2009 & 2010), I was gobsmacked at the timekeeping. The 08:13 from Didcot Parkway to Penzance (7-coach HST) arrived into Plymouth at 11:17 instead of 11:16 (that was with an additional call at Ivybridge). On its 16:00 back (but to Reading) plus the 18:58 from Reading to Didcot Parkway ran on time and so did the 08:13 basically.

Since my first ever 2 visits to Cardiff / Wales twice (23rd January and the 14th August) this year, I feel TfW do fantastic with the fleet they have!

An Edinburgh train at Kings Cross was delayed because of a faulty seat reservation system (last Sunday) - about time it's fixed before departure and not have a constant 'We need to get this train out on time' attitude!

Another one is if there's severe disruption because of a broken down train or anything to do with infrastructure, services being on the move in anything up to 3 hours I feel is fine - 4 hours (ok) 5 or more, unacceptable. At this rate I'll be caught up in a delay this long because of a broken down train (or the train I'm on breaks down) or broken infrastructure (for example: signalling or overhead wires). I say this as it's been happening slightly more frequently at the moment.

Theres more I can think of at how I'm impressed by the railway but that'll take me ages to think.
 

trainophile

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I never fail to be awestruck when I go across the Forth Rail Bridge, and perhaps almost as much crossing the Tay into Dundee. Such magnificent engineering of the bridges, plus the spectacular views.

I am also very impressed with the actual country-wide rail network - you can get from almost anywhere (with a station) to almost anywhere else, it seems to slot together like magic.
 

Sad Sprinter

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There are lots of little things. I think for me, one of them is catching a train from Clapham Junction to London Victoria. Pulling out of Clapham on a 12 track railway, racing behind the gardens on Battersea, before climbing onto the "high level line" over the sweeping curve level with chimney pots. Before meeting up with the Chatham Lines at Battersea Pier Junction, racing a Networker over the Thames and sinking back down into Victoria again. The hapazard, uncordinated nature of Victorian railway building has led to some incredibly interesting routings and junctions.
 

LeeLivery

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Waterloo/Victoria-Clapham Junction in the peaks with everything running to plan. It's incredible. The sheer number of trains and people has to be admired.

Another thing is the infrastructure the Victorians achieved. Miles of viaducts, bridges, tunnels, cuttings - the engineering and designs all done on paper, not a MacBook in sight.
 

RealTrains07

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When they have desiros :lol: which in my opinion are the most comfortable train to travel on
 

jdxn

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Hi everyone,

In my case it's travelling by Pendolino from London Euston, albeit only three or four times a year. To achieve those kind of journey times using outdated infrastructure is in my opinion very impressive.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks for reading this.

To suggest that the infrastructure is outdated on the WCML is possibly pushing it a bit far. The railways have had huge amounts spent on them, but probably need more. Remodelling at Milton Keynes, & Rugby have made a big difference. There is so much kit out there, so many different organisations its incredible whats achieved. Like others have said, be at a main line London station or its approach, or see what happens at Leeds in the peak and its a testament to all those making it work.
 

yorksrob

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I'm always impressed that I can hop on a train in the middle of Leeds, and be in wilderness within an hour and a half.
 

TukayAway

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Just watching and hearing a heavy freight roll past. It makes me realise how much it gets off the roads, and how suitable rail is for heavy loads.

Or the fact I spent 5 days up in Scotland in June, with some quite tight connections to ensure I covered all of the lines and junctions I needed to. I didn't have any late running, any cancellations and I was even able to do more than I intended due to the punctuality of everything. Pity the sleeper bringing me home got delayed, but I was asleep and basically got a free journey!
 

Horizon22

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Watching a train movement every 15 seconds or so at London Bridge is always fairly impressive.
 

Peter C

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The fact that I can get on a train on the Cotswold Line in the middle of nowhere in England and be able to travel 100% on rail and get to mainland Europe. Impressive.

-Peter
 

trainophile

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The fact that I can get on a train on the Cotswold Line in the middle of nowhere in England and be able to travel 100% on rail and get to mainland Europe. Impressive.

-Peter

True, Eurostar is an icon of our time. We are so lucky to live in the current era as regards rail.

Also impressed by the comparative speed (with notable unfortunate exceptions) that things are sorted out in the event of disruption, be it breakdowns, weather or trespass and its variations. Generally on the move within an hour or so, and TOCs are usually happy to permit alternative travel to that booked, rather than unnecessarily delay people.
 

Peter C

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True, Eurostar is an icon of our time. We are so lucky to live in the current era as regards rail.

Also impressed by the comparative speed (with notable unfortunate exceptions) that things are sorted out in the event of disruption, be it breakdowns, weather or trespass and its variations. Generally on the move within an hour or so, and TOCs are usually happy to permit alternative travel to that booked, rather than unnecessarily delay people.
We definitely are.

I also agree with that other point - the issues with the network are often infrastructure and the TOCs do a lot to ensure their trains keep running, even when "normals" keep throwing hate at them on things like Twitter.

-Peter
 

MrCub

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I can walk to my local station, when the service is operating as it should, without consulting the timetable and wait no more than 15 mins for a quick train to London, and at the weekend the service is really very keenly priced. I can then come home when I want into the early hours.
 

Ken H

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I'm always impressed that I can hop on a train in the middle of Leeds, and be in wilderness within an hour and a half.
and I can hop on a train in the wilderness and be in leeds in an hour and a half!

Wilderness not too good today. vertical flood.
 

Ken H

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Watching a train movement every 15 seconds or so at London Bridge is always fairly impressive.
coming out of london bridge and rolling along with another train on a parallel track doing same speed. Then 'WHOOSH' and a train passes down the middle. Impressed me as a kid - still does.
 

yorksrob

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and I can hop on a train in the wilderness and be in leeds in an hour and a half!

Wilderness not too good today. vertical flood.

I must admit, I prefer the wilderness when its not too wet !
 

trainophile

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I can walk to my local station, when the service is operating as it should, without consulting the timetable and wait no more than 15 mins for a quick train to London, and at the weekend the service is really very keenly priced. I can then come home when I want into the early hours.

It's all right for some :lol: .
 

Birkonian

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Merseyrail, despite the ancient trains. Hoping for even better things with the new stock.
Presumably, your local station isn't one of those like mine that gets missed out when they run non-stop to make up time. I pay the same as all other Merseyside residents but get a sub-standard service.
 
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