Trip #1
Knutsford - Blackpool North
Departure: 08:48 (on time)
Interchange 1 Arrival: 09:40 (5 mins late (Thanks Heaton Chapel & Levenshulme))
Interchange 1 Departure: 09:53 (8 mins late)
Interchange 2 Arrival: 10:42 (10 mins late)
Interchange 2 Departure: Unkown
Termini Arrival: 11:17 (17 minutes early)
Report:
I left Knutsford at 08:48. The train was a 142 (grrr) and it hit a bird between Mobberly & Ashley, I certainly saw the feathers fly! We were on time at Stockport but thanks to the Mid-Cheshire Line timetable "quirk"
annoyance, we were 5 Minutes late into Piccadilly. Further more, a teacher from my school got on at Heaton Chapel
. The train from Piccadilly to Preston was 8 Minutes late and to make matters worse, it was a 2 car 156 with no luggage racks (On a service from the airport. IKR!) (I was expecting a 185). So we all had to squeeze on and it only got quiet at Salford Cresent. I can see why people hate the Northern refurbs and the Richmond seats. It still had the PIS only displaying the destination and only anounced the destination once (the guard did the rest). The seating was uncomfortable and the water in the UAT just dripped out so I had to wipe the soap off my hands with toilet paper and my jeans. Also the seats still had the Serco-Abellio moquette so it must have been refurbed before the Arriva moquette was revealed. We arrived into Preston 10 minutes late and when I got off, the whole side was stained orange from the brake dust. It was (mostly) clean when I got on at Manchester. Maybe Northern should have gone with silver instead of white... The replacement bus to Blackpool was a 57 seater VanHool coach of Tyrers of Adlington. It got me there 17 minutes early (although I suspect that it's mostly down to the timings allowing for hold up's). As I got off, I noticed that the sign on the windscreen said "operated by Abellio"!
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