Most Interesting, Most Nostalgic, Most Boring, Most Hated

[6862]

Most interesting: Cambrian Coast Line, especially around Porthmadog/Minfordd where it meets the Fffestiniog/WHR, as well as the interchange with the Tallylyn at Tywyn.

Most nostalgic: Not something I've personally seen often, but a pair of Class 86s on containers on the WCML.

Most boring: Leamington Spa to Oxford, always seems very boring although going through a nice part of the country.

Most hated: Voyagers, (they make up probably 90 % of my train journeys), because of their inadequate capacity for passengers and luggage over long distances.

 

[Galvanize]

I quite like the Mid Cheshire Line a route of many contrasts :
Bustling Manchester Piccadilly
Scruffy outskirts of Manchester through Levenshulme
Stockport Viaduct
Single Track towards Altrincham with trams alongside
Snobby Hale, WAG heaven
Planes taking off and landing at nearby Manchester Airport
Plumley station with country pub
Knutsford, charming Cheshire set town
Salt mines and haulage depot at Lostock Gralam
Northwich viaduct over canal and Weaver
Delamere, Forest station
Mouldsworth, country station with pub then single track
Chester, Gateway to North Wales

A delightful journey, mind you if I had to use it everyday to get to work I would soon get fed up as it does seem to take an eternity!

Must say I was pleasantly surprised by the scenery contrasts of the Mid Cheshire Line, especially the bit through the Forest around Delamere!

Being a reletively hot and sunny Saturday afternoon, quite a bit of aesthetically pleasing sights on the trains too. Granted I was only having a “Jolly” on it, so I wouldn’t know what it was like if someone had to rely on it on a day to day basis...

I was fairly relieved when we eventually got to Stockport though, the last bit after Altrincham seemed to drag on a bit though...plus the train had begun to fill up with people heading into Manchester.

 

[Mikey C]

Probably but less acute than on a Cross-country service where even the old seven coach HSTs were usually fairly busy, sometimes packed to standing. A four coach replacement train was just an insult.

To be fair it wasn't a one for one replacement of 7 car trains with 4 car trains, as the frequency was significantly increased as well. It was passenger growth that overwhelmed the Voyagers, if capacity had been incrementally increased over the last 20 years to match this growth, then there would be far fewer complaints about the Voyagers

I was on a HORRIBLY overcrowded Cross Country 170 last year, but the there's nothing wrong with the 170 itself.

 

[Galvanize]

Most Interesting: The 4 track stretch between Loughborough Junction and London Blackfriars. Weaving through built up Inner City London so fast, passing the areas of Camberwell and Walworth, seeing the high rise residential flats from various eras, and the recently built “Razor Blade” Strata Tower overlooking Elephant and Castle. Just so amazing to think that so much has changed in the last decade in terms of developments. More entertaining when Class 319s were the main traction on the TL services, with the loud screaming motors giving a soundtrack to the fast paced ride.

Most Nostalgic: Bit of a tricky one this...a bit of careful thinking as to what I can feel so nostalgic about, given so many things from my younger years have changed.

So it’s gonna be...

The Bakerloo Line. Not my favourite line on the Tube, but it’s the one I seem to have most memories of.
Many Saturdays in the 1990s, when I was little, my Mum my Brother and I would travel upto Charing Cross, then catch the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus to go shopping at John Lewis and other shops on Oxford Street. Other trips involving the Bakerloo...to Regents Park to visit London Zoo, Paddington to catch a GW HST to visit Family in Gloucestershire, or even all the way to Queens Park to visit some Family Friends.

Bakerloo Line just has such a traditional look and feel about it, the fact it’s almost exactly the same as it was when I first started using it. Those 1972 stock trains have certainly served the line well.

Just I try to avoid it in the height of the Summer.

Most Boring:
Controversial this one, I first travelled on it with high hopes...

Aberdeen to Inverness. Just seems to go on forever...and ever...and ever. The scenery isn’t a lot to write home about either...mainly just rolling gentle countryside with occasional hills...or perhaps VERY distant views of faraway mountains on a clear day. Seems so overshadowed by the other more scenic routes. That said...it seemed quite well used, not just from end to end, but between the intermediate stations, so I’m glad there’s a fair amount of investment being pumped into improving the services. Proved a useful link however last November when the Highland Mainline was closed for engineering works, so instead of suffering a Replacement Bus for hours...had a train instead.


Most hated:

Hmm.
Class 376s. Basic commuter trains that do a job I suppose. But I just can’t seem to bring myself to like them if I ever find myself on one for more than 10 to 15 minutes.

 

[py_megapixel]

Bakerloo Line just has such a traditional look and feel about it, the fact it’s almost exactly the same as it was when I first started using it. Those 1972 stock trains have certainly served the line well.

Just I try to avoid it in the height of the Summer.

I can second that. Though the 1972 stock is a bit knackered now and (as you imply) the air conditioning on the new stock will certainly be welcome!

 

[InOban]

To be fair it wasn't a one for one replacement of 7 car trains with 4 car trains, as the frequency was significantly increased as well. It was passenger growth that overwhelmed the Voyagers, if capacity had been incrementally increased over the last 20 years to match this growth, then there would be far fewer complaints about the Voyagers

I was on a HORRIBLY overcrowded Cross Country 170 last year, but the there's nothing wrong with the 170 itself.

I think that on many routes the frequency was at least doubled. It didn't seem to have occurred to the planners that this would generate an increase in traffic, especially over commutable distances.

 

[43096]

To be fair it wasn't a one for one replacement of 7 car trains with 4 car trains, as the frequency was significantly increased as well. It was passenger growth that overwhelmed the Voyagers, if capacity had been incrementally increased over the last 20 years to match this growth, then there would be far fewer complaints about the Voyagers

I was on a HORRIBLY overcrowded Cross Country 170 last year, but the there's nothing wrong with the 170 itself.

They doubled the frequency on the core XC network (hourly to half-hourly) with the aim of growth, yet provided a train fleet with (at best) the same capacity as the old one. It was a badly thought out plan, with a seriously inadequate fleet and a botched implementation. It was, and remains, an utter fiasco.

 

[Norther Monkey]

Most Boring:
Controversial this one, I first travelled on it with high hopes...

Aberdeen to Inverness. Just seems to go on forever...and ever...and ever. The scenery isn’t a lot to write home about either...mainly just rolling gentle countryside with occasional hills...or perhaps VERY distant views of faraway mountains on a clear day. Seems so overshadowed by the other more scenic routes. That said...it seemed quite well used, not just from end to end, but between the intermediate stations, so I’m glad there’s a fair amount of investment being pumped into improving the services. Proved a useful link however last November when the Highland Mainline was closed for engineering works, so instead of suffering a Replacement Bus for hours...had a train instead.

I've seen the same opinion on this board before about Aberdeen-Inverness. Strikes me as a strange opinion for what (in my view) is a perfectly pleasant rural line connecting significant towns in NE Scotland. Not spectacular but certainly not stand out dull.

Perhaps it suffers in comparison to the routes connecting to it, which certainly can be described as spectacular.

 

[MrEd]

I've seen the same opinion on this board before about Aberdeen-Inverness. Strikes me as a strange opinion for what (in my view) is a perfectly pleasant rural line connecting significant towns in NE Scotland. Neither spectacular but certainly not stand out dull.

Perhaps it suffers in comparison to the routes connecting to it, which certainly can be described as spectacular.

I agree, I think it’s a really lovely journey through lovely Scottish countryside, with plenty of interesting infrastructure (the viaduct over the Spey, frequent level crossings, mixture of single and double track), as are so many (if not all) routes north of the Central Belt. It‘s not jaw-droppingly spectacular like parts of the West Highland or the Kyle line, or the Highland Main Line over Druimuachdar and Slochd, and this might be why it sometimes seems to disappoint (if folk have been on those routes first).

There are plenty of routes on the national network which run through far duller countryside- a lot of the ECML south of Durham, for instance, or some of the routes through the Fens.

 

[NoMorePacers]

I always find the Hope Valley Line to be particularly captivating. I'm willing to put up with the one-and-a-half hour journey time on the all stations stopper in a rotten, decrepit 150 so I can go on it.

 

[route101]

I always find the Hope Valley Line to be particularly captivating. I'm willing to put up with the one-and-a-half hour journey time on the all stations stopper in a rotten, decrepit 150 so I can go on it.

Done it on EM 158 last year for first , was surprised how quick it was

 

[Jamesrob637]

Done it on EM 158 last year for first , was surprised how quick it was

Best train for it until TPE make all their services 6-car post-COVID-19. They were doing fairly well pre-COVID-19 to be fair. February and early-mid-March seemed to produce more 6 than 3. Then passenger numbers fell off a cliff mid-late-March.

Assuming that the EMR is 4-car of course! Short-forms on EMR were rare on that route once they put 2x153 + 158 due to PRM regulations. Can't see a ride in a 153 being nearly as pleasant given the profusion of tunnels and cuttings.

 

[route101]

Best train for it until TPE make all their services 6-car post-COVID-19. They were doing fairly well pre-COVID-19 to be fair. February and early-mid-March seemed to produce more 6 than 3. Then passenger numbers fell off a cliff mid-late-March.

Assuming that the EMR is 4-car of course! Short-forms on EMR were rare on that route once they put 2x153 + 158 due to PRM regulations. Can't see a ride in a 153 being nearly as pleasant given the profusion of tunnels and cuttings.

Was a 4 car 158 and was quiet . Was Nottingham to Stockport i travelled then onto a pendo at Stockport to Glasgow

 

[NoMorePacers]

Best train for it until TPE make all their services 6-car post-COVID-19. They were doing fairly well pre-COVID-19 to be fair. February and early-mid-March seemed to produce more 6 than 3. Then passenger numbers fell off a cliff mid-late-March.

Assuming that the EMR is 4-car of course! Short-forms on EMR were rare on that route once they put 2x153 + 158 due to PRM regulations. Can't see a ride in a 153 being nearly as pleasant given the profusion of tunnels and cuttings.

I've managed to do it. It wasn't too bad in fairness. Got some nice thrash out of it.

 

[Journeyman]

The Far North isn't super-scenic, but it's beautiful for just how desolate it is.

Agreed - there's nothing else like it.