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The Transport Game

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Xenophon PCDGS

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The horror of the situation begins to dawn on you that midnight on Saturday night is not the best time to look for onward train connections...but it is better to be there at Newcastle than to see the "witching hour" at Sunderland.:roll:

So, there is nothing for it but to wait for the 0755 East Coast service from Newcastle that arrives at 1240 at London Kings Cross on Sunday.
 
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Seacook

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Since the buses and tube are disrupted near Kings Cross, and wanting to travel on a different line, we walk across the road to the shopping centre that conceals St Pancras station and take the 1300 EMT service to Nottingham arriving at 1518 on Sunday afternoon.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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That was an excellent last journey for a Sunday, which gives a reasonable amount of time to board the EMT 1544 service to Liverpool Lime Street, arriving at 1830 on Sunday afternoon, leaving only five and a half hours of Sunday services to consider for the next journey.
 

Seacook

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The prospect of Sunday night in Liverpool is not attractive enough so we hustle over to platform 7 and board the 1848 Virgin train to London Euston arriving unexpectedly punctually for a Sunday service at 2101.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Deciding to brave the unknown that is the Northern Line at London Euston underground station on a Sunday night, we allow ourselves enough time to travel in a southerly direction, taking a 2123 Northern Line underground train to one of its southern terminal stations at Morden underground station, arriving at 2209 on Sunday night.
 

Seacook

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Having successfully avoided going in the other direction from Euston, travelling to Mornington Crescent and ending the wrong thread, we make haste to the bus stop outside Morden tube station and catch the 2217 route 93 bus to Putney station alighting at 2239 on a cold and windswept Sunday night. We reflect that this may have been an error.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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An error that we soon see an answer to by giving ouselves enough time to catch the 2252 South West Trains service to Clapham Junction, arriving quickly there at 2257 on Sunday night, reflecting that many routes run onwards from there.
 

Seacook

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Anxious for many reasons to move on from Clapham, we board the 2309 SWT service to Portsmouth Harbour arriving at 0053 on Monday morning and reflecting on what a fine job the TOCs have done over the past week in keeping to the timetables.
 

Seacook

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A short stay in Havant and we are boarding the 0517 Southern service to Southampton Central. As the doors open we can see that it is right on time and the display reads 0559 on Monday morning. We head for the departure board to find the next leg of our trip.
 

OxtedL

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At this point the bubble finally bursts, and a catastrophic cable theft knocks out most of the SWT network. Possibly for the rest of the day :o. We give up waiting after about 45 minutes of being squashed by an ominously growing crowd of commuters and head to the town centre.

We get Bluestar Bus 1 to Winchester station, leaving at 0650 and getting there around 0740.

It looks like we could be getting a few more buses to get out of this mess...
 

Seacook

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Being too far South to rely on the railways, we catch the 0910 National Express coach to Birmingham coach station arriving at 1305 Monday afternoon.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Thinking of continuing by coach in a northerly direction, we note that we can take a coach that will take us to an interchange served by train, coach, bus and plane, with time to spare, so we catch the 1415 National Express service 325 from Birmingham coach station to Manchester Airport, where we arrive at 1625 on Monday afternoon.
 

Seacook

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During the journey to Manchester, we see that a lorry is parked on the hard shoulder of the motorway. It is loaded with cables and the police are handcuffing the driver.

Now that we have escaped the railway disruptions in the South of England, we can switch mode again and catch the 1700 TPE service from Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness. It is dark when we arrive at 1930 on Monday evening.
 

Seacook

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Feeling slightly disappointed that the 'i' in the town name is not an 'o', or vice versa so that the station could become Mollom Palindrome, we are unable to sample the delights of the Millom Folk Museum at this time of day, so we cross the bridge to the opposite platform and catch the 2012 Northern Rail service back to Barrow-in-Furness. It is 2045 on Monday evening.
 

Ivo

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Feeling a bit fed up after the day's failures and the improbably early start, we decide to call it a night and return to the station on Tuesday morning for the 06:00 Northern service to Carlisle. The train is delayed just outside Carlisle though by a signal failure and we thus arrive 22 minutes late at 08:57. "Not again...!"

During the journey to Manchester, we see that a lorry is parked on the hard shoulder of the motorway. It is loaded with cables and the police are handcuffing the driver.

Very good :D
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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There was one benefit to arriving at Carlisle at that time, because our onward journey need not necessarily be on yet another one of Northern's famous Pacers and leisurely stroll over to the 0937 First ScotRail service to Newcastle, arriving on time at 1107
 

trentside

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Having had time for a quick coffee at Newcastle, it's time to jump on the 1138 XC service to Glasgow Central, arriving at 1412 on Tuesday afternoon.
 

Seacook

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A quick stroll around Central station to stretch our legs and it's time for another brief trip, on the 1500 XC service to Bristol Temple Meads arriving at 2245 on Tuesday night.
 

Ivo

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Outside the station, and on to the 23:08 649 bus to Bath, via Keynsham.

Have I been on that bus+train combination before [IRL; including the XC train from GLC]? Like, on Monday night? :lol: No prizes for guessing why I said this one!
 

trentside

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After spending the night in the lovely city of Bath, it's time to catch the 0609 XC service from Bath Spa to Birmingham New Street, arriving at 0756 on Wednesday morning.
 

Ivo

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You could have come up to my Uni to say hello...! ;)

Never mind.

After getting bored with the Bullring, we head back down to New Street in time for the 08:36 LM service to Liverpool Lime Street... which is cancelled due to vandalism. Oh well; never mind! Back into the streets then, and a leisurely walk over to Snow Hill for a sojourn on the Metro up to Wolverhampton St George's.
 

gnolife

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Are reasonable distance walks permitted for this thread (I.E. You get ditched at New Mills Central station, and then want to take the bus 199 to Buxton, which goes from the main road about 5-10 mins walk away roughly)
 

Ivo

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Didn't I just do that without even realising it might not be legal? :shock:

Or is that why you're asking...?
 

gnolife

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Oh, yeah :D

I'll put us on the 9:15 to Manchester from Wolves. ANd We get off at Stockport at 1027
 

Seacook

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Oh, yeah :D

I'll put us on the 9:15 to Manchester from Wolves. ANd We get off at Stockport at 1027

Assuming we were at New Street around 0820 then walked to Snow Hill, caught the Metro (at some unspecified time) and spent roughly 35 minutes travelling to W St G then I don't think there is enough time to walk along Pipers Row, past the bus station to get to the railway station by 0915.

I think we are still at Snow Hill Metro stop waiting for a tram and checking our watches. The blue box that whisked us back from Stockport has vanished.
 

Ivo

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My bad. Again :roll:

It is 09:37 on Wednesday morning in a cold and miserable Wolverhampton city centre (St George's tram stop obviously).
 
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