Trains & Confusion

[ikthius]

Not sure if it should go here.

But I am trying to get a train to take me to Dudley/wolverhampton, and I saw that you can buy a ticket from virgin train and it says that I have to take a bus ride for the first 90% of the journey, why is this, why not a train straight to it?

check attachment.

ik

[Graham F]

Originally Posted by ikthius

Not sure if it should go here.

But I am trying to get a train to take me to Dudley/wolverhampton, and I saw that you can buy a ticket from virgin train and it says that I have to take a bus ride for the first 90% of the journey, why is this, why not a train straight to it?

check attachment.

ik

Sunday is the day that they do engineering work and it looks like this is why they are giving bus replacements

[BBKing]

You'll be going up the West Coast Main Line which is in the middle of a protracted upgrade to make it as fast as the rest of the UK's mainline railways got to in the 1970s. They tend to do this either at weekends or by closing great chunks of it for weeks on end.

Not sure what to suggest - the East Coast via Edinburgh as far as York, then Virgin Cross Country to Birmingham perhaps? Or fly Glasgow to Birmingham and get the train from B/ham International to Wolverhampton, which will certainly be the quickest way and given Virgin's extortionate prices (although each Virgin passenger is subsidised to the tune of 12 quid) quite possibly cheaper.

[ikthius]

after I realised this, I checked out the flights, but I need to speak to someone tomorrow, to see if that would be possible......I am going to england for an exam.

ik

Originally Posted by ikthius

after I realised this, I checked out the flights, but I need to speak to someone tomorrow, to see if that would be possible......I am going to england for an exam.

ik

good luck with the exam - if you survive public transport, on a Sunday.

I remember the last forum meet in Manchester, going by train, I had bus replacements, both ways - and coming back on Sunday they did Manchester to Cleethorpes via York

[ikthius]

Thanks, the only thing I don't really understand for the exam is RegExp for javascript.

I might ask for help in here tomorrow, but in the computer/it section

well I got:
Train - out
Galsgow - Manchester (Pic) £65.30
Manchester (pic) - Wolverhampton £18.50

Train - in
Wolverhampton - Glasgow (via/change @ Crewe) £63

Grand Total £142

Flying with FlyBe
Glasgow (int) - Birmingham (int)
Birmingham (int) - Glasgow (int)

Grand Total £119 (after taxes)

which sounds better, paying vheaper and travelling less time, or paying more money, more changes, and taking longer.

Now this all depends on whether I can finish the exam by 12pm, so that I can get a taxi to Birmingham.

ik
p.s. I think I might have to be at the airport by 1/2 hours before I fly, is this the same with internal flights?

Originally Posted by ik

p.s. I think I might have to be at the airport by 1/2 hours before I fly, is this the same with internal flights?

usually, but if you only have hand luggage you shouldn't have too many problems cutting it fine, just don't rely on it - always get your boarding pass before you do anything else

[ikthius]

It's ok, I found another flight, for the same price that lets me leaver at 6pm, so I don't have to rush, exam/course finishes at 1pm.

ik

[BBKing]

Flying with FlyBe

Did you factor in getting from Birmingham Airport (quite a long way out to the east of the city) to wherever you're going (Wolverhampton's quite a long way to the north west)? It's about 20 miles or so.

[ikthius]

I am going to Dudley, but to be honest I have plenty of time, so I can get a train. to and from where I have to be.

ik

[bob_builder]

I do not know if this will be of any use to you but National Express are running an offer where you can go anywhere in the UK for only £9 between 6th January and 6th March:
http://www.nationalexpress.com/save/goanywhere.cfm

Might be worth a quick check...

Edit: or £4.50 if you are a student!

[BBKing]

I am going to Dudley, but to be honest I have plenty of time, so I can get a train. to and from where I have to be.

Quite incredibly, Dudley doesn't have a station - Birmingham suffered from Dr. Beeching in a big way, and a lot of areas have no rail services. Dudley Port is the nearest station, but badly served. Sandwell and Dudley has a direct train once an hour from the airport, taking 30 minutes. It's (a lot) further from Dudley though, so you're looking at cabs.

[ikthius]

it is quite helpful, but I think I will fly, because I can get there at 10am on sunday, and study all day.

I just think it is quite a long journey by bus, and the last time I took the train, it was delayed on track, and I was livid.

ik