they want us to use public transport but....

[ratcliffe]

Originally Posted by robertsT

Not really the point of the post but I oftern take my tanks on the tube... no one has ever stopped me!

I carried my pony back from Lids on the DLR and the Tube and no one complained, or even looked twice..

[dry suit diver]

Originally Posted by ratcliffe

I carried my pony back from Lids on the DLR and the Tube and no one complained, or even looked twice..

yeah but you dont look foreign and didn't have a denim jacket on did you

[Lew21]

After travelling around Italy on train at Easter Hols with family, I had one journey left from Euston to Carlisle on the Glasgow train.
Journey took 7 hours!!! to get to Preston where the Glasgow train terminated, we then had to drag all the cases off on to a bus & travel up the M6, it was a nightmare - do not travel on the West Coast line at weekends.
A boat from Devon would be quicker

[String]

Originally Posted by Jay_Benson

Something that you have not factored in is the lack of stress that you will experience in general when travelling by train - you will get there and back feeling somewhat better than car as you can walk around, sleep, charge your phone, use the loo, etc.

Not sure i agree with any of that. Typically whenever i travel by train im VERY stressed. Its often later arriving, often putting in jeopardy any connections or meetings and is sometimes cancelled altogether leaving me stranded.

In the car ive got a comfy seat, heating set to a level i want, music that i want played through speakers and the ability to leave exactly when i want to arrive at a time i choose. If i want the toilet there are service stations.

Unfortunately if you have to get to somewhere by a certain time you really cant risk the trains generally nationwide, especially if something important is riding on arriving there.

[aclivity]

it's generally frowned upon to use your laptop whilst driving though!

[Paul Brookes]

Originally Posted by Jay_Benson

You don't need to go via London - go to Crewe and catch the sleeper that is going to Inverness.

Are you really comparing like with like journeys?

You have included the total travel time for the train including the sleeper time but you haven't included the time for the sleep during the sleep at the travel lodge. I guess this makes the train somewhat quicker.

You have not included any wear and tear on your car (ignore tax and insurance because you were going to pay that anyway - unless the journey puts your annual mileage over into another insurance band).

As far as fares are concerned a mate caught the sleeper down from Glasgow to London for LIDS for the princely sum of about £15 plus a return ticket costing about £30 (first class obviously). You can get very good deals on public transport if you plan ahead - you are so you should be able to get cracking deal. £203.50 is the walk on fare - the price that you would have to pay if you hadn't booked in advance.

Something that you have not factored in is the lack of stress that you will experience in general when travelling by train - you will get there and back feeling somewhat better than car as you can walk around, sleep, charge your phone, use the loo, etc.

I agree.
Although not the same journey as the OP, 4 years ago, I travelled across London and caught a sleeper train to Fort William from Euston.
Getting across London was PITA with a massive wheelie bag, but once on the sleeper train, we all headed for the bar, watched movies on laptops, drank way too much, headed for our twin cabins, slept well and woke up in Fort William.

I can't remember the price, but it was over £100 so collectively more expensive than cramming into a car, but more comfortable and much more relaxed/convenient. That said, we had no changes after leaving Euston, which definitely helped given our inebriated state 60 minutes later.

Cheers,
Paul

[CatB]

I have to say that I prefer to travel by train - I can stretch my legs, work read, sleep etc and it delivers me right into the centre of a town or city (usually) with no hassles over traffic, parking and figuring out which of the 5 lanes you need to be in at a junction you have never seen before.

That said, of the three interviews I have just had, I only managed to get the train to one, since the train times would have meant an overnight stay the night before for the other two. Still, one of those was a journey from Cardiff to Aberdeen and I don't think the trains can be blamed for not being able to compete with a plane and car combination in terms of speed (although the train would have been slightly cheaper).

[Jay_Benson]

Originally Posted by String

Not sure i agree with any of that. Typically whenever i travel by train im VERY stressed. Its often later arriving, often putting in jeopardy any connections or meetings and is sometimes cancelled altogether leaving me stranded.

Sometimes things go wrong - mostly they don't. I always try to leave a minimum of 10 minutes for connections. Not many drivers will state that they will arrive at a certain time and be there at that time 90+% of the time - that is what the railways are doing these days. Cancelled trains are a pain I accept this.

Originally Posted by String

In the car ive got a comfy seat, heating set to a level i want, music that i want played through speakers and the ability to leave exactly when i want to arrive at a time i choose. If i want the toilet there are service stations.

Train seats are getting better all the time but on older "local" trains they can be ermm "interesting" - long distance trains are very good though. The trains are pretty well heated nowadays - sometimes a little hot for my liking so I take off my coat / sweat shirt. I have an iPod so thats my music catered for. I like pooing at 125mph

Originally Posted by String

Unfortunately if you have to get to somewhere by a certain time you really cant risk the trains generally nationwide, especially if something important is riding on arriving there.

Leave some slack in your travel plans - you would do it for your car if the arrival time is of critical importance (well I would anyway). I would rather trust the train than drive especially if going into a city centre and doubly so for London.

I travel about 30,000+ miles a year by train (thats just to / from work) and I would guess that I am late into work / home less than 5% of the time. My colleague who drives in is frequently late due to accidents / congestion (he claims that is the case anyway). There is no way that I would drive to / from work on a regular basis.

Cars have their place and I would echo Paul Brookes about the sleeper trains and getting 1 person to take the very heavy stuff.

[Aquatic Mammal]

Devon to Orkney? Easy!

What's wrong with going properly green? Strap all your diving kit (including the cylinders) to a bicycle and start pedaling! After all, the Viet Cong moved all sorts of munitions including artillery pieces down the Ho Chi Min trail on bicycles and those little Vietnamese guys are considerably smaller than us hulking westerners!

Shouldn't take you more than a month to do the journey!

[Finless]

Driving is much more fun. No one to stare at you when taking recreational drugs or swigging JD straight from the bottle (just trying to save on the washing up!).

I do draw the line at using a mobile phone though, or doing make-up!