Who flies London-Newcastle?

[Cobbles]

No, you said quite clearly that it's often not possible to get a seat on that flight. So train is clearly more reliable. Like I say, noted for future reference.

The trains are there but you're not guaranteed a seat on them either - at least if there's no seats, the airlines aren't allowed to flog off the aisles......

 

[agricola]

Nope - a quick flight is streets better than three and a half hours of Virgin Voyager railbus cruising.

I am sure it would be, though between Edinburgh and Leeds you would go by NXEC, or whatever it is known as now.

 

[teuchter]

The trains are there but you're not guaranteed a seat on them either - at least if there's no seats, the airlines aren't allowed to flog off the aisles......

Your logic is astounding

 

[ethel]

an hour plus at least 1.5 to 2 hours of aiport to'ing and fro-ing. i got the 7am train to newcastle last week. first class. half empty, wi-fi, tea, coffee, water, orange juice. time for a pleasant nap. my colleagues got the 9am flight from gatwick. they left the house about 30 mins after me and arrived at roughly the same time as me. note that they drove to the airport though and didn't get public transport.

 

[ethel]

oh and book your seat in advance. if you turned up with a fully flexible business class airline ticket for which you hadn't confirmed you'd be on that flight, you'd probably be refused boarding.

 

[Pieface]

Ken! You're such a bellend. Just get the train - it's so much easier

 

[paolo]

Train to the airport.
"That'll be £25 please".
Where do we check in?
Should we have done it online?
Glad I didn't forget my passport.
"Did you pack your..." "Yes"
"Has anyoneone given you..." "No".
Shall we 'go through'? Yes, better be safe.
Where's the boarding card? Oh here it is.
I'll put it back in the passport. It'll be safe there.
Look! Over there! That's the shortest queue.
Chuck away that shampoo. And the shaving gel. Always forget.
Best put the jacket on the conveyor. And keys in the box.
"Can you take your shoes off please?"
Could do with new socks. That girl in front has bought new socks.
Shoes back on. Jacket back on. Metal from box back in pockets.
"Your mobile sir!" Oops. Nearly missed that.
Gate? Boarding Card? Passport out. Ah gate 32.
Boarding card pack in the passport.
Passport back in the pocket.
Where's the screens? Is it boarding?
Just time for the loo.
Won't be able to go again until cruise height.
Gate 32? Gate 32. There's the door.
In between Accessorize and Burger King.
I think they must have built this later.
Where are we going? Is it to a bus?
Passport out, boarding card out.
"Thank you sir!"
Boarding card back in the passport
Passport back in the pocket.
These are big buses. No seats and very big.
Kerosene. Everything smells of Kerosene.
Up the stairs. Bit windy.
"Good morning sir!"
People who block the isle whilst putting their luggage away.
I hate them.
Nearly loaded now. Seatbelt on. Glad I went to the loo.
Check for last text messages. Phone off.
Safety announcement.
Got my iPod ready. To put some tunes on when I'm allowed.
Look. Look! Look!!! That's the M6. Where it splits off from the M1.
iPod is shutting out the engines.
And now an industrial estate. Must be nearly landing. Must be.
Back inside again. Phone back on. Will it bleep with texts?
Quick check - still got passport? Yes, yes, all good.
Now the train.
The train to the city.
The one that goes past the car parks.
And through the industrial estates.
Airports are never anywhere nice.
Are they? I haven't seen one.
When I get to the city, I will buy new socks.

 

[Riklet]

No, I do too, mate, it's just that...y'know...when I find myself in the situation where it's a viable and potentially preferable option then, of course, my position softens on it really quite considerably.

What's the point in believing something if you can't put it into practise at the expense of a few hours/quid?

You can probably claim train travel on expenses or something. Book it in advance, flying within England is pretty fucking lame on every level.

 

[Cobbles]

flying within England is pretty fucking lame on every level.

Why? - if you want to get from Exeter to Manchester and don't feel like being cooped up with a load of miscellaneous peasantry for more than 4 hours, flying is a prefectly reasonable alternative to a 19th Century mode of transport.

If the demand didn't exist, then Easyjet, FlyBe and the rest simply wouldn't service it.

 

[kabbes]

If you don't feel like being cooped up with a load of miscellaneous peasantry for more than 4 hours, the last thing you want to do is have to go to an airport and then sit on an Easyjet flight!

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

There's still a lot of pressure on the Edinburgh-Leeds route (the only choice is BMI with a 40 seater Embraer) so you can't always get a seat when you want one. I had hoped that the recession would reduce the number of HBOS staff using the route but it can still be tricky to get a seat.

You'll be pleased to learn that there are seats on tonight's flight. And both of tomorrow's flights, no flights at the weekends though, seats next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

What happens when you want to get to Leeds for a 1pm meeting btw? Do you take the 7am flight then sit around picking yer arse for 5 hours?

 

[Cobbles]

You'll be pleased to learn that there are seats on tonight's flight. And both of tomorrow's flights, no flights at the weekends though, seats next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Splendid, I'll let my PA know. Mind you - who on earth would want to travel to Leeds at the week-end? - unless you have a 9:00 meeting on Monday and have an irrational aversion to flying in which case you have to waste half of Sunday sitting on a train as an alternative to getting to Waverley at 05:50 on the Monday and maybe getting to the station just before 9.

What happens when you want to get to Leeds for a 1pm meeting btw? Do you take the 7am flight then sit around picking yer arse for 5 hours?

Horses for courses - I might get a 9 o'clock train and fly home - more probably I'd still get the plane and just borrow one of the offices in our Leeds branch for the morning - the tables in 1st class on the train just aren't big enough for a laptop and mouse and the seat/table height/distance aren't adjustable - piss poor design if they're trying to tempt business travellers.

 

[Sadken]

Booking this later and I've pretty much decided to go by train.

 

[PacificOcean]

Haven't National Express just given up the East Coast franchise as it wasn't profitable?

Now what?

My local train service is National Express East Anglia and I would rather fly from Enfield Lock to the West End than use their fucking shoddy service.