Cross-Country and Regional services
Arriva Trains Wales
(Crewe-Llandudno-Blaenau Ffestiniog, Porthmadog-Dovey Junction-Aberystwyth) The interiors of the Standard Class-only Class 175s seem to be bearing up well after almost 20 years in service, so no concerns here.
Look out for Dovey Junction - is it the UK’s most meaninglessly over-engineered station? Positioning the two-car southbound DMU at the far end of the very long platform forces you to walk halfway to Aberystwyth to catch it.
There has been no direct rail link from ‘Aber’ to Carmarthen and Swansea for 52 years. And it is difficult to understand the current campaign to reinstate it at a likely cost of £ 500 million, when the Traws Cymru T1 bus via Lampeter seems a most competent substitute. The two-hour, 60-mile station entrance-to-station entrance journey is completed in relative comfort.
Great Western Railway
(Truro-Falmouth Docks, Liskeard-Looe, Plymouth- Gunnislake) The Devon and Cornwall branches are wellserved by a variety of Class 150, ‘153’ and ‘156’ DMUs with a fresh livery and clean interiors, so no need for concern here.
Look out for the buffer stops at the north end of Bere Alston, a once-important station on the LSWR Exeter-Plymouth line, and just waiting for a revival. It seems to have gone quiet about relaying back into Tavistock, which a railwayman remarked would “treble our business overnight”.
ScotRail
( Edinburgh-Tweedbank, Edinburgh-Dundee, Dundee- Carnoustie, Carnoustie-Perth, Perth-Aviemore, Aviemore-Inverness, Inverness-Aberdeen) Even in the off-peak, a heavily loaded Class 158 illustrates what an outstanding success the new Borders Railway is.
However, train staff are pessimistic of an extension to Hawick: “Not in my lifetime, mate… too much of the trackbed has disappeared… can you believe they would
tear up the Melrose bypass to put the railway back?”
Look out for ScotRail’s stations. They are really well maintained, with traditional features integrated into the modern railway and with well-positioned realtime information screens to make travel a pleasure. And the DMU fleet is universally clean, both inside and out.
A particular delight is Aviemore station, where joint occupant the Strathspey Railway is no longer a poor relation but an equal partner under the vast canopy on the southbound platform, with easy access from the main footbridge.
Further north, the new Forres station on a new alignment from the Inverness-Aberdeen line is seriously well-advanced.
Northern
(Oxenholme-Windermere, Carlisle-Maryport, Carlisle-Settle-Keighley-Leeds, Leeds-Sheffield) The stalwart motive power is the Class 156/158 DMU fleet, so one of the true jewels of the entire national tour was a brief sampling of a Class 37-hauled service on the Furness coastal route as far as Maryport.
The smooth-riding Mk 2 coaches may officially be on their last legs, but the smartly trimmed and roomy open vehicles, and seats with tables and panoramic windows, revive fond memories of how good rail travel once was.
Don’t look out for Leeds station, a soulless place beyond the concourse barriers. Sheffield is not much better.