The Flying Scotsman
 

Britain's rail journeys aren't usually worth writing a trip report on but today's (as expected) announcement that Great North Eastern Railway are to retain their East Coast Main Line franchise for another 10 years is great news for UK rail travellers and worth a mention here on FT.

GNER is one of the better UK train operating companies with a route network stretching the length of Britain's East Coast from London through Eastern England, the North East and Scotland. They are the only rail company to have retained nostalgic names, such as the famous Flying Scotsman, for a few of their prime services and in doing so keeping a slice of history from a bygone era. Having said that, "The Flying Scotsman" does not differ in any way to GNER's unnamed services. The name just adds a touch of glamour to an otherwise normal rail journey.

Boarding was just announced as I arrived at King's Cross station just after 0935 after a relatively squish-free tube journey. The 1000 "Flying Scotsman" was due to depart from Platform 5 for the 4 hour-and-a-bit journey to Edinburgh and my destination was Newcastle. Too early to board the train I decided to visit the First Class Lounge for a refreshing OJ and (one) complimentary banana and to pick up a copy of The Times and The Financial Times . I've always noticed that onboard staff don't always bother to give you a newspaper at your seat and if they do it's likely to be after you've picked one up from the luggage rack yourself and finished reading it provided you could find one on the train in the first place.

I normally arrive with only 5 to 10 minutes to spare when I take the train so I don't usually visit the lounge beforehand (10 minutes extra sleep is more important to me ;) ). On this visit I noticed that the lounge policy had just changed and holders of discounted off-peak first-class tickets are no longer entitled to use the lounges due to capacity constraints (unless they are a GNERtime member). Those pesky children with their intolerable Mums and Dads sure did make hard work out of the lounge staff!

I finished my drink and put my banana in my briefcase (I'm always hungry on trains - don't know why!) and then headed off to board my train which was a newly refurbished "Mallard" set. These InterCity 225 carriages boast new interiors and ergonmically designed seats with lumbar support. Unfortunately the headrests in first-class are somewhat inferior to their predecessors. I boarded the dining coach and was ignored by the onboard crew. I put my briefcase down by the single seat at the end of the coach. The purser came up to ask me to take seat number 55 nearer the middle of the coach instead (to make serving easier I presume as there were only 3 other passengers sitting in that area). So I obliged, and after brushing away the crumbs on the seat from the previous journey, made myself comfortable and settled into reading my paper.

The train departed on time and I ordered my usual: Full English Breakfast, with fresh fruit to start off with. And this time they actually had Darjeeling tea, my favourite! Okay, I'm a tea drinker and what is nicer in the morning than a freshly brewed cuppa? My fruit platter tasted better than the last time, not like "straight out of the fridge" and the portion size was much more generous. Fresh toast was also served but the little jam and marmalade pots were nowhere to be seen and I couldn't be bothered to ask for some. The Great British Breakfast was, as usual, delicious and the staff much more attentive. No giggling about in the galley or playing about with their mobile-camera phones like last week (good gracious me! :eek: ) The black pudding is, literally, to die for! I am a bit sceptical of the sausage though as GNER used to serve Lincolnshire sausages with a fuller and more flavourable taste and now they serve ordinary sausages like the ones you find in Tesco (excluding the Finest range). However, I felt extremely satisfied after my free breakfast.

After breakfast I retreated to the comfort of the first-class smoking coach at the rear of the train for a well-deserved smoke. I fully commend GNER as the only UK rail operator to have retained smoking sections on their trains. ^ Common sense still prevails in a world highly against the smoker. The refurbished smoking section is partitioned off from the rest of the coach so that the non-smoking section is better protected from the smoke than on the unrefurbished sets. My only gripe is that the air ventilation is constantly noisy and the enclosed compartment feels very draughty. Still, better than no smoking coach I say.

The onboard crew continued their rounds on the trolley with refreshments while I continued with my novel "The Alphabet Sisters" by Monica McInerney. The Flying Scotsman continued its journey through Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, South and North Yorkshire and then County Durham before arriving a few minutes late into Newcastle Central just after 1pm. A thoroughly relaxing and hassle-free journey as ever. Thank god Virgin Trains didn't win the franchise! :p

First class travel and lounges, its a different world compared to the service we get from Southern trains. I'm going up to manchester next month and have booked Jet2.com, maybe i should have got the train.

As a matter in interest what is difference in time & cost compared to flying (door to door) ?

Cost: BA returns from Heathrow to Newcastle start at £69. Journey time is timetabled at 1h 10m. Newcastle Airport is 20 minutes by cab or 25 minutes by Metro from the city centre. Heathrow is further, and adds £14 to your journey cost if you want to take the 15-minute Heathrow Express.

It's possible to get Standard class train returns from £30, First Class from £59 but these are heavy advance purchase and limited to the time of day you can travel. The fastest timetabled journey from London-Newcastle is 2h 40m, most average about 3h 10m. Both stations are in the city centre.

This is probably the only train route in Britain that effectively competes with quality domestic air travel.

There was this short-lived "laddish" food magazine in the late 90's that had a feature article on British rail routes in the culinary perspective. I've wanted to try the GNER ever since. :) Only problem was that if travelling North I would be heading for Cumbria instead of Tyneside. So thanks for the reminder in form of a great trip report and a London - Scotland trip is firmly in the planning. ^

I did forget to mention that meals in the reataurant car onboard the train are not actually free. I used one of my six complimentary meal vouchers (3 breakfast and 3 lunch/dinner) to purchase my breakfast, these of which are given to GNER's frequent travellers who are members of the GNERtime club. Restaurant meals are provided on the majority of weekday trains and are top-notch stuff! (NOT of the awful Virgin Trains kind I must add). If you hold a GNER Executive ticket then you do receive a meal voucher per journey for 3 courses. Thanks.

Here was my breakfast menu on The Flying Scotsman:
http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER/GoEat/Res.../Breakfast.htm