Hello hemv2003
Because I wanted to offer you the websites for all companies running
trains in Scotland and London, as well as other information, I'm
suggesting more than twenty sites overall. There isn't much to say
about some of them, other than telling you that they offer the most
authoritative information on their own services! Just let me know if I
need to expand on anything, and I'll be happy to do my best for you.
I've divided the list into sections to make things clearer.
BUYING TRAIN TICKETS FOR LONDON & SCOTLAND
1 TheTrainline
http://www.thetrainline.com/
I've used this website for some years to book tickets a few days, or
even weeks, before travelling. You can arrange to have tickets ready
to pick up at the station, using a credit card and pin number, or if
you have a UK credit card you can arrange for tickets to be sent to
you directly.
There are many good deals to be had by booking in advance. Tickets for
some routes cost more when bought in the last twenty-four hours before
travelling.
Picking pre-ordered tickets up at the station can save a lot of time,
as you may otherwise have to wait in a long queue at a ticket office.
============================
TRAIN INFORMATION FOR VISITORS TO SCOTLAND
2 General Outline of Scottish train services
http://www.scotlandby.com/transport/trains.htm
A list of major stations and an outline of the Scottish rail network,
with useful links, including steam train excursions. The best one-page
outline I've found.
*
3 Glasgow underground trains
http://www.spt.co.uk/Travel/Underground.asp
The "U" is a simple circular route round Glasgow, the biggest city in
Scotland.
*
4 Steam trains in Scotland
http://www.activitypoint.co.uk/cgi-bin/list.cgi?r=scotland&c=T1
Links places in Scotland where you can travel on a steam train
together on one website.
*
5 The Royal Scotsman
http://www.royalscotsman.com/
The only possibility of travelling on a "luxury train" in Scotland.
I've not been on it myself, but most reviews seem enthusiastic:
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22royal+scotsman%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
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TRAIN COMPANIES SERVING SCOTLAND
6 Scotrail
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/
Scotrail is the company running all trains on routes within Scotland.
There is no better source for finding out about Scottish train
services.
They have a good overall map of Scottish railways:
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/rtmap1.htm
*
These two companies run long-distance services from Scotland to other
parts of the UK.
7 Virgin Trains
http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/
8 Great North-Eastern Railway
http://www.gner.co.uk/
============================
TRAIN INFORMATION FOR VISITORS TO LONDON
9 London Underground
http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/
Otherwise known as the Tube, the Underground is almost essential for
getting around London efficiently.
*
10 Nothing can replace the official map of the underground railway
routes:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/dlr/pdf/network/underground.pdf
If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you'll need it to read the map.
You can get it from here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
*
11 London Docklands Light Railway
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/dlr/network/index.htm
The Docklands Light Railway runs east along the river Thames from the
Tower of London and the City. (When you see City with a capital 'C' it
means the business district of London.)
*
12 BBC real-time London travel information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/travelinfo/trains_list.shtml
This is a good site, run by the reliable BBC, for catching the latest
news on train and other travel in and around London. Delays and
cancellations are listed by train company.
*
13 A useful collection of maps covering trains and other transport in
London:
http://www.quickmap.com/map.htm
I like it especially because it includes a combined map of overground
and underground routes:
http://www.quickmap.com/map2tt.htm
*
14 Information on trains for visitors to London
http://www.railtrains.com/london_travel_carda.htm
This site brings together useful information on London
travelcards/passes, express services to Gatwick and Heathrow airports,
tickets for days out from London and other special deals.
*
15 London Stations
http://www.touruk.co.uk/london_stations/london_stations.htm
The main London stations are often architectural and historical
landmarks, as well as being essential for travel. This page provides
links to information on a dozen or so. Becoming familiar with their
names and locations helps make sense of other information on trains in
London.
============================
TRAIN COMPANIES SERVING LONDON
Because London is the capital city, there are many train companies
whose routes begin and end there. I've picked out those which run on
short-distance routes between central and suburban stations.
16 Silverlink trains
http://www.silverlink-trains.com/home.htm
This map will show you which Silverlink services run in the Greater
London (London Metro) area.
Silverlink metro
http://www.silverlink-trains.com/timetable/index4.html
*
18 South Central Trains
http://www.southcentraltrains.co.uk/
They cover central London, the suburbs, Surrey, Sussex etc.
19 South West Trains
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/
Commuter trains, London suburbs, and the south-west.
*
20 Thameslink
http://www.thameslink.co.uk/
Services include trains connecting the "City of London" (business
district) to mainline services, the suburbs and beyond
*
21 WAGN
North and east London and suburbs
http://www.wagn.co.uk/
*
18 C2C
Covers east London, eastern suburbs and Essex
http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/route/index.html
*
19 Connex
http://www.connex.co.uk/
Commuter trains running into several major London stations including
Victoria, Charing Cross, Waterloo, London Bridge
*
20 Anglia
http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/home/
Trains into Liverpool Street station, from the eastern suburbs and
beyond
*
21 Chilterns
http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/
Serving Marylebone station, northern suburbs and beyond
============================
GOVERNMENT AND OTHER NATIONAL INFORMATION ON TRAINS & RAILWAYS
As I explained, London is the major hub of the British railway
network. It's necessary to refer you to some UK-wide sites in order to
give you comprehensive information about trains in London and
Scotland.
22 Department of Transport
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/sectionhomepage/dft_railways_page.hcsp
This is a government site offering information on official policy,
current news and planning for the future of the railways.
*
23 Strategic Rail Authority
http://www.sra.gov.uk/
Another government site where you find out about the authority
established to oversee the relationship between the public and private
sector. They say:
"Britain's Railway is a public/private partnership: publicly
specified, privately delivered. The Strategic Rail Authority is the
public sector, strategic specifier and provides industry leadership.
This involves setting the framework within which Network Rail and
Train Companies deliver. We are responsible for planning the rail
system and franchising the train company contracts."
*
24 Network Rail
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/
These people are responsible for track, stations etc., without which
the trains can't go anywhere!
*
25 National Rail
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
This site is a gateway to information about special offers, railcards
offering a discount on tickets and up-to-date news on "disruptions" to
the train service. (Note that they explain the latest news is not
always available to AOL users.)
This is where you can find out about train companies I didn't include
in the list of those operating within London, even though they do run
long-distance trains into a London station.
*
26 National Railway Museum
http://www.nrm.org.uk/html/home_pb/menu.asp
This is a great site for finding out about the history of trains in
Britain. Be sure to click on the link to "research and archives" if
you want to find out more historical information. Click on "search" to
start searching for railway history specific to Scotland or London.
Because of the way the museum site works, it's not possible to give
you a direct link to either the archives or the search page.
*
27 The Rail Regulator
http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/index.html
This is where the government explains how you can make complaints
about train services in the UK.
http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/making_investigating_complaints/mic705.html
The site covers many other regulatory matters too.
============================
Additionally, I would like to suggest using the BBC website for
up-to-date information on trains and railways in the UK.
This page provides links to a lot of material on British railways:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/the_state_of_the_railways/
These links to google searches of the BBC should offer further
information about trains in London and Scotland.
Scotland
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site%3A.bbc.co.uk+scotland+trains+OR+railways&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
London
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=site%3A.bbc.co.uk+london+trains+OR+railways&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
I hope you will find this information on trains in London and Scotland
useful, but please feel free to ask if you need something specific not
covered by the websites I've recommended. If you're thinking of
travelling in the UK, enjoy your trip!
Best Wishes - Leli
Search strategy:
I already knew of many relevant websites, since I live in Scotland but
also visit London regularly.
Search terms also used:
trains
railways
London
Scotland
map
underground
railcard
travelcard |
