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The journey provider was Wales and Borders Trains and I rang them direct to book my ticket as it was almost £10 cheaper than booking via www.thetrainline.com. I was very impressed with the booking procedure, which was handled quickly and efficiently, and the ticket arrived in the post two ... Read review
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Advantages: Clean train, efficent booking, on time Disadvantages: No refreshments on a five hour journey
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The journey provider was Wales and Borders Trains and I rang them direct to book my ticket as it was almost £10 cheaper than booking via www.thetrainline.com. I was very impressed with the booking procedure, which was handled quickly and efficiently, and the ticket arrived in the post two days later.
This was a good start – an efficient member of staff in a railway booking office – not a common species at the best of ... ...at 1440 hours and I made a beeline for the nearest café and ordered a pot of tea!
Having said all that, I would travel with Wales and Borders again, but I would certainly make sure I took plenty of drinks with me next time.
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As you will know if you have read my opinion on The Train Line (and, if not, why not?) I have just travelled from Birmingham New Street to Tenby by train to join Dave, who was working in Haverfordwest, so I thought I should tell you what it was like.
The journey provider was Wales and Borders Trains and I rang them direct to book my ticket as it was almost £10 cheaper than booking via www.thetrainline.com. I was very impressed with the booking procedure, which was handled quickly and efficiently, and the ticket arrived in the post two days later.
This was a good start – an efficient member of staff in a railway booking office – not a common species at the best of times.
The train left Birmingham New Street exactly on time at 0930 hours on Tuesday morning. This almost caused a problem as the bus that I had taken from home should have got me to Birmingham with almost an hour to wait (in the buffet with a pot of tea!) before the train was due to depart.
I’m one of these people who would rather be an hour early than a minute late.
Unfortunately the bus was caught in a huge traffic jam caused by a high volume of traffic due to an accident on the motorway and I arrived in Birmingham with about 5 minutes to run across the city to the station. I literally stepped onto the train as the doors closed behind me and it pulled out. I said a little prayer of thanks I can tell you.
The travelling time to Tenby was 5 hours and 10 minutes as the train stopped at almost every station from Cardiff onwards. Still, never mind I didn’t have to change trains and I do enjoy travelling by train so that was all OK.
The train itself was just two carriages long and it had lovely, unvandalised (is that a word?) seats upholstered in shades of blue and turquoise with a carpet to match.
There were some seats set in two sets of two facing each other across a table and some were just two seats side by side facing the backs of the seats in front.
My reserved seat was as I had requested – front facing in a non-smoking carriage.
The carriage was very clean, with nice big clean windows through which I could appreciate the beautiful Welsh countryside and a surprisingly clean toilet too!
The seats were comfortable with moveable armrests although they did not recline at all.
I was very impressed, but as the journey wore on I realised that there was one big disadvantage with this company. There was no buffet car and no trolley service! Luckily I had taken something to eat and drink with me, but I had hoped to get a cup of tea at least, especially on such a long journey.
The carriage that I was in wasn’t very well ventilated so the air was quite stale and dry and I really needed a drink by the time I reached Tenby.
The train stopped for 30 minutes in Cardiff and again for 20 minutes in Swansea, and both times I considered getting off and nipping to the station buffet for a bottle of water, but I decided against it. I thought that, knowing my luck the train would pull out without me!
We did arrive in Tenby right on time at 1440 hours and I made a beeline for the nearest café and ordered a pot of tea!
Having said all that, I would travel with Wales and Borders again, but I would certainly make sure I took plenty of drinks with me next time.
Advantages: Usually clean, efficient and good staff Disadvantages: Could do with a couple more nice new trains
...at least partly justified. Now, Wales and Borders may not be perfect, but I'm still impressed.
Up until late 2001, the lines from Birmingham to Mid Wales were run by Central Trains. They did the job and were better than pre-privatisation "Regional Railways" but not quite well enough. Trains were usually filthy inside and out. Reservations were never there and they'd put on just about whatever old train they could get away with.
Since Wales & Borders ... ...themselves aren't bad at all. Wales & Borders upgraded the line to "Alphaline" standard which means that all our trains are now nippy, modern things with air conditioning (actually works now, too), a payphone, comfy seats and most of the day a refreshment trolley. Fares are very reasonable. Indeed, cheap day returns for the 3 hour journey from Aberystwyth to Birmingham are only about £16. Not bad for a day out over that distance. And during the summer, ...
AlexWales 17.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wales and Borders Trains
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Harlech (Wales)