DUS-BRU Eurostar – Comfort

Having had around 44 hours in Düsseldorf, exploring it and the surrounding area, it was time to start making my way back to England. This journey would essentially be the reverse of my journey out, with me first catching a train to Brussels, before changing onto another that would take me through the Channel Tunnel back to London. As with the journey out, the entirety of the journey back I would be travelling with Eurostar, however for the trip home I had upgraded to Standard Premier.

Düsseldorf & Wuppertal – Exploring the Rhine-Rhur Region

Having arrived into Düsseldorf late the night before, I had not explore the city other than catch the S-bahn out to Gerresheim where my hotel was. With just under 48 hours in the German city, I wanted to make sure I explore both it and some of the surrounding area, and so the morning after my arrival, I headed back to the S-bahn station to catch a train east. This would take me not into Düsseldorf itself but out along the Wupper river valley to the nearby city of Wuppertal, home of a very interesting railway.

Düsseldorf – Spotting Around the Airport

With my trip to Düsseldorf being mainly a rail based one, I had a yearning for some Avgeekery and, with Germany’s fourth busiest airport just a few stops from the city centre, I decided to spend the morning of the final day of my trip spotting at Düsseldorf airport.

BRU-DUS Eurostar – Standard

Having arrived into Bruxelles-Midi onboard a Eurostar service from London, I had just over an hour to kill before I continued my trip to Düsseldorf by boarding another train bound for Dortmund. This would be another Eurostar service, although one formerly operated by Thalys before their merger with Eurostar, and I was looking forward to seeing the differences between the ‘red’ Eurostar that was new to me and the ’blue’ Eurostar that I was used to. However, before catching that train, I had some time for some dinner and so headed outside the station to find some food!

STP-BRU Eurostar – Standard

Less than four weeks after my quick trip to Ireland, I was heading back down to London ready to start another trip. This time I wasn’t heading for Ireland via Heathrow, but for Germany via St Pancras, a journey I’d be completing by just two international train services. My ultimate destination was Düsseldorf, but for the first leg of the trip was from St Pancras to Brussels, travelling with Eurostar in standard class.

300+ Miles of ScotRail Inter7City HSTs

Back in September 2024 it was announced that the process would be started to replace ScotRail’s Inter7City fleet, their short-set HSTs, marking the beginning of the final chapter of the iconic HST’s operation in the UK. In November 2024 I was in Scotland for work and with most of a day free, I found myself at Glasgow Queen Street early one morning with a plan to ride these iconic trains for more than 300 miles over some of Scotland’s railways. My plan for the day would see me travelling onboard four different Inter7City sets, as I headed to Montrose, Edinburgh, Perth and finally back to Glasgow.