For episode 10 of Exploring the East Coast, it was time to head south from Peterborough once again to tick off the final six stations on the southern section of the East Coast Mainline (ECML). Not only were these the last six stations to do in the southern section, they were in fact the last six stations south of Morpeth, meaning episode 11 onwards would mean some trips based out of Newcastle.
Due to a bit of a backlog with posts, I’m writing this blog a couple of months after the event and in fact just a day before I undertake part of the journey in reverse. By the time you read this, I’ll have undertaken another Eurostar trip (read about that soon), but for now let’s focus on my journey from Amsterdam to London in Eurostar’s ‘Standard’ seats.
Having spent some time travelling on and reviewing the Dutch rail network, I had the rest of the day to explore some more of The Netherlands and so started heading towards another of the country’s major cities, Rotterdam. However, before making it to Rotterdam, there was one more town I wanted to visit. Gouda.
Whilst the majority of Intercity services operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) operate on the conventional Dutch railway network, some services between Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam, Breda and Belgium operate across the ‘HSL Zuid’ under the sub brand of ‘Intercity Direct’.
During my trip to The Netherlands back in October and given Utrecht’s excellent location at the centre of the rail network, I decided to take the opportunity to explore the Dutch railways. My first aim was to travel on each of the five private operators that run services, the second was to try out the different types of Intercity train operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
Having arrived into Utrecht onboard an ICE International service, I headed to my hostel to check in, freshen up and most importantly have a nap. Staying at the BUNK Hostel a stones thrown from Utrecht Centraal station, it was just a few minutes after getting off the train that I was checking in.
Flights & Times 