Almost exactly 20 months since my last flight, I was finally heading to an airport ready for a trip abroad, with this one being a multi-country, week-long exploration of Central Europe covering Czechia, Hungary & Slovakia. But before I got to tick off any new countries, I had a journey to Heathrow and two flights with Lufthansa to complete.
Until recently there was only one operator that connected Edinburgh and Newcastle with London Kings Cross and that was LNER. Of course, from Edinburgh you could also catch Avanti West Coast or the Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston, whilst from Newcastle you could, at a push, travel to Sunderland and catch Grand Central. If these weren’t an attractive option, you could fly from both Edinburgh or Newcastle to a ‘London’ airport, however most of these would leave you in Luton or Gatwick.
Having headed to Newcastle and stayed the night following LNER’s inaugural service from Kings Cross to Middlesbrough, I had most of the day before I was due to catch another relatively new service back to London that evening. Taking the opportunity to do some exploring, I looked at my options and opted first to head north, to explore the East Coast Mainline (ECML) stations of Morpeth and Cramlington, along with the communities they serve.
he inaugural Kings Cross to Middlesbrough service, the first direct service from the capital to the Teesside city since 1990. The first southbound service departed with much fanfare, so I was intrigued to see if there were any events planned at Kings Cross for the return.
Sunday 12th December 2021, as usual for the second Sunday in December, was timetable change day on Britain’s railways. Along with the second Sunday in May, this is the time that generally any major changes to services are introduced and if it was to fall around that time anyway, any new stations would open. As such, Soham, Britain’s newest station (at the time of writing) was scheduled to open on the 12th December.
Back in December we were heading down to Bath for a friend’s party and, deciding to make the most of the journey to the south-west, took the opportunity to enjoy a weekend in the historic City. Staying to the south of the city, we were a short drive from the party location, whilst also being on a bus route into the city centre.
Flights & Times 