B2B on the D (Bedford to Bletchley on the D-Train)

imbledon in the west with the central section following the Thames. So, what on earth is a District Line train doing running around between Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire on the Marston Vale Line.

EMR Electrics

When East Midlands Railway (EMR) was announced as the winner of the East Midlands Franchise, it announced it was going to operate its services under three sub-brands. EMR Intercity, for services on the London to Nottingham/Sheffield routes; EMR Regional, for local services and the Liverpool-Nottingham-Norwich route; and finally, EMR Connect for the future half-hourly service from London to Corby.

Derby Does it Better!

Derby, the Roman town of Derventio, one of the five boroughs of the Danelaw and one of the birth places of the Industrial Revolution, is located on the banks of the River Derwent about 20 miles from the furthest point from the sea in the UK. More importantly to me, Derby is my hometown (well a town nearby is) and where my parents live and so, early last month we headed over for the day to explore the city’s new ‘Museum of Making’ and ‘Ram Trail’.

Time on the Tyne (and Wear)

Last month we were lucky enough to enjoy a weekend away from home in an area I had never visited, but heard lots about, Tyneside. Rather than getting a direct train from Peterborough to Newcastle, I’d planned a slightly more unusual route to enable me to try out a new Train Operator (for me), with us changing at York for a Grand Central service to Sunderland.

NCL – YRK CrossCountry HST – Standard Class

After an enjoyable 36 hours in Newcastle (read about that next week), we were up relatively early to take the train on the first leg of our journey home, travelling from Newcastle to York with CrossCountry. With both Newcastle and York being major stops on the East Coast Mainline (ECML) there are numerous services that connect the two, with TransPennine Express, LNER and CrossCountry all proving regular services.

YRK – SUN Grand Central – 1st Class

In the middle of May we were fortunate enough to get a couple of nights away from home and in true Flights and Times style I ensured this wasn’t just an ordinary trip away. Firstly, Beth didn’t know where we were going, other than it was three trains to get there and two to get back and, that our first change was at York. Having arrived there on an LNER service, we had a short wait before our next train arrived, a Grand Central service to Sunderland.