THE CROWSNEST BRITISH RAILWAY GUIDE - TIMETABLES & TICKETS

On-line Timetables

The British Passenger Timetable is now available on-line.

It can be accessed via the National Rail journey planner page or sites selling rail tickets will include a version because they need to know when you are travelling to sell you the right ticket.

An alternative is the German railway timetable system which includes most UK routes and is quite friendly.

It offers facilities which you may not find on UK sites such as listing all the stations at which the train will call and all trains leaving a particular station but may not contain late changes for engineering works.

Transport Direct is a non-profit service is funded by the UK Department for Transport, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive. It offers journey planning for most types of transport but sometimes produces unexpected results! One feature I do like is the facility to identify and map individual bus stops.

The Traveline Scotland site covers most of the UK, despite its name, though the choice of destinations is more limited outside Scotland. It appears to give more reliable results and includes information like catering facilities and train reporting numbers.

Printed Timetables

The Great Britain Passenger Railway Timetable is available in the UK at most large stations and at WH Smith and John Menzies bookstalls on station courcourses. Price around twelve pounds.

It is also available by post (with an additional charge for postage & packing) from:
Teamwork Handling
6 Chessingham Park
Dunnington
York
YO19 5YA

Telephone: 01904 481140
International: +44 1904 481140

Fax: 01904 488572
International: +44 1904 488572

Tickets

The variety of tickets issued in the UK continues to grow and can be rather confusing. For example a recent check on fares from London to Blackpool produced a range from GBP 12.50 per person to GBP 239.40!

The guide on the First Great Western site gives a brief description of most of the long distance ones.

You can now buy tickets on-line at thetrainline.com or from most of the Train Operating Companies listed here.

In the London area, the Travelcard combines travel on Rail, Underground and busses. The Travelcard is available for travel from most stations in South East England and the off-peak One Day Travelcard is a good way of visiting London.

Railrovers

If you want to spend some time travelling on British Railways, a Railrover can be good value for money. This site - Railrover information page - used to have some good information but the Train Operating Companies almost appear to be trying to keep rovers secret these days.

This page on the National Rail site currently (September 2005) gives some information but may move or disappear.