Travel: Journeys by Train

Back when Ben and I lived up in Newcastle, when I was at uni, we used to travel by train all the time. When I first started at Newcastle Uni, I was living in student halls and Ben was living in a flat with a friend. At that time, neither of us had a car up there, so bus and metro travel around the city was our only option (apart from walking) and train travel to get back home.
After a few months, Ben got a job that came with a car allowance, but his job was nearer back home (he was back in Yorkshire, driving through 3 counties to get to work everyday!) than it was to Newcastle, but he stayed living in Newcastle with me for the remainder of my time at uni, and I moved into his flat after my first year.

We used to go home every couple of weeks for whatever reason – washing being one of those, but also because of Ben’s job being closer to home, sometimes it was just easier for him to pick me up at the station near his work and drive back to his mum and dad’s or mine for the weekend. So I was taking the train every couple of weeks up and down to Newcastle and it became a natural thing to me – knowing which platform my train was at, exactly how much it would cost, every single train announcement.

Nowadays, I don’t often travel by train any more. Being back down in Yorkshire, there aren’t many nearby stations to us and I don’t often have the occasion to need to take a train. I travel to and from work by car, and the weekends are spent pottering around nearer home. I occasionally take a weekend trip to London or Manchester with my sister to see a show or do some shopping, but I’m a little bit sad that I’m now no longer a “Young Person” according to the train service as my 16-25 railcard has now expired!

Ben and I have recently the Channel 5 programme Inside King’s Cross though and actually, I’ve been enjoying it! I know, I know, I definitely sound old now, but seeing the inner workings and logistics behind it all are really interesting.
This video on Virgin Train’s 20th birthday at Euston station is brilliant too, check it out:

There’s just something so nice about train travel. It’s a lot less hassle than getting a plane – a lot less waiting around and security to bypass; and it’s more of an occasion than jumping in a car and going somewhere. I wish we still had the old village stations of days gone by where you could jump on a train and pop down to the next village like you’d jump on a bus, but sadly, around here they’ve all been turned into private houses or restaurants, or even knocked down, which is really sad. Nevertheless, it makes train travel more of an occasion for me nowadays and marks a more exciting event – like a holiday or a trip to somewhere new.