An experiment with public transport

I went up to our Cheshire office last week - just over 450 mile round trip. Driving takes about 3.5 hrs to drive up on a good day. Flying is 1hr flight time (plus the getting to the airport, check in delays, etc) so it makes it about 4hr trip. So i looking into the train. Cross country from Winchester to runcorn, avoiding London with a change at Stafford - 3.5hrs!

Upsides - £81 return and leaving at peak time as well. Sleek new Virgin trains. Power at your seat. I get to read paper, cup of tea and then do some work.

Downsides - Blooming cold standing at the stations waiting for the train, gets a bit crowded around Birmingham, but the big problem - the women sitting next to me for part of the return journey had a bad case of the flu! Just hope i stay bug free.

Might try it sometime soon on a long journey. Sure as hell beats sitting on the motorway around Birmingham or getting stuck at an airport!

Trains are not that bad

For the last 2 weeks over easter Network Rail have been ripping up the old track and signals around Basingstoke. A major chock point for trains from Hampshire, Dorest,Wiltshire and Somerset on the way North to London. You know what? They finished on time, with normal services resumed. Great project management. You got to love a plan when it comes together. The commute into the office by train was great today. Long may it continue