Was going to Harrogate to attend a confrence for work so that meant National Express vis Leeds or York so I chose Leeds on the basis it would be less busy.
Outbound - Monday 11th
On the 10:10 London to Leeds
1st comment is that a lot of the shops at Kings X have gone in preparation to the redevelopment so instead of some nice M&S treats I was reduced to Upper Crust and a Cafe Nerd.
I had a seat booked in Coach E but on hitting the carriage I could see it was busy so made way to the quiet coach which was almost desserted so I bagged 4-seater with table and remained undisturbed for the entire journey.
Then two idiots got on on and one started on his mobile but he was quicky 'sssshhh' by another pax and he sheepishly made his way to the lobby. They were well behaved after that and were even nice to the guard who had to charge them a full fare as they had no tickets ! They got off at Peterborough.
Journey was otherwise uneventful and the train was clean and in good order. I declined anyting from the trolley.
The train from Leeds to Harrogate was a three coacher and was less than tidy (papers all over the place) but was not dirty. Nice journey through the Yorkshire countryside.
Return - Wednesday 13th - PM
14:44 Hsrrogate to Leeds
16:10 Leeds to Kings X (was on a fixed ticket)
Despite there being a major conference on in Harrogate the train to Leeds was only a two coacher and by the time we reached Leeds it was full but no one had to stand.
The NXEC was obviusly fully booked as almost every seat had a reserved ticket on it. Tried the quiet coach (I had a reservation in D) but no free seats so I made my way to D to suffer from endless 'vital' phone calls including one person negotiating a salary - do these people not care about confidentiality !
Fired up the lappy but the connection failed but when I got home there was an email saying I had registered. Maybe there was something wrong with my settings but never mind.
Other than the mobile phone irritations there were no problems other than reservations in two coaches had been switched so there was a lot of tooing and froing through D
Again, train was clean and in good order.
Q - are the Kings X to Leeds trains still the ones that were supposed to form the regional eurostar services that never happened?
Outbound - Monday 11th
On the 10:10 London to Leeds
1st comment is that a lot of the shops at Kings X have gone in preparation to the redevelopment so instead of some nice M&S treats I was reduced to Upper Crust and a Cafe Nerd.
I had a seat booked in Coach E but on hitting the carriage I could see it was busy so made way to the quiet coach which was almost desserted so I bagged 4-seater with table and remained undisturbed for the entire journey.
Then two idiots got on on and one started on his mobile but he was quicky 'sssshhh' by another pax and he sheepishly made his way to the lobby. They were well behaved after that and were even nice to the guard who had to charge them a full fare as they had no tickets ! They got off at Peterborough.
Journey was otherwise uneventful and the train was clean and in good order. I declined anyting from the trolley.
The train from Leeds to Harrogate was a three coacher and was less than tidy (papers all over the place) but was not dirty. Nice journey through the Yorkshire countryside.
Return - Wednesday 13th - PM
14:44 Hsrrogate to Leeds
16:10 Leeds to Kings X (was on a fixed ticket)
Despite there being a major conference on in Harrogate the train to Leeds was only a two coacher and by the time we reached Leeds it was full but no one had to stand.
The NXEC was obviusly fully booked as almost every seat had a reserved ticket on it. Tried the quiet coach (I had a reservation in D) but no free seats so I made my way to D to suffer from endless 'vital' phone calls including one person negotiating a salary - do these people not care about confidentiality !
Fired up the lappy but the connection failed but when I got home there was an email saying I had registered. Maybe there was something wrong with my settings but never mind.
Other than the mobile phone irritations there were no problems other than reservations in two coaches had been switched so there was a lot of tooing and froing through D
Again, train was clean and in good order.
Q - are the Kings X to Leeds trains still the ones that were supposed to form the regional eurostar services that never happened?
Huzzah for International Jet-setting !
