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Podcast, where we explore British history, travel, and culture. And I'm your host, Jonathan Thomas. A quick word about today's sponsor before we begin. This episode is brought to you by ACP Rail and Brit Rail. If you're planning a trip to Britain and you want the freedom to explore the country the way locals do by train, a Brit Rail Pass is one of the best tools in your travel kit.
It was created to do one thing above all to get visitors out of London and into the rest of Britain and make the whole rail system simple for international visitors. It gives you unlimited travel across the Network Rail network in England, Scotland, and Wales, with the freedom to hop on and off at Edinburgh, York, Bath, Cardiff, and the Cotswolds and the Highlands and just about everywhere in between. No fiddly pre-booking, no fixed tickets, just turn up and go.
We'll be talking all about how it works in this very episode. And you can learn more and buy your pass at acrail.com, and we will put a link in the show notes. And here's something very exciting and related to this episode. To celebrate this episode, we've teamed up with ACP Rail and BritRail to give away a first-class Brit Rail four-day flexi pass. Four flexible days of premium travel across England, Scotland, and Wales delivered straight to your phone. To enter, just head
to Anglotopia.net slash britrail. The link will be in the show notes. And now on to today's subjects. for a lot of American visitors, the British Railway Network is one of the most wonderful things about traveling in Britain and also one of the most confusing sometimes. The tickets, the classes, the pass options, the abbreviations, the difference between a turn up and go fare an advanced ticket, what flexi means, which trains your pass covers, it can be overwhelming before you even have left home.
But once you understand it, the train unlocks Britain in a way that nothing else can. My guest today is exactly the person to demystify all of it. Tim Roebuck has spent his entire career in rail travel. He started out as a station manager in the UK and went on to work for Rail Europe and British Travel International, and then spent 25 years as VP of sales at ACP Rail. He retired last year, but still advises the company, and he's a genuine expert on rail itineraries.
and the kind of person who knows the hidden gems most visitors never find. There is very little about British trains, how the network fits together, how to buy us the right ticket, how to get the most out of a rail pass that Tim hasn't seen firsthand. He's here to give us a real British Rail 101. Tim, welcome to the Anglotopia Podcast.
I've been really excited about this one because longtime Anglotopia listeners will know that I love trains. So Tim, before we get to the practical side, I'd love our listeners to know who they're hearing from. You've had a remarkable journey in the rail industry. You started as a station manager, then worked for Rail Europe and British Travel International. And then you spent the latter part of your career at ACP Rail. So can you walk us through your career and how did you end up spending a lifetime on trains?
Yeah, sure. I went to a good old fashioned English grammar school in Lincolnshire in the eastern part of England where they insisted on teaching me things like Latin. And that was despite the fact I told them I was really only interested in cricket, football, trains and planes. Cut a long story short, I ended up getting on the British Rail Management Training Scheme where for a few years you learn about all aspects of running a railway, of trains.
and particularly the safety, safety critical issues and your past rules and regulations. And then the first jobs, as you say, I ended up as a traffic manager, a station manager where you're responsible for an area. And within that area, you're looking after not just the station, the booking office, the ticket office, the security there, but particularly the signaling systems, the signalers, making sure that's OK and responding to
Incidents, mishaps, accidents, emergencies, middle of the night call outs, all of that sort of thing. I did that for several years. know, it could have been something as mundane as a driver seeing a sheep near the line and things like that, or somebody fell over on the steps or whatever it was. That's what the reality of running a railway is like. It was great. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
great people to work with. You learn a lot when you're working with people at three in the morning. It's fun. But I became interested in travel and tourism and I was lucky enough to get into a subsidiary of what a British Royal called British Royal International. And I found myself in Dublin, in Ireland, Ireland's small-ish country, but a huge market for Britain, for travellers touring, travelling to Britain, travelling around Britain. So I was the manager for Ireland there, lived there.
Then I moved to France, looked after all the British Rail's offices on the continent for a few years. And then I found myself being asked to come and work for and lead a company called Brit Rail, subsidiary of British Rail called Brit Rail Travel International in New York. And I had the great title of President USA at the time. I have the card to prove it. And I did that for...
Love it.
For many, we had offices and the sales staff scattered around the countryside. And we worked with travel agents, tour operators, airlines, online travel agencies, all of that sort of thing. Eventually, were, at the time of privatization, everything was sold. I, my bit of British Rail was sold. And I ended up working for the SNCS subsidiary, Rail Europe, which was great. And after a few years,
I worked with some of my former colleagues and friends at ACP Rail, where I spent the latter part of my career. And we worked very much and managed the Brit Rail Pass. And I'm pleased to say that despite the fact we were working with as many as 26 different train operating companies, we managed to convince them that the Brit Rail Pass was still a great product. And it's here to this day. So that's my story.
And as I always say to people, I feel as though I've never really had to work a day in my life because I've thoroughly enjoyed it all, been very lucky.
Well that's wonderful. that's that's that's that's the way I like to look at things. It's not work if you love what you're doing. So having seen it from inside a UK train station and then from the industry, how has British rail travel changed over the course of your career, especially from the perspective of an international visitor trying to get around?
Yeah, in a way, lots has changed, but in other ways, not nothing has changed. Let me explain the organization. I think we'll probably touch on it later of how trains are organized in Britain has changed and is changing as we speak. It is changing again from British Rail. It went to private private companies with lots of different colors, different logos and all of that sort of thing. And now there's a move back again at the same time.
The network is very similar. There's actually a few more trains. Frequency is greater. And the Rail Pass hasn't changed. You can't get on a wrong train. The Brit Rail Pass covers all of the mainline rail services and that hasn't changed. That has remained in these times a solid bit of consistency that we all crave for. And it's still there just as it was.
So you're known as an expert on rail itineraries and you really know how to put a trip together. So what is it about train travel in Britain specifically that you think makes it so special and so well suited to the kind of trip an American visitor wants to make?
Well, often think and say that, you know, Britain, the railways were invented in Britain in the 1820s, the 1830s. The first trains, train service was operated in the north of England. Thereafter, the network grew and towns were built around railways. So everywhere you're likely to want to go is you get there very quickly and you're arriving where you were, where you want to be.
Last week I was reminded once again one of my favorite places, our friends in York and it's a great place. When they built the railway, where did they build it? Right outside the city walls. When you arrive on the train, you walk out the entrance and there in front of you, 30 yards away, are the Roman walls. You're there. They didn't build it to drive cars around. You just walk to the town and the shambles and everything else. And that's the same whether it's Exeter or...
Manchester or Newcastle, you arrive where you want to go.
So let's start with the big picture for someone who has never set foot on a British train. How is the network actually structured? We hear about National Rail, lots of different train operating companies, the underground. How does it all fit together? And how much of it does a visitor really need to understand?
Yeah, well until the the the the nineties, twenty five, thirty years ago, it was a unified network under the name of British Rail. at that time it was privatized and every aspect was put out for tender to operators, and i in a nutshell you ended up with a company called RailTrack, which is now Network Rail, which was company was responsible for the
the infrastructure, the tracks, the stations. And then you had as many as 26 different companies operating different routes and services. And you can imagine that has consolidated over the years because it was unsurprisingly became very complicated and thus very expensive. There is a move currently to consolidation and that is the government strategy. And you know what goes around comes around. I started with British Rail.
By next year, the organization is going to be called Great British Railways and it'll be a unified network. And the great advantage of that, the great problem with the organization that has been is that long-term planning in railways is so difficult. and you've got to look so far ahead, and that just hasn't worked with planning new tracks or replacement tracks,
new rolling stock, new trains, all of that sort of thing, really needs long term planning and that's one of the principal reasons it's coming back. Now, as far as the customer is concerned, yes, for for the the last few decades they've travelled on London North Eastern Railway or Great Western or Mersey Rail, whatever it might be. The joy for an overseas visitor is that if you buy a Brit Roll Pass, doesn't matter.
you we manage to arrange and negotiate with all of them to participate and the Brit Rail Pass is valid on all of the national rail network. National Rail is the infrastructure operator and most people come across that. They operate a a a good website called nationalrail.com and that is where you can check train times and get real-time updates on the services, maybe if there's engineering works and all of that sort of thing. So that is a
how the railway is operated and by next year you'll see ver a lot fewer different color trains and logos and you'll see a lot more of GBR Great British Railways.
Yeah, at this point in time i already over half of the network is actually operated by the state Department of Transport once again, even though they're still operating under their their former names.
So one thing that can confuse a lot of Americans is that again, as there is there isn't a single national train company like Amtrak, and there will soon be one, but there are many different operators. And so how does that affect vis how a visitor plans a journey or buys a ticket? Is it seamless or is it more complicated? Or and keeping in mind this could be changing in the next year or so.
there's always been great efforts to try and maintain the simplicity or asimplicity of of of tickets, particularly for point-to-point tickets, and and it's not always been successful. But the prices are supposed wherever you buy them, those prices are supposed to be similar. A Britrail Pass it has been kind of above all of that and has remained simple and has one price which is sold and you can go to the ACP rail website or call them or whatever and
you you can buy a a Brit rail pass in your local currency and you can travel on any any of the national mainline rail networks. We can talk about what it's not valid on, but we it that really comes down to things like the tube and and a few of the local railways. So it is for the for the c for the overseas visitor it was and still is pretty simple and that's great and that's what we've tried to do because
Yeah, it i it it i it is complicated enough for a a visitor to to to travel around without putting our organisational hurdles in the way.
And so something that can catch a lot of first time visitors off guard is that London doesn't have one central railway station. There are several big terminals. There's King's Cross, there's Paddington, Houston, Victoria, Waterloo, and more. And the one you leave from depends on where in the country you're going to. So can you kind of help our listeners understand the London station hubs and know how which ones they're going to need?
Okay. Yeah, there there are several stations in London and that dates from the building of the railways back in a century and a bit ago when different when the railways were first built and how they ended up going into London. and by the way, I would say before we even talk about that, some of the greatest structures in London are the railway stations. If you go to St Pancras particularly, go outside.
Have a look at it. It is absolutely a magnificent building. And it is the hub of that local area. And that's so often the case with the railway stations. So, yes, the principal ones are King's Cross, and that is the services up through Peterborough, Doncaster, York, to Leeds, to Newcastle, to Edinburgh, and up to Aberdeen. Currently it's London North East, and we call that the East Coast Main Line.
King's Cross is across the road from St. Pancras, St. Pancras International, as it as it is now known. And that is the Midland main line, but it is also the terminal for Eurostar nowadays. And it is, as I say, one minute walk from King's Cross. Further along Euston Road is Euston Station. That is the terminus for the trains to the Midlands.
Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and up the West Coast main line to Glasgow. Going round, there's a local line, more of a local line out of Maryland, goes to places like Stratford-upon-Avon and a secondary, slightly slower route, but very pretty, to Birmingham. The Great Western, one of the historic old railway companies and the train companies still call Great Western Railways.
go out of Paddington and that's to Cornwall, Devon, places like South South Wales, Cardiff and Swansea and the even the even as far as Fish Guard where you get the train to the the boat to Ireland. And he Paddington is also the terminal for the Heathrow Express. then the on for the for serving the the South Coast and the the
very busy commuter lines, Waterloo and Victoria. Victoria goes to Gatwick and to Brighton and there's a very complicated array of of of tracks in both of those. And finally Liverpool Street is the s is is the terminal for services to East Anglia. Norwich is is the big is the big place, but you can go also to Cambridge as well. So that is the that is the array of
of stations. And you when you when you look on EC the the ACP rail website or you're looking for real time on National Rail, y you'll see which station you go from. And they're all connected by the tube by underground. They're not that far away and and as I say, some are very close, but most require a tube journey or a taxi ride or something like that.
And then and then there's the Elizabeth line, which is relatively new and has transformed how people move across London. So what is it and why is it such a useful thing for visitors to know about, especially when going between these main line stations?
Right. The the Elizabeth line opened two or three years ago and was had had been being built for a long time because it was a very complicated bit of railway connecting east to west and going under London, working around the tube and all the rest of it. And it it goes at one point it does go every few minutes from the Heathrow terminals right through central London.
through Paddington to places like Farringdon out to East London. And it is for a considered part of the national rail network because it is heavy rail and your Brit Rail pass is valid on it. And there are multiple places to change to get onto the tube network or to walk to wherever you you're going, whichever hotel or museum or w whatever it is. the Heathrow Express still operates independent of that and goes to to
Paddington. That is the premium service. It costs a little bit more. It takes 15 minutes and it goes every 15 minutes. The Elizabeth line has far exceeded its the expectations and has done really well. And so but the advantage is if you have safe line from the US and you're arriving and in the morning, you're on the train first before all the commuters get on at a few of the intermediate stops. So it is a great service.
One other thing, it it is a an unusual line in that it is right across the city. There's only a few places that do that really well. Paris has got quite a few, and that is a great one. There is another one which intersects with the the Elizabeth line called Thameslink. And Thameslink goes from the South Coast, Brighton to Gatwick and a few other places as far as Cambridge, Peterborough.
and and many other places north of London. And so you can change Farringdon and get straight to Brighton in one in with one change from Heathrow, for example. So it has really opened up new opportunities and all included in the Britrail Pass.
And so let's talk about the wider network and how extensive it is. So you can genuinely get to most pla interesting places in Britain by train, the big cities, the countryside, the coast, the highlands. So are the you really don't need a car to to see these places. So what are some of your favorites that you'd like to suggest?
Well, I'm you know, I I come from the eastern part of of England and whilst it's not a rural line by any manner of means, the East Coast main line, when I when I was little, I could open the window of the bedroom and I could hear the the trains going up up the bank between Peterborough and Grantham, the high speed trains or the Deltics as we called them then. So I that's one of the and the reason why I like it is because it just links so many interesting places.
And the scenery on the way. So you go from King's Cross, you within a couple of hours, you you're in York. Wonderful place as we've just talked about. Going further north, Durham, which has a great cathedral, Minster, lovely town set on a set on a river, and you've just gone through Darlington, which is the birthplace of the railways. Once you get to Newcastle and beyond
You begin to travel along the North Sea coast through the beautiful town, great place to stop off and stay and explore with a magnificent bridge, Berwick upon Tweed. And then north of that, you hug the coast, come in a little bit, go back again. it's a spectacular view all the way to Edinburgh. And if you can, carry on, go to Aberdeen, go through places like Stonehaven, hop off there before you arrive in Aberdeen. So that's one of my favorites.
Another, which is much less travelled, requires a little effort, goes from Leeds to Carlisle. It's called the Settle and Carlisle through the Yorkshire Dales. Beautiful route, a real community route. Lots of the local communities offer walks and guided things and all of that sort of thing. So that's a a great one to explore. I like the Cornish branch lines. once you get down to Devon and and Cornwall, there are some lovely.
l short branch lines. The journeys are probably only, you know, twenty to forty five minutes or something like that. The Loo branch, at L O O E I went on not too too long ago and thought that was great. To St Ives, another lovely town, lovely views as you t you you take the train. I like that. and an area of Britain which is really overlooked is East Anglia. Yes, people go to Cambridge. But what about Ely?
Fifteen minutes north. It has a magnificent Minster, beautiful town, connections to Oliver Cromwell, canal boats, it's spectacularly beautiful. Outer Norwich there is an array of branch lines and and my favourite is to Sherinham and Cromer on the North Norfolk North Norfolk coastline. Very well known for walks, for for birding,
for markets and market towns and things like that. So there are a few. And I should not couldn't continue without talking about some of the branch the scenic lines in Scotland. And there are several. Every line in Scotland is scenic. You can't you can't go wrong. there is one I I like. It's a bit it's a long journey north of Inverness. We call it the Far North line and it goes to Wick and Thurso. And the latter you can
change and stay and get on a boat to go to the Shetland line. So you really get the feel that you are at the end of the country and you've gone across moors and through several stations where you can't get there by road. There is only a railway and you you you're out in in the beautiful wilds and yes you can get weather of all sorts, but whatever.
it it is spectacular and has got a real a real character to it. So there there there are just a few of the ones I like.
I've just I've got a whole itinerary now of of railway lines I have to I have to to to do. So let's move on to talking about tickets, train tickets. and and this will kind of evolve into the conversation about the Brit rail and how it makes all this unnecessary. But British train tickets are can be famously confusing even to the British. So can you walk us through the basics? What are the main types of tickets a visitor will encounter? What does advance off peak any time actually mean?
Yeah.
Yeah, we we we we have managed to, I am afraid, end up with a pretty complicated, some would say market driven pricing network, but it has come in for a lot of criticism. And under the new strategy of Great British Railways, one of their top goals is simplification of the ticketing system. it it is a little complicated because
the the definitions of peak and off peak and all the rest of it are are are very different depending upon the route and the the the area and things like that. But it essentially advance means and that is the the the least expensive type of ticket if it is you're booking in a in advance, at least a day or more and the numbers are limited. So but you have to travel on that train. You can't change. It's just the same as w with airlines or
Over here. so that is that is the the the least expensive but the most restrictive option. Then there are peak and off peak, and the peak is generally you considered around 9 30, not not after 9 30, Monday to Friday. But it varies a little bit, and there are some exceptions to that, and certain trains. Open tickets are the the most expensive, and you can just walk up and buy one, and sometimes they can be very expensive and
That is why and particularly when the Britrail Pass really wins hands down for that sort of thing. So, you know, I always I I I I like to be able to just get up and go. I don't like planning too, too far ahead. maybe it's raining, maybe you don't want to stay on on the coast in you wanna go or you enjoyed the museum that you you were adding.
enjoining Cardiff in South Wales and the castle and you want to stay another hour, you can do that with a Britrail pass. That that is the big thing. So there are options, various options, but the Britrail Pass has this th th the the cre key asset of s simplicity and flexibility.
And so what is the difference between first class and standard class on British trains? And is it worth paying extra for first class? So like what what makes the difference in the journey?
Yeah, that's a good question. if you are travelling in and around, say, South London on the commuter trains, not all have first class, many have first class, but it doesn't have the bells and whistles that a first class seat does on the longer haul. So if you're going up the East Coast mainline, the West Coast mainline, down to Devon, Cornwall.
South Wales. First class means you are on a coach which will have fewer seats. It's two and one across as opposed to two and two with a a bit extra foot foot width as well. A little bit more space to store your baggage, just fewer people. and on all of those services, but during the day, during the week, you will get teas, coffees, often
certain meal times of the day, you'll get a meal on board. So for longer journeys, if you can trade up with your Britrail pass to to get a first class ticket and you're doing a few longer journeys, well worth it. If you're just pottering around London in the south east or around some of the using Manchester as a base and you're going along the North Wales coast or something like that, probably not quite as much necessary.
But certainly on the longer journeys to and from Scotland is is the classic. if you can, it's great.
So what are some common things that trip Americans up? Is it the peak versus off peak restrictions? Is it validating tickets? Is it barriers, carrying ID? What are some gotchas that you wish every visitor knew before they arrived?
Yeah, I I was always surprised over the years we had very little pro very little problems and feed and and negative feedback and I think that's because people, the staff, are willing to help. And one of the other things I would say about travelling on the train in Britain, hey, you get to talk to and meet other people, local people. That doesn't happen when you're in a car. So problems tend to be tend to be resolved.
I I would I don't recall very many of those sort of problems. I think one of the the bigger bits of advice where people the the feedback was sometimes I wish I'd known is to do with baggage and not taking too much if you can because that it can become a little bit of a problem or a little bit of hard work if you if you can. So if you can travel a little lighter or you use a base or you use one of the
the newer online luggage storage things, that is a good way to do. Most of the stations, the biggest stations do have left luggage. So that is one of the one of the the main bits of feedback which we we did get and the solution is if you can travel a little lighter or leave bags, when you're when you're really doing a tour, you'll enjoy it even more.
Yeah, that's one thing we're big advocates of is is traveling as light as you can. I I'm a big advocate of the carry-on only rule. Don't travel something bigger than a carry-on because it's easy to get around. It's cobblestones and you gotta if you have to lift it. You don't want to lift a hundred pound suitcase over over stones getting to your hotel and and then and then getting it into the overhead, you know, in the train. It's it's don't make it too hard on yourself.
Right.
And as long as you remember the essentials, like your glasses, your medications, hey, if you need a shirt, you can buy one. It's
I mean you get the you get the fun of going into a British store and and a and and trying to find what you're looking for and I which is an adventure in itself. So so that that that I think that brings us to the Brit Rail Pass, which which is what we're here to talk about. So I know we've kind of touched on it already, but what is the Brit Rail Pass and what does it let you do?
Yeah.
Yes, the BritRail pass is a a product which you buy a certain number of days and and that can be consecutive days and you have to use say you buy four days consecutive, four days consecutive travel within a month, or you and it costs just a little bit more on a per day basis, you a flexi, which means you buy, for example, four days in in a month, or eight days, or fifteen, or or whatever it is.
And you can have days in between. So it a little bit depends upon the type of journey that you're doing. And the Brit Rail Pass at its core is a real alternative to renting a car. That is what where the competition is. and Britain is a small, small country, but it has pretty crowded roads and busy roads. And of course, drive on the
the other side of the road as well. So the Britrail Pass is very much intended as an alternative to renting a car for your the duration of your stay. and so and the Britrail pass as as I say is valid on every mainline train, not the tube, and you cannot get on a wrong train. There are no restrictions at all. You can reserve a seat if you want. I think we'll
Probably touch on that later, but you don't have to. So it is a very, very simple, straightforward proposition.
So it basically simplifies the whole ticket confusing ticketing system. You pay one price and you can use it anywhere.
That's right. You could for the day that you're tr that you you've got it your ticket validated, you could stay on the train the whole time. And that is let's just touch on that. The joy of travelling on a train is and the joy of the journey is part of the trip. If you're going along the North Wales coast on your way to Bangor or Llandudno or even to get the to Holyhead to get the ferry.
The joy of the journey is really part of it and there is so much like that acr across the Britain as well. So that's important to note.
Well and and I think one thing we should emphasize is is the freedom. I mean, you can get on a train in London and go all the way to the tippy top of Scotland Thurstow. Get on the train, go back to London. Or you could get up the next day and go down a different line and go all the way to Cornwall if you wanted to, and you could literally go anywhere.
That that's right. You can at the last minute you can change, change your mind. You can do a tour, you can go back to where you you went. You you can do a a day trip from London to York and you you're just using one day of your pass. You could go further. You could go to Edinburgh and back is feasible because as I said before, the journey is i is just part of the joy of the travel. All of those things are possible. You you go up to to Edinburgh, go across to Glasgow, come down the west coast.
those sort of things are are feasible and and it's not not hard work because you're sitting on a train looking at the countryside go by or the the towns and the cities. Yes.
So an an important point that that a lot of people don't realize is actually the Brit Rail Pass is only for international visitors. British people cannot buy this pass. So can you explain why that is and what visitors need to know about that rule?
Yeah, that's true, because it's a good offer. and it is a it is a marketing way of differentiating between business travel, which would pa will pays more, especially for first class, and if it was sold domestically, it it would abstract from the the core business class revenue. That is that is a principal reason and it is a it is a good offer.
We also know that visitors do not travel as much at peak times, so it tends to fill emptier seats. if you've got a Britrail pass and you're visiting, you're unlikely to be on the six thirty AM train out of Leeds going to London, which is what business people are doing. You're much more likely to be on the nine thirty, ten o'clock, twelve o'clock out of London when it's
the trains are quieter. So from the railway operator's point of view, it's a win it's a win win, fill in empty seats and people having a a good time as well. So that's the that that's the two sides of the of the equation there, and that's the reason why it is a good deal. And yes, you have to be an overseas resident for more than six months, I think it is, in order to be able to purchase a rail pass. And you're supposed to carry your
passport or or some identification of your residency when you have it.
Should always have your passport on you when you're traveling, but you know, make make sure make sure you have it easily reachable when you're on the train in case you have to show it. So there are there are two main structures to the pass. There's the consecutive pass and the flexi pass. So what's the difference and how should a visitor figure out which one suits the kind of trip they're going to be taking?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I think it depends how long you've got and how long you want to stay in different places. If if you're kinda like me and you just like a train ride, then and you're gonna really use your pass, you're probably gonna go to South Wales, you're gonna take the train up through the central Wales line, end up back in Shrewsbury or Shrewsbury, depending how you want to to talk it, and then head up to Chester and back down again.
And you're gonna spend a few hours in in in in Liverpool, go across to Manchester and and back, you're the person who will enjoy and get great value out of a consecutive pass. On the other hand, if you're wanting to take the train and go as far as, for example, the beautiful little village of the Kile of Loch Alch and the west of Scotland and the train from Inverness and you're gonna go to the Isle of Skye.
Well, when you get there, you're probably going to want to spend two, three, four days there hiking, walking, exploring, doing a little tour or whatever, before you come back and maybe divert and visit another city that you want to. And you're doing that over, say, two weeks, and you've decided you're going to travel for four days within those two weeks, then a flexi pass is the is the one for you. So they're the they're the two alternatives.
Yeah, so yeah, that makes a lot of sense. If you're gonna be on the train every day, get a consecutive pass. If you are only gonna be on the train for specific days to get to point A to point B and then stay, then the flexi pass sounds ideal because then you have complete flexibility.
So beyond the Britain Ri wide rail pass, there are a number of regional passes as well with a whole range of validities from a few days up to a month. Can you walk us through some of those and how does a visitor figure out which combination kind of matches their travel plan? Should you just buy the Britain wide pass or but if you're only going to the southwest, can you get a southwest pass?
Yes, again, if you've got a broad idea of what you're going to do, the the the biggest alternative to the full Britrail pass is a thing called the Britrail England Pass, which surprise, surprise, just covers England. So if you're not going to Wales and not going to Scotland, then you can get save yourself a a a little bit of money and get a Britrail England pass and you can go on any train in England. And so that obviously covers w far north as
Berry Gontweed and Carlisle and all the way down to the South Coast and Cornwall, Devon and and so on and so forth. Regionally, the next bestseller is what we call the London Plus Pass, which is really London and the South East. Quite an extensive trip in pass. It includes places like Cambridge, like Oxford, like the wonderful historic.
naval dockyards in in Portsmouth, going as far as Salisbury, maybe Devon, maybe Dover, Folkestone, you can see some of the World War II, the White Cliffs of Dover and the museum and things there, or go round the corner, go to Deal, where I discovered not too long ago that Julius Caesar first set foot in in Britain. Who knew that? And so that's the
That that's London and and the south east and i it's meant for day trips or commuting in to and from London whichever way you want. And you can do little circuits and things like that if you look at the map, because the services are so frequent, you can really have have fun and see a lot using that relatively inexpensive pass. And of course, you don't want a car in London. it is quite complicated, busy, congestion charges, ULED charges and and all the rest of the thing. So that is a
Great, great alternative. Then there is the South Western South Wales, which is just as the name implies, down to the the south west of of Britain. If you're really just visiting that, that's good. And finally, Scotland. if you if you are exploring Scotland in depth, that's a good one to do. The trains are because they are going around mountains and rivers and scenic, they don't go as fast, so they
you need a l quite a bit of time and if you're going to spend a week or ten days pottering around Scotland, that is by far the best option for you.
So let's let's talk about the the Pass, which is the digital version of the pass that lives on your phone now. How does that work in practice and w there's no longer a paper ticket that you get?
Right. Yeah, there's the there's no no no mystique to it, there's no mystery. It's the same product. You travel exactly the same. It's just that you have the product on your phone and you show it on the phone. You get a link and you validate it by different days when you've elect to to use it or to start your pass and it's on your phone. Of course it means that you can buy one immediately. You don't have to wait for it shipped and
There isn't a shipping cost. So but it is, I just emphasize, it is the same exact product.
Well and make sure your phone is charged. And a lot of trains will have chargers now.
the trains the trains off all all nearly all nowadays have Wi-Fi apart from on some of the really rural rural services, they have Wi-Fi and and outlets and things. But of course they're the three pun th three pin Brit British ones or USB ports.
So what does the past not cover? So that way people un clearly understand why like you can't use this on the tube.
Right. The the the big thing that does not cover is the tube, the Transport for London tube network. But as we say, it does cover the heavy rail through London, across London, Elizabeth Line Thames Link, it does include the Airport Express, the Gatwick Gatwick Ex trains as well. It so that is the the big things there. It does not include the some of the the the the heritage lines. There are some wonderful steam railways in Britain which are
apart from being for train buffs, are really bits of history of Britain and probably one of the best is the the Seven Valley Railway. it doesn't cover that. You can get the you can get the train to it, but that's one of the one of the others. And they the great little trains of Wales from you know the Ffestiniog Railway, things like that. Again, your Brit Rail Pass can take you to Porth Maddock to get onto the Ffestiniog line, but it doesn't cover that steam narrow gauge railway.
or similar with the other half dozen or so in and around in in Wales. Great great trip to do by the way, if you you can is go to go to Wales, go on the through Harleighcom places and and then take the train up to Porth Maddock and the steam train to Blina Festiniaga and end up getting back on the main line railway up to to Landudno and back to to Manchester. But I digress. Then it is
simply some of the regional very local light rail services like the tra the the excellent tram network in manchester or then the light rail network in Newcastle for example it does does not cover but other than that all of the main line trains are covered.
Well, and I feel like I should add that if you are going to travel around London on the tube, that all you literally do now is tap your card and you pay the lowest fare. Like it's not a you don't buy a ticket anymore. It's not complicated to travel on the tube, even if you have a Brit rail pass. So you just tap your card and you're good.
That's right. Yes, that's right. And it maxes out for the day if you travel a lot.
Yeah. So it's a really clever system. So now how do a common point of confusion is seat reservation. So how does that work? Because you don't you don't seat re reserving a seat on a train isn't mandatory. Sometimes you have to pay a little extra for it, depending on the train operating company. So what does a pass holder do to reserve a seat and how does it work alongside the pass?
Yeah. as I say, you don't need a seat reservation on any any train whatsoever. When asked, I I would advise at certain times it's not a bad idea. If you're traveling in a group, maybe there's two or three or four of you and you really want to sit sit together, then it's worth considering. Although especially so if you if you are going to be traveling at peak times, if you're wanting to travel out of
King's Cross, for example, to go to Edinburgh on the 10 o'clock, the traditional flying Scotsman path. It's probably a good idea to reserve a seat, especially if you're wanting to do it on a Friday. You know, Fridays and the weekends can be a bit busier. So that is the time to do it. And you can buy a pass. ACP will buy you a pass in advance, or if you want, you can go to the stations locally.
and get a pass, get a a seat reservation, show your pass and you can get a seat reservation there if you and that you remain r retain that flexibility. It does mean you you're not rushing to get onto the train and you know that you will have a seat there. and there are modest fees for buying them in a in advance. So as I say, horses of courses sometimes it's really worth doing, but you don't need to do it all the time by any manner of means.
And it's just I thought it just thought of a question. Sorry, I I I forgot that I'd put this one on the list, but can you use the Brit Rail Pass on the Caledonian sleeper or the Cornish Riviera sleeper trains? Okay. So it's a just little extra fee. Okay. So what are some rookie mistakes you see people visitors making when they use their passes for the first time? that are cum kind of completely avoidable if you just are if you have a little more knowledge.
well I I I I mentioned I mentioned the b the bags thing. I I I think getting the most out of it, you only need to do people get a little nervous, and you only need to do two or three long journeys to make a Brit rail pass really worth it. So don't underuse it, I would say. Venture out.
you you've got such a frequ even on the main lines, even from, you know, London to Manchester, you've got a a train every twenty minutes to half an hour. So you've really got the opportunity to use it. And if you if you're in London and or or you're in Bath or something other and you've got the afternoon free, you can get on the train and you can you could go to Salisbury and back and see the magnificent town of Salisbury. so
make sure that you you use it and and plan it. when you're there. you can't go wrong.
So let's let's get tactical about planning a trip. what's the best way to actually plan a rail based itinerary around Britain? How do you balance big set piece cities with the smaller places that are enjoyed to reach by train?
Yeah, I think it starts off with when you're planning a trip, how long have you got? Do you have any specific interests? Are you it does that involve maybe sport, maybe football? are you interested in some of the wartime history, some of the specific museums? and then get a if you've got a theme of some of these and that you want to see.
And there are some absolutely wonderful museums and sites and venues across Britain. So I think that's the that's the starting point. What is it that you want to do, or whoever you're traveling with, what do you want to see and do? I I would also advise if you can pick in a pick in a base and stay in there for two or three days, or longer if you can, and exploring and then.
Taking a few trips out from there. That's and in these days of Airbnb, that's a little easier than perhaps it it used to be. And as I say, the the the trains are central, so the more central you can be in your accommodations, that is also very, very useful. so yeah, that those are some of the things that that I I think looking back, you can do a little bit more and get.
even more value of it. And there's so many themes I always think in when you're visiting Britain that you can take up that you may that may interest you and that you want to do. And we could talk about some of the the different ones. But absolutely that's the starting point.
But there's usually a taxi rank at every train station and it's yeah, or do
u Uber works as well. fine. Yeah. And they there's sometimes it's a little bit more complicated to work, but it works is there are great bus bus net local bus networks and if you can't work it out, just ask somebody and ninety percent of people will happily try and help you.
Yeah, and and most areas have a tourist information office, even these days and they th they have people who are happy to to help and direct you wherever you want to go. Yeah.
Indeed, indeed.
So apps, timetables, real-time information, what what tools should a visitor have on their phone to kind of help them navigate the network, derail network?
Yeah, the nationalrail dot co dot uk website is is one that I certainly use when I'm travelling around. it is it is the most up to date and it's worth noting that the the the tr the rail network runs pretty well. They do do maintenance and engineering and we have a tradition of doing it on Saturday nights and Sundays. It doesn't mean that everything is affected by any manner of means. In fact
the opposite, very small amounts are affected. But it's worth checking. if there's a diversion or a delay or sometimes, heaven forbid a a a rail a a coach replacement service, it does happen, particularly on on Sundays. So that is the one that has the the the national rail website is the one that has the current state and to plan ahead and if by any chance there's been some disruption, that is
That is the one for for check-in and it that's your roadmap to that's your Google maps or ways of the of the railway.
Yeah, they love to do maintenance on weekends, bank holidays, the Christmas breaks. So those are those can be a challenge or you'll end up on a on a coach, which is a p you know, it's it's not as n not yeah, not nearly as good as a train, but you'll still get there.
Yeah, that's always the thing. We s
You
still get there. Yeah. Some of us who've been around a little bit get a little frustrated because w we used to keep we used to divert and all the rest of it. Heaven forbid you put somebody on a bus and it's a happens a little too quickly now. But don't get me started on that.
So so for listeners who are who may not be sold on on Brit Rail Pass, where where do they buy one? What and what advice would you give them before they book?
Well you can buy one at acprail dot com and you can look at all of the various options that there are of the regional ones that we've talked about and decide which is the one that fits your amount of time available or your your interests of what you want to see and how you want to explore or who you're going to see as well. So that is that is the place to start and there's a lot of information there as well.
Yeah, and I there's a great map on the Brit Royal website that has all the main routes, which is handy to look at. And I'll link to that in the show notes so people can get an idea of where they can go because a lot of people don't realize we we don't have trains many trains here in the US, so we don't think about trains. but in Britain you can get everywhere on trains and it w and it won't take you twenty four hours to go somewhere on a train.
And and and and the big difference the big difference is the frequency. That's the thing that surprises people is that there's you know, there's a a train every f two or three an hour to to to Leeds and Manchester and Liverpool, even cross country, you can get a train easily from Manchester to Birmingham on a very regular basis and and all of that. That is that that's what really surprises people is that
Yeah, I I'm I'm going to Newcastle at the end of August to walk Hadrian's Wall and when I was booking my when I was booking my ticket on the East Coast main line, I was 'cause I'm I'm literally going right from the airport to to to train station and I was like there was literally like three or four trains an hour.
Yeah.
to Newcastle and it only takes two two two hours or so or like three hours. Yeah. It's not doesn't take long at all. And I'm like, I'm gonna be in Newcastle before I even had lunch. It's gonna be great.
That's right.
Absolutely. That's the joy. And you'll have and you'll have been through some wonderful countryside, especially as you get north of York.
I know, can't wait. So well, let's close on let's tell me your favorite railway route in Britain that you should tell everybody to take. And I think you kind of already answered it, but let's this will be for the social media clip anyway. So let's let's give us your favorite rail journey.
my goodness. I've got lots, but I I would say, let me say going north out of Edinburgh or Glasgow, Stirling, heading up towards Inverness. You're going through places like Pitlockery and Avymore, and you really begin to feel as though you are going through the highlands, of course, but you're getting to the
more adventurous parts of any trip. And the scenery at any point is spectacular. And so I I have to say that is the ones and you you look out for the the castle at Sterling and the the the rivers and the streams and the locks and and then when you get to look forward to getting to Inverness, you've then got three lines you can either go west of the Carlochouch, north to the far north line.
Or east to Aberdeen and you could head back to London. So I always advan I I always feel as though when I do that I'm beginning to go on an adventure.
that and that's if anybody takes away anything from this episode is that the railway is your key to unlimited adventures because you don't need a car and you don't need to travel by road. You can get there by train.
So, Tim, thank you so much. This has been a wonderful, useful, practical conversation. I think a lot of our listeners are going to feel far more confident about taking the train in Britain after this. And so thank you so much for joining the Anglotopia podcast. We will put links to everything we discussed, including the Brit Rail Pass, in the show notes. And thanks again to today's sponsor, ACP Rail and Brit Rail. If this episode has you dreaming of seeing Britain by train, a Brit Rail Pass is the easiest way to make it happen. Unlimited travel across England, Scotland, and Wales, right on your phone.
Head to accpril.com to learn more and buy your pass. And the link is in the show notes. And don't forget about our giveaway. We are partnering with them to give away a first class Britrail four day flexi pass, which gives you four flexible days of premium travel across Britain. So you can literally go for Britain for a couple weeks, plan your railway travel days, and get everywhere you want to go. So to enter, just go to Anglotopia.net slash Britrail, and you'll also find that link in the show notes.
Good luck. That contest ends, I believe, August fifteenth. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, or comment and tell us where you'd like to go on your British Rail Adventure on over on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. And if you love the Anglotopia podcast, please consider joining the Friends of Anglotopia Club, where you can get early access to new episodes and connect with other Britain enthusiasts. So join us next time as we continue exploring the people, places, and stories that make Britain so endlessly fascinating to discover. Thank you, Tim.
