There has been a number of articles in the news in the past while about the forthcoming development of high-speed rail in the UK (most recently this one). And for those who don’t know what high-speed rail is, it’s rail transport that goes at a very high speed. The rest of the world has it,…
You may have read a wee while back about the Scottish Government’s consultation on rail services in Scotland beyond 2014. When launched, it made a few headlines because of eye-catching questions like whether alcohol should be banned from trains or whether the sleeper service and daytime cross-border journeys between the north of Scotland and England…
No, I’m not typing any faster than normal, but rather intending to write about high-speed rail, something I’ve blogged about already. Plenty has been written about the economic benefit of the proposed high-speed rail network in the UK, the development of which is managed by these people. So I am not going to repeat in…
Our three week rail journey through Europe began with a twenty-four hour trip from Inverness to Toulouse. It could not have presented a starker contrast between the antiquated rail system in Britain and the superb high-speed rail network of mainland Europe. Our sleeper from Inverness to London was a cramped, clunky and slow old beast,…
If you pop into the Glen Mhor Hotel on the banks of the River Ness you’ll be transported back in time. Not because it’s an antiquated place, but because in its front lounge there is an array of vintage Scottish rail posters. They’re all, I think, prints of paintings by Norman Wilkinson, a famous landscape…
There’s a good article by Muriel Gray in the Sunday Herald today, lambasting the government’s neglect of transport to the Highlands. She rightly describes the A82 as like a cycle path, and criticises the spending of money on trams in Edinburgh at a time when tourism and business demands that it’s the rest of the…
I’ve always maintained that Paris and London are incredibly alike. They’re both big, proud, characterful cities that utterly dominate their respective countries politically and culturally, and they both are world famous cities that are centres of major world languages. Also, they share a similar feel – engaging, gritty and down to earth, yet with an…
Avignon. One of those famous places whose name rings a bell – though if you’re like me, you’ll not be able to recall quite why. At least until you go there. Ah yes, the famous international arts festival. Ah yes, the pont d’Avignon, on which we danced, on which we danced. Ah yes, the papal…
In which I compare the plane to the train. Needless to say the train wins.
I was appalled to read in the Inverness Courier that Inverness’s direct rail link to London might be under threat. Currently, the “Highland Chieftain”, run by East Coast trains, has a seven or eight hour train service running in each direction from Inverness to London. I am often on the 0755 departing from Inverness, often…