• About

Paul Bigland

~ Blogging on transport, travel & whatever takes my fancy.

Paul Bigland

Category Archives: Peterborough

Cambridgeshire bound.

13 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Peterborough, Transport, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Peterborough., Transport, Travel

The ‘office’ is moving to Peterborough for the next few days as I’ll be working at a friends wedding tomorrow. I very rarely ‘do’ wedding photography – except for friends. This is one of those times. A young colleague from one of the rail magazines is getting spliced tomorrow and I’ve agreed to do ‘fly on the wall’ pictures of the big day.

Obviously, while I’m in the area I’ll be taking the opportunity to get some rail shots. Peterborough station has undergone a major rebuilding programme in the past couple of years & work continues to make the area ready for the new Thameslink trains from Siemens. There’s going to be lots to photograph…

I’ll update this blog through the day (as time permits, obviously). Right now I’m off to Leeds to catch the train South.

Update 1.

Having fortified myself with a coffee at the ACoRP office with Dawn & Hazel (aka the ‘ACoRP angels) I’m now standing on a busy Trans-Pennine service to Leeds. Not unusually, it’s running slightly late. This line has reached saturation point on capacity so any delays tend to have a ripple effect across the day. It’s one of the reasons I’m not unhappy with the ‘pause’ on electrifying the line. That pause is allowing a rethink & rescope which should mean the extra capacity that’s clearly needed can be factored into the revised scheme. All the signs are that fingers will be taken off the pause button in the autumn. Watch this space…

Right now I’m wedged into the wheelchair use space at the front of the unit, hemmed in by a three prams & half a dozen kids. I wish I had the IEAs ‘transport expert’ Richard Wellings here. Like other members of the anti Hs2 mob he’s always claiming that the railways are the reserve of the rich! Clearly the man has never been on a train outside of the London commuter belt (or, for that matter, the North London line).

UPDATE 2

I’m esconced in the Great Northern hotel opposite Peterborough station after a smooth trip down here with VTEC (Virgin Trains East Coast). Here’s food for thought: Some people always complain UK rail fares are too high. I bought my ticket online yesterday morning. There was a range of prices on offer depending on the time of day you wanted to travel. My single ticket cost me the princely sum of £19.50 in Standard Class for the 10:45 departure which arrives at 12:07. I don’t think that’s expensive at all. Clearly, a lot of other people don’t think the prices are bad either as the train was nearly full. Of course, you’ll never see the national media mention this, they’ll find the most expensive open fare & pretend it’s what everyone pays.

My visit to Peterborough has proved to be (unintentionally) very sociable. The power of social media meant that my travels had been tracked through this blog, so I ended up having a catch-up and a coffee with @mainspringmike who is based nearby. I also bumped into an old friend, Chris Leech (from Business in the Community) who was having a meeting in my hotel. It’s one of the unexpected joys of being an itinerant – you never know who you’ll bump into, or for that matter – where!

Recent Posts

  • 26th January picture of the day…
  • 24th January picture of the day…
  • 22nd January picture of the day…
  • 20th January picture of the day…
  • 18th January picture of the day…

Recent Comments

Chris Oldham on 18th January picture of the…
Paul Bigland on 18th January picture of the…
Chris Oldham on 18th January picture of the…
Phil on Chris Packham’s wasting…
Chris Oldham on Chris Packham’s wasting…

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • June 2013

Categories

  • 'Green' madness
  • 'Think Tanks'
  • 144e
  • 2005 London bombing
  • 2017 General election
  • 3 peaks by rail
  • 3 Peaks by ral
  • 51M
  • 7/7
  • Abandoned railways
  • Abu Dhabi
  • ACoRP
  • Adam Smith Institute
  • Adrian Quine
  • Advertising
  • Air Travel
  • Aircraft
  • Airports
  • Airshows
  • Allan Cook
  • Amsterdam
  • Andrea Leadsom MP
  • Andrew Gilligan
  • Andrew Haylen
  • Andy Burnham MP
  • Anti Hs2 mob
  • AONBs
  • Arambol
  • Architecture
  • Australia
  • Bali
  • Bangkok
  • Bank holidays
  • Barrow Hill
  • Belgium
  • Bigotry
  • Birmingham
  • Blue passports
  • Boris Johnson MP
  • Brexit
  • Brighouse
  • Brighton
  • British Railways
  • Calder Valley
  • Canals
  • Carillion
  • Censorship
  • Charities
  • Cheryl Gillan MP
  • Cheshire
  • China
  • Chris Packham
  • Claire Perry MP
  • Class 313
  • Class 314s
  • Class 455
  • Class 507
  • Class 508
  • Class 60s
  • Class 91
  • Communications
  • Community
  • Community rail
  • Corbynwatch
  • Coronavirus
  • CP5
  • Crap journalism
  • Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week
  • Crazy kippers
  • Crewe Hub
  • Cuba
  • Customs
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cycle India
  • Cycling
  • Dawn
  • Democracy
  • Desiro City
  • Diary
  • Dispatches
  • Donald Trump
  • Doomed
  • Down memory lane
  • East Midlands Railway franchise
  • East Midlands Trains
  • Easter fairy stories
  • ECML
  • Economic illiteracy
  • Economics
  • election2015
  • Engineering
  • Environment
  • Eurostar
  • Euston
  • Extinction Rebellion
  • Fake News
  • Festivals
  • Flooding
  • Flora and Fauna
  • Food
  • Food and drink
  • Foot in mouth
  • Gardening
  • GBRf
  • General election
  • General election 2019
  • Georgetown
  • Germany
  • Glossop
  • GNGE
  • GNRP
  • Goa
  • Grand Central trains
  • Great Western Railway
  • Greater Anglia franchise
  • Green madness
  • Green Party
  • Gt Missenden
  • GTR
  • Guido Fawkes
  • GWML
  • GWR franchise
  • Gwyll Jones
  • Halifax
  • Harvil Rd Hs2 protest
  • Harz railway
  • Heathrow 3rd runway
  • High Speed 1
  • High Speed UK
  • History
  • Hitachi
  • Hong Kong
  • House of Lords
  • HS North
  • Hs2
  • Hs2 Bow Group
  • Hs2 petitions
  • Hs2 to Crewe
  • Hs2aa
  • HSUK
  • Huddersfield
  • Humour
  • Hurricane Ophelia
  • I love my job
  • Imperial College London
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Infrarail
  • Innotrans
  • Internet
  • Ireland
  • Islamophobia
  • Jacob Rees Mogg
  • Jeremy Corbyn
  • Jeremy Corbyn MP
  • Jo Johnson MP
  • Joe Rukin
  • John McDonnell MP
  • Johnathan Bartley
  • Journalism
  • Labour election
  • Lancashire
  • Laos
  • Law and order
  • Lazy journalism
  • Leicestershire
  • Liam Halligan
  • libel
  • Lilian Greenwood MP
  • Liverpool
  • LNER
  • Local elections
  • Local elections 2018
  • Lockdown
  • London
  • Lord Berkeley
  • LRT
  • M62 motorway
  • Major Projects Authority
  • Malaysia
  • Manchester
  • Manchester Airport
  • Manchester Victoria
  • MAPA
  • Mark Keir
  • Martin Tett
  • Melton Mowbray
  • Memory Lane
  • Merseyside
  • Michael Dugher MP
  • Michael Fabricant MP
  • Mid Cheshire against Hs2
  • Miscellany
  • Modern Railways
  • Monorails
  • Musings
  • Mytholmroyd
  • Natalie Bennett
  • National Rail Awards
  • National Trust
  • Nepal
  • Network Rail
  • Never a dull life
  • New Economics Foundation
  • New trains
  • New Year
  • New York
  • New Zealand
  • NHS
  • Nigel Farage
  • Norland scarecrow festival
  • Northern Powerhouse
  • Northern Rail
  • Nostalgia
  • Nottingham
  • Obituaries
  • Old Oak Common
  • ORR
  • Our cat, Jet
  • Pacers
  • Paris terror attack
  • Parliament
  • Pasenger Growth
  • Patrick McLouglin MP
  • Penny Gaines
  • Peter Jones
  • Peterborough
  • Photography
  • Photojournalism
  • Picture of the day
  • Poetry
  • Politics
  • Porterbrook
  • PR nightmares
  • Pubs
  • rail ale
  • Rail electrification
  • Rail fares
  • Rail Investment
  • RAIL magazine
  • Rail Moderinsation
  • Rail PR
  • Railfreight
  • Railstaff awards
  • Railtex
  • Railway Benefit Fund (RBF)
  • Railways
  • Rant
  • Religion
  • RFEM
  • Richard Wellings
  • Ride India
  • Road accidents
  • Rolling blogs
  • ROSCOs
  • Royal Mail
  • Royal Wedding 2018
  • RSPB
  • Rugby Observer
  • Rushbearing
  • SAIP
  • Scores on the doors
  • Scotland
  • Scotrail
  • Sheffield
  • Shrewsbury
  • Siemens
  • Signalling
  • Silly season
  • Simon Heffer
  • Singapore
  • Sleeper trains
  • Snail mail
  • Social media
  • South West Trains
  • Southport
  • Sowerby Bridge
  • Spectator magazine
  • Sri Lanka
  • St Pancras station
  • Stafford
  • Stamford
  • Station buffets
  • StopHs2
  • Surrey
  • Talgo
  • Teresa May
  • Terrorism
  • Tesla
  • Thailand
  • Thameslink
  • The 'Beast from the East'
  • The BBC
  • The Big 6
  • The Daily Express
  • The fog
  • The Grauniad
  • The Great Central railway
  • The Green Party
  • The Independent
  • The Moorcock Inn
  • The Railway Children
  • The Rodelblitz
  • The USA
  • The Woodland Trust
  • Tilford
  • Torquay
  • Tourism
  • TPE
  • Traffic congestion
  • Trams
  • Trans-Pennine electrification
  • Transport
  • Transport for Wales (TfW)
  • Travel
  • Twilight years
  • Twitter
  • Twitter (and how not to use it)
  • UK
  • UK steel industry
  • UKIP
  • Uncategorized
  • Vandalism
  • Victoria Prentis MP
  • Virgin Trains
  • Virgin West Coast
  • Wales
  • Walking
  • WCML
  • Weather
  • West Yorkshire
  • Worcester
  • Work
  • World War 1
  • World War Two
  • Yorkshire
  • YorkshireStopHs2

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.