Decent train station that serves Leamington town centre well. It is about 10mins walk from the…read morecentre of town. There is a cafe and waiting area on platform 2 which is handy for getting a refreshment or some reading material. There are always plenty of staff around and I have never found the ticket office closed. There is a paid car park directly outside the station however this does get full up. The taxi rank is also conveniently opposite the entrance of the station.

Easy access from the town, but parking isnt great. Hardly any spaces. Although you can park on…read moresurrounding roads. Station seems to be constantly under construction but with little visible impovement. There is a cafe on one platform with a limited selection of cakes.

Okay, while this station doesn't have any lockers, it turns out that if you look around a bit you…read moremight find some other place that will store your bags. However, it doesn't help when the station isn't all that close to the centre of town. However, this station was still rather nice, and a little touristy as well. Yeah, it was cool.

Occasionally, I happen across some ne'er-do-well chuntering on about Stratford-upon-Avon being a…read more"one-Horse town." "Well kind sir," I respond, "if Stratford-upon-Avon is indeed a 'one-horse town,' that horse is bloody Secretariat." To be or not to be ... that is NOT the question. To be here a few hours or to stay the night, THAT is the question. I have "long weekended" in Stratford, and 3 days was a bit much, even for this two-degreed English major. I've also "day toured" on a motor coach starting the day in London ... they gave us about 2 hours in Stratford betwixt Warwick Castle and Oxford, and that was not enough. The third proverbial bowl of porridge was driving in: Two days, one night ... just right! Yes, indeed, SuA is the town where William Shakespeare spent most of his life. His memory oozes from every pore of the town ... as, indeed, it should. Not only is it the epicenter of his life, but other Shakespeare meccas like London have too many literary (and historical) distractions ... its dribs and drabs (albeit great dribs and drabs) of Shakespeare are scattered around while Stratford is door-to-door, all Shakespeare, all the time. Well, that's not totally true. Stratford's Church of the Holy Trinity is a beauty inside and out. And if you happen across it when the 170ish-year-old "Great Organ" is being piped by Benedict Wilson, you're in for a treat. Then there's Anne Hathaway's cottage (not the actress), a beautiful 15th-Century house with an amazing cottage garden. But, then again, the church was where Shakespeare was baptized and has the chancel and sanctuary where The Bard is buried. And Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife. As someone who has been to the town as a child (10 years old) and an adult (mind-your-own-business years old), I must say, SuA is WAY MORE family friendly than in the days of yore. The Stratford Butterfly Farm came in 1985 and has developed into a kid's (and lepidopterist's) paradise. Started in 2012, the MAD (Mechanical Art & Design) Museum is replete with mechanical do-dads and whirligigs, buttons that are encouraged to be pressed, flickering lasers, and rolling-ball machines. Both the Farm and MAD are kids' paradises. Most people are so Shakespeare-stuck they miss a golden opportunity to take advantage of the River Avon ... I mean, the town is called Stratford-UPON-AVON for a reason. Whether just taking an amble down its lovely towpath, you end up rolling on the river (I recommend taking a tour from Canal River), or hire a rower for a view hour, River Avon is a beauty. You'll likely find yourself strolling down Henley Street during your time in SuA: Great atmosphere, great bustle, great cafes along the way. Also of note is The Jester Statue: A relatively new addition (1994), this bronze beauty is Touchstone from The Twelfth Night. I've actually Yelp-reviewed this statue, so either enjoy or roll your eyes. And now to the two biggies: Shakespeare's Birthplace and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Staying the night really lets you drink in Shakespeare's Birthplace ... not only see everything inside, but also to enjoying the performers out in the courtyard who actually take requests. And the intellectuals who always seem to be milling about request Timon of Athens or Cymbeline when most people want a little R&J or Hamlet. But I digress: The young thespians are awesome ... and game for whipping out any Shakespeare the audience so desires. Speaking of performance, the biggest reason to stay at least one night is so you can see a play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre by the RSC. There's always a Shakespeare play going on, but I HIGHLY recommend planning in advance so you can see what will be on when you're there. As well, there are a lot of contemporary plays, musical, and other performances worth considering at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. I have broken the covenant of two great Shakespeare quotes: "Brevity is the soul of wit" and "Men of few words are the best men." But with a town this great, how can I not write on ... and on ... and on?

The Northern end of the Severn Valley Railway nestles below castle hill with its tilting Castle…read moretower keep which leans further than the Tower of Pisa all as a consequence of Cromwell forces not using sufficient gunpowder trying to blow it up . The station itself is a bustling terminus of the steam railway taking you back to the heyday of steam trains . It hosts a great pub serving lovely real ales a great place to relax on a cold winters day with its open fires . There's the engine maintenance sheds to see too on special events .

Today I met wonderful Rubi who was so so kind to me!!! What…read morea fabulous member of staff at Coventry train Station. Her kindness and support was above and beyond!!!! Thankyou so much again Rubi.

It's as though they didn't realise any travelling individuals would need pickup or dropping off…read more Total mess of no waiting zones to drive in and get passengers here, despite the fact trains are frequently late. Very very poorly designed with reality clearly not a priority. Oodles of wasted and ineffective space. Clowns that designed this should try actually using it. Don't get me started on the new carparks Road exit... they had one job

This relatively small train station is an easy walk to Downtown or the local Co-op. We came…read morearrived from Paddington in the early afternoon and only required minimal directions to get to our Hotel. We had printed out our tickets ahead of time for our return journey back to London. So all we had to do was figure out which side of the tracks we needed to be, wait in the enclosed seating area, and wait for our train. The architecture was mixed and somewhat unremarkable.

Moreton-in-Marsh is a small town in the Cotswolds, so its railway station is small compared to…read morestations in larger towns like Oxford. There is no self-service ticket machine in this station, so if you purchased tickets online and hope to use a self service ticket to print them out, you won't be able to do that here. I printed out all the tickets I purchased online months ago at Paddington Station since I knew I would not be able to do that. There is anagent from whom you can purchase tickets at certain times, so it's good to know their office hours. The ticket office also has information brochures on places of interest in the area. This station is only a few minutes from High Street, so it's very convenient for travelers or sightseers who might want to check out this town. If you don't have a car, you can take the bus going to towns like Stow-on-the Wold or Burton-on-the Water from this station.

This happened to be a much better station, and location, than the last place that I jumped off the…read moretrain. Sure, the station does come across as being rather new but that is probably because it has been given a face lift. Mind you, it is a bit of a walk from the centre of town, but you get that.

It was my first time getting the train alone. My train ended up getting delayed which I understand…read moreisn't the railways fault and sometimes happens. What stressed me out is when i tried ti go up to a staff member to ask for help they just ignored me. First I tapped their shoulder. Then i tried to speak to him, he just continued to stair forward with a smirk. Then I tried to get in front of him to talk to him and still nothing. I gave up and had to ask another passenger for help. The thing is I saw him helping other people there so I am not sure what was wrong with me. Terrible first experience using the train and I hope other train stations have a better staff team.

The station is very convenient for me - just an £8 pound taxi ride from home. It is not the best in…read moreconnectivity unless you want to go to Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham or a few other cities - Plymouth, Bristol for example. However to get to London you can just take one stop to Tamworth and then change for direct to London - that is my plan today. The station is not really very inviting but they do have a small news and coffee shop and (very important on a cold winters day like today!) a heated waiting room serving both platforms. In summary - thank goodness for little stations like this that connect you with everywhere in England, Scotland and Wales affordable and without having to drive! Review #92 2019

Burton Upon Trent is located between Derby an Birmingham. Burton Upon Trent rail station is…read moreoperated and managed by Cross Country Trains, which operate frequent services between Nottingham and Birmingham New Street / Cardiff Central. Crosscountry services run twice every hour to Nottingham, and once hourly to Birmingham, and once hourly to Cardiff Central. Cross Country high speed services to the South West, and th North East stop at the station, however these are less freqent, and occur mosty during the morning and evening commute.

This is the main railway station serving the University town of Loughborough, 20 miles north of…read moreLeicester. First opened in 1840 on the then Midland Counties Railway, the station was rebuilt in its present position and style by its successor company, the Midland Railway in 1872. The transverse gabled glass canopies and neat Italianate buildings in yellow stock brick are classics of Midland Railway architecture, and the building is grade II listed. It is served by East Midland train services from London along the Midland Main Line to Nottingham and Derby, with a smaller number of Sheffield trains calling. It is also served by the local service from Leicester to Newark and Lincoln via Nottingham. The station has a small shop, ticket office (part time), toilets, an ample car-park and cycle storage, but there is no cafe. Regular local buses call here, including the town shuttle into the centre, and a link bus to East Midlands Airport. The station has level access to platform 1, but platforms 2 and 3 require the use of a barrow crossing which can be used with staff supervision only. The station has short platforms, so some expresses can be accessed by specific carriages only.

Loughborough was a bit of a surprise for me. I heard about how small the town was before I came…read morefor a weeklong stay, and expected it to be like some of the other small towns on the outskirts of England. Maybe a bit rough, a bit old and run-down. It was actually quite a pleasant place to stay! It definitely has that small-town feel, with everything within walking distance. Loads of great restaurants to visit, and a plethora of assorted bars catering to different clientele. The bars all seem to have deals on Jagerbombs, so that's a plus if you're in a party mood. As for the train station specifically, it's a small one-platform setup, the type of station where half of the trains fly by without slowing down. Modern amenities with electronic access, all the normal features you'd expect from a smallish station. Nice and clean, too.

As Hannah noted before me this is a weird railway station. I would add the word desolate! Weird…read morebecause it is on multiple levels making it very customer unfriendly if (like me today) you are laden with a heavy suitcase from airline travel to London. No staff to guide you so I could have made a connection but no idea if it was the right train. And it was I discovered just too late - oh well next one in 25 minutes.

On the train as I make this, it's fairly quite and seems to be quick, train wait isn't too long.read more

The UK's Southeastern Railway operates one of the busiest networks in the country, running the…read moretrain service between London and Kent and parts of East Sussex.. Gayle and I recently were on their system for a round trip (St. Pancras to Faversham and Canterbury West back to Charring Cross). We sat regular class on slower "local" trains both ways, which were basically commuter runs. The price was right, we had lots of room to spread out as there were few fellow passengers, the ride was comfortable, and the scenery out the window was interesting enough. I'm not sure I'd want to commute like this every day, but that's the bargain that a lot of folks make to live in a nice area that's not the big city.

Southeastern Railway is currently owned by London & South Eastern Railway Limited, it operates…read moreroutes on the Integrated Kent franchise by Govia, who in turn is owned by two rather big players in the UK transportation game including Go-Ahead (largest bus operator in London, Manchester and offering services in other cities) and Keolis (A truly worldwide company who operate buses in Sweden, trains in Boston, the Metro in Shanghai as well as services closer to home such as Manchester's Metrolink, the DLR in London and TFW Rail services.) While the interior of my train wasn't overly impressive or modern, it was comfortable for a short journey of 10 minutes between Charring Cros and London Bridge which also goes via Waterloo East, this is a zone where you can use your Oyster meaning it can work out pretty cheap to travel in comparison to a normal ticket. This journey only came to £2.40, with a daily cap of £7.20 for all zone 1 and 2 services in the cap which includes national rail, tube, DLR and buses. Trains seemed to operate efficiently and quickly with services every two minutes between these destinations and the train staff seemed friendly enough at both stations, although I didn't see a train staff member on board which could be down to it being a short journey. The website is easy to use and explains the ticketing system including Oyster well. Southeastern has 73 stations in the Oyster PAYG area (the price varies between zones obviously between 1 and 9), which is one of the highest of any railway operating company and I presume is second after TFL Rail. I would recommend going along their central London route between London Bridge and Charing Cross via Waterloo East just for the view, with trains every 2-3 minutes during the day (which didn't get busy outside of rush hour) and a journey lasting just under 8 minutes, it is worth it for some great views on the bridge crossing including Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye. 3*