NEW VIDEO! Riding GoVolta’s now extinct Amsterdam to Hamburg service! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=o5ro...

This evening I headed back up to Sheffield via the East Coast Main Line - had I travelled via the Midland Main Line things could’ve ended up very differently… My thoughts to all of those affected by the disastrous event this evening 🙏

And made it back 2 mins early - the 180s may be falling apart, but I can’t really be complaining much given the price I paid. Hopefully when the 820s arrive things will turn around for Grand Central!

📍 Sunderland Back home for me now - somehow managed to get a £30 first class fare with Grand Central a day in advance all the way back to London (£20 advance single and £10 Seatfrog upgrade), so should be an interesting journey!

📍 Newcastle Arrived with a 4 min delay, nothing to worry about. Was great to finally ride this iconic train north of York for the first time (was always on HSTs before the Azumas came in 😅) and more importantly, not have a sore back… 😆 Sadly not here long - off to Reform land on the T&W Metro 🫡

📍 London King’s Cross LNER reinstating their IC225 sets north of York certainly wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card, but a very pleasant surprise nonetheless. Should be a nice comfortable 3 hours up North, let’s go!

NEW VIDEO! 24 hours on board VIA Rail’s “The Ocean” from Halifax to Montreal! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=dLlQ...

Took me long enough, but finally managed to see 387172 with its new GBR livery - still can’t help but think the red and the white on the middle two coaches is a bit much, and the double arrow is nowhere near prominent enough in comparison… 🙃

On the left, the last GTR-operated Thameslink service out of KGX, and on the right, the first operated “publicly owned” Great Northern service. I guess the only thing I’m really hoping is the end of the whole “brand” nonsense this franchise had over its lifetime, but maybe I’m too optimistic… 🤷‍♂️

NOW LIVE on the channel - the inaugural ride of Lumo West Coast from Stirling to London! Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSns...

Today I was on the inaugural Lumo service from Stirling to London Euston for the full 6 hours - quite a lot to unpack from that trip, but on the whole there’s not much for me to complain about considering I only paid £20 for the trip. Full review out soon on YouTube… 🫡

And back in Dublin, made it a whole minute early. Probably the first Irish Rail journey I’ve done where I’ve not been late! That’s it for Ireland this time - off to the airport now to reach my next destination… 🇮🇪 ➡️ ❓

Time to head back to Dublin now - the service I’m taking is normally booked as a 6 car ICR with “Premier Class” seating (standard class seating with maroon leather, headlamps and a now defunct cafe bar), however it would seem Iarnrod Eireann have decided to put on a standard 6 car ICR instead 🙃

Whilst at waiting at Cork, I managed to catch one of the Class 2600s repainted into the vintage “Arrow” colour scheme! Looks absolutely fantastic 😍🇮🇪

📍 Cork Kent Arrived with a delay of 10 mins - can’t say the onboard service has improved since 2023, the trolley only made a 2 min guest appearance in Dublin then went AWOL for the remaining 2.5 hrs… but the refurb has at least improved comfort. A few hrs to kill then back to Dublin 🇮🇪

📍 Dublin Heuston Only other thing on the agenda for this trip is a return with Iarnrod Eireann on the flagship Dublin-Cork route - first up is a ride on the CAF Mk4 stock, with all first class carriages having been refurbished since I last took this service. Already seeing a huge improvement! 🇮🇪❤️

Certainly took a while, but made it to Dublin after over 10 hours of travel. Obviously not the fastest way to travel between London and Dublin, but definitely the more environmentally friendly and fun option if you want to take in the sights! Right, off to my accommodation… 🇮🇪

📍 Holyhead Yeah that was horrible… and here I thought TfW’s capacity issues had finally been resolved with the 197 introduction, but they seem to be getting worse. Should never have been ordered as 2/3 car units! Final leg to Dublin - Irish Ferries “Ulysees” across the Irish Sea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 ➡️ 🇮🇪

The 197 thankfully emptied out at Llandudno Junction, which meant I was able to get a shot of:

📍 Chester Arrived 10 mins late, which is ok as my connection to North Wales did too. TfW is weirdly affected by “unit shortages”, so everyone has to crowd onto a 2 car 197 up to Holyhead. Even with more trains in the TTC, 77 197s were ordered & almost all are in service… why are there shortages?

📍 London Euston As I did several years ago, today I’m doing the London-Dublin “Rail Sail” - the first leg of this trip is an Avanti Evero up to Chester, which sadly isn’t booked to work all the way to Holyhead today… 😕

Seems one viral Twitter post was enough to make Thameslink finally do something about the extensive graffiti on their Class 700 toilets - taking a page out of NS’ books…

📍 East Croydon Making use of London’s lessor-known cross-city rail service this evening en route home, the East Croydon-Watford Junction service operated by Southern. Just a shame they decided to use the 377/7s in recent years, which have the very uncomfortable ironing board seats… 🙃

📍 Milton Keynes Central A trek to work today proved to be worth it as I caught 222601 (formerly 222001) on a Stirling-Euston test run ahead of Lumo’s West Coast launch at the end of the month. Nice to see a Meridian that doesn’t look like it’s been through RHTT season for a change 😅

NEW VIDEO! A ride on Germany’s FASTEST regional train, the RE 200! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=MImx...

📍 London Kings Cross Attending a wedding in Herts today, with 387114 and 387102 being my chariots of plastic onwards - an increasingly rare sight on the Great Northern route nowadays with the 379 introduction…

NEW VIDEO! Riding France’s first PRIVATE express train along the French Riviera! Link: youtube.com/watch?v=EKtO...

Out enjoying the weather in South London today - completely forgot about the Southeastern Redhill diverts over the Bank Holiday weekend, so was a nice surprise seeing a 375 trio whilst waiting for my connection into Croydon 😁

Another sight nowadays on the WCML - the inactive @varamisbhi.bsky.social 321s, one of which I noticed had even been graffitied over its headlights. I wonder if they’ll be back soon (if ever)?

Ah but of course, the more things change the more they stay the same 😅