After an uninspiring time spent in Orte, I returned back to the railway station before it fell down. There was a station cleaner doing a remarkable job, but this railway station does perhaps need a modernisation.
A war memorial. The station itself first opened in 1865 and it was briefly a terminus before the line was extended.
There’s currently no waiting room at this railway station and there’s not much seating anywhere. It was all a little bleak. There’s a cafe which doubles up as a little shop, but I decided against getting any snacks at that point.
It was actually Trieste that I needed to get to, but that is a very long journey and so I decided just to get to Rimini and then work it out from there. By this point I still hadn’t had any sleep since leaving Luton Travelodge early the previous morning, so I was just pleased to get as far as Rimini.
The train came sweeping into the platform. There are three types of trains in Italy, the high-speed intercity, the long distance trains and the regional trains. This was the middle one of those, but it’s the regional trains that I like the most.
There are compulsory seat reservations on the train and it was relatively busy. There was an elderly lady who was insistent that a foreign passenger (I assume foreign as she didn’t speak Italian) should move. Unfortunately, there were some translation issues and the women sitting in the wrong seat didn’t move for about twenty minutes. On the third try, she got the hint.
I mentioned that I like the regional trains the best and that’s because they’re double deckers, they’re spacious, they have power outlets and you don’t get manacled by seat reservations. To be fair though, this one did though have power outlets and I liked having the table.
It’s quite a beautiful journey with the Adriatic Sea easily visible along the coastal stretch.
It all got quieter as we neared Rimini. This photo was taken near to Pesaro, currently in the centre of a Pavarotti statue debacle.
And safely into Rimini, on time and quite relaxed by now. I had another little nap on the train just to entirely catch up on sleep and I found the sea view quite entertaining. I suspect that the ticket check took place when I was asleep as I woke up and was the only one in the carriage who had their ticket checked. Well, I was either asleep or looked completely dodgy and like a fare evader, but I like the former.
Anyway, an enjoyable journey and that meant my travels were coming to an end for the day other than for a walk to the hotel and a little evening walk around Rimini.
My plan was to get from Rome Airport across to Rimini during the day, where I had booked a hotel. The first part of that was from the airport railway station to Orte.
This meant amusing myself for a few hours overnight, so I decided to eat some crisps which is always a sensible thing to do to pass some time.
I went to look where the airport’s railway station was as I thought that might kill some time as well. It took up about three minutes.
It’s not difficult to find and they’re also building a new underpass to get there.
Mine was the 06:57 train to Orte. By this time it was 03:15 and I was starting to feel I had explored all that needed exploring at the airport.
I sat near the entrance to the railway station waiting and I then realised, at about 05:40, that it was possible to change my rail ticket for free to any train on the same day. With the digital tickets, you can do this until just before the train, but at that point, you’re committed. What this meant is that I could catch an earlier train, so the 05:57 train to Orte. This seemed a sensible plan as I didn’t have much else to do.
Here’s the train, all clean, shiny and well presented.
There was lots of space and I’ve come to really like these Rock trains (or Hitachi Caravaggio) that they use on regional routes. They’re modern, they have power outlets, they’re double deckers and they’re comfortable with clear signage.
I changed seating styles to have a little nap.
Getting there….
And safely in Orte for a little exploration. Although this transpired not to be very exciting, but more of that in the next post….
After a quick visit to Carrefour for snacks, I embarked on what was the longest rail journey that I’ve taken in Europe (I went for over 24 hours in the US….) from Warsaw to Budapest. Here’s the display screen at Warszawa Centralna, with the departure being second from top on the right-hand screen.
Waiting at Platform 3.
Here’s the train layout, and I had gone for first class as it wasn’t much more expensive as I’d booked it at the last minute.
It’s all happening now with the departure board on the platform updating to show the train. I had a flight booked for very early the next morning, so if something went wrong here, it would be hard to resolve. Well, hard to resolve cheaply anyway.
The train after it had pulled into the station and I was glad to see it.
I was disappointed that it was a compartment train, it wasn’t meant to be and I assume it was swapped in at the last minute. These are old fashioned and being removed from the rail network with a preference for open seating which feels safer. It transpired that the lady in the window seat (who had briefly left the compartment when I took the photo) was only going a short distance, so I had that window seat with table for nearly all of the journey. This did make me happier at matters as I do like a table for my laptop.
I switched this down to cold at the first available moment.
A view down looking at the compartments. There was a refreshments carriage next door, but it didn’t look very exciting.
For a long time, it was just me (and my bag and laptop) in the compartment, although a couple came in later on and were annoyed it was a compartment train.
Being in First gives no luxuries other than a free bottle of water and a little more space. It was a nice bottle of water to be fair as far as these things go.
Not only was I going from Poland’s capital to Hungary’s capital, but the train also stopped in Slovakia’s capital of Bratislava. I must admit that I was tempted to get off here as it’s one of my favourite cities, but that would have caused me some logistical issues….
And here’s the train in Budapest Nyugati railway station at the end of the journey. I did take a lot of photos of stations en route, to remind myself I quite fancy going to some of those locations (Ostrava in the Czech Republic looked interesting which has the nickname of Black Heart which I like), but there were no great pieces of scenery that I felt the need to photograph. There were a lot of fields though.
And safely in Hungary.
Overall, I rather enjoyed gazing out of the window for hours, but there was no wifi and the phone connection was poor for much of the journey. It’s generally cheaper by plane, it’s obviously quicker and ultimately much more convenient. Flying isn’t though very environmental and there is a push towards more long-distance trains, although this was 11 hours in total so it’s hardly a fast-paced arrangement.
The cost was relatively expensive for European rail at £50, although as an experience it was worth it. But, there’s going to need to be modernisation here, basic things like allowing for ordering food and drink on the train for either collection in the refreshments car or delivery to the compartment. I had no idea when meal service was, they needed to be clearer about that. They also do need wifi, although they did have power outlets and they were useful.
I had eight ticket checks during the journey, which is excessive by any means. The US system is better here, they check tickets on entry and write the journey on a card above the seat. I also didn’t like the compulsory reservation system, I was lucky to have a quiet carriage because there were no-shows, but I’d rather just sit where there’s space and not be tied to a certain seat (although I had moved across one from my middle seat I had been allocated). I thought that it all went quickly, so I certainly enjoyed the restful nature of the whole arrangement.
The whole thing felt a little old-fashioned and there’s a place for that, but I can’t see passenger numbers ever soaring for services like this unless they can speed them up a bit and make them more comfortable and modern. However, there is a sleeper version of this service so you get a choice between the two trains and that makes more sense in terms of time efficiency. However, I wanted to look out of the window at things as this was more of an experience.
The train arrived into Budapest just twenty minutes late, which isn’t bad given the complexity of going across four countries, namely Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. There were announcements throughout the journey, just about all of them in English. The service is run by České dráhy, who are the national rail operator in the Czech Republic, and I’d say that this sort of long-distance train service is certainly an experience worth trying at least once. So all really rather quite lovely and a reminder that I’ll take more trains on the European mainland.
After my success earlier in the day getting to Rapallo on a modern and functional train, I thought it would be an easy matter to get a similar service to Genoa Airport. It transpired that it wasn’t.
The ticket purchasing was via machine and that element went well, so I meandered up to sit on the platform confident in my abilities to navigate the Italian rail network.
The view from the platform over the town square.
The sleepy town and its railway station which they didn’t burden their resources by actually staffing it. However, the whole affair is better than Deutsche Bahn, that’s something that I do need to mention.
The waiting room had a few seats, but it needed more and it hadn’t had the modernisation that most UK railway stations seem to have had which has put in not just more seats, but also power points. I found a validation machine in the waiting room, I think I would have put it on the platform rather than hidden around a corner, but I’m not an expert in these matters…..
The board was working, but these rickety old display systems don’t photograph well. Not that I’m complaining, but this said that the next service in was the one that I wanted.
This train trundled in and there was evidently a problem as there were lots of Italians asking each other questions. That meant they didn’t know what train it was and there was no signage which indicated which it was, something that wouldn’t happen on the UK rail network for all its faults. Anyway, that will be the end of my comparing the networks….. Unsure of what to do, I just got on this one as it was going in the right direction.
The train was clean and comfortable, with numerous power outlets. The on-board screens were broken and there were no announcements, but it was evident that I was on the wrong train as it was stopping at stations that I hadn’t expected it to.
However, after some slight concern that I was going to Milan, I realised that this train was actually heading to Genoa and so I could remain on board and just change in the city centre. Some quick Googling also showed me that I had boarded an RGV train rather than an R train, but my ticket was still valid. It meant that it was going to the airport stop that I needed, but at least I wasn’t going to end up somewhere a long distance away.
This all meant an unexpected stop back in Genoa city centre.
I popped to Carrefour to get some drink as it was so hot. I don’t think I’ve mentioned the heat in the last few posts but there were still Italians visible wrapped up in their coats whilst I was still fending off potential heatstroke.
I’ve had these a few times, they’re rather lovely and they calmed my stress levels. Actually, I wasn’t stressed, but it was a handy excuse.
Back on the platform, this is the train that I needed to get to the airport stop.
As a network, it’s evidently understaffed with nearly no-one about. If there is some crisis, it would take some time for anyone to be found to offer assistance. Fortunately, I was very brave and dealt with my little adventure on my own.
Here’s my Rock train sweeping in. My ticket was still valid and so I didn’t have to acquire a new one which made matters easier. Although it seemed unlikely that anyone would actually check the tickets.
This looked like the train I had been on earlier, so all was well as the on-board signage was good and indicated the train and I had the same plan on where we were going. Again, a fair few of the power outlets were broken but the working ones light up which makes it easy to establish this without plugging my phone into each one. I liked this train though, it was clean and comfortable.
And into Genova Sestri Ponente, which is the nearest railway station to the airport. It’s about a ten minute walk, but it’s cheaper than getting the airport service and I’m not made of money. And I like walking.
There’s the old bridge over the tracks to the left and the new one to the right. I’m surprised by looking at it that the old bridge hasn’t fallen down over the rail track, although I’m conscious that the Ponte Morandi road bridge in the city collapsed (my friend Liam must be a very good civil engineer as nothing he has built has, to my knowledge, fallen down) a few years and so I’m sure that this smaller arrangement is safe as it’s at least closed off.
The new pedestrian bridge and they’ve made this an accessible route to the airport as there’s a lift option here as well.
It is really quite a pleasant little walk to the airport.
The airport was constructed by using land reclamation, so much of this area is new.
And eating the last of my chocolates before heading into the airport.
I’ve now reached November 1837 with my reading of the Railway Times, as that’s just how interesting I am…. It’s a little bit like a soap opera already with some lines struggling, some land owners moaning and some railways charging ahead.
An article in the newspaper read:
“CHELTENHAM and GREAT WESTERN UNION RAILWAY.
The second half-yearly Meeting of this Company was held at the Masonic Hall, Cheltenham, on the 3rd instant, William Henry Hyett, Esq., in the Chair.
The report of the Directors stated that, as many of the Proprietors desired the operations of the Company should be limited in the first instance to the completion of some portion of the line which would yield an adequate and certain return for the capital expended on it, during the progress of the remainder, they recommended the construction of that part between Swindon and Cirencester, on the following grounds—The main object of the undertaking was to effect a Railway communication between Gloucester, South Wales, and London; that on the opening of the Great Western to Swindon, and this line being completed to Cirencester, 95 contiguous miles of that communication would be established; that as Cirencester is easily accessible by excellent turnpike-roads from Stroud, Gloucester, and Cheltenham, the portion of the line between Cirencester and the Great Western would carry all the London traffic, while the remainder of the line was in progress; and that though this part of the line would yield a much less income than any other, when the whole should be completed, it would, nevertheless, in the meantime, yield a greater profit than any other portion which was not contiguous with the Great Western.
That Mr. Brunel having been desired to revise his estimates, and report the cost of the line between Cirencester and Swindon, had reported that the cost with all improvements suggested by further experience adopted on the Great Western Railway, and which he strongly recommends as productive of future economy, would be £249,500.
That the Directors had also caused the traffic to be ascertained on the same portion of the line, and that this would yield a net annual income of £25,000, after deducting the costs of maintenance.
That an arrangement had been under consideration with the Great Western Directors, which had led to an offer, sanctioned by their Proprietors at a special General Meeting, to rent the line when completed from Swindon to Cirencester, at £17,000 per annum, the lessees maintaining the way for a term not exceeding ten years.
That the Directors of this Company considered that rent would involve a serious sacrifice of income, but had secured the option to this Company of accepting or rejecting the offer till within six months of the opening of the line, as it might be satisfactory to distant Proprietors, who might not be so well acquainted with the details of the probable traffic, to know that they may rely at the least on 7 per cent. for their money.
That calls to the extent of something more than 30 per share would be required for the completion of this part of the Railway, the whole of which would not be required under two years and a-half, and would be called for by easy instalments, and that no further call would be necessary for some months.
The Meeting was numerously attended by a highly respectable class of Shareholders, who testified their unanimous approbation and adoption of the report.”
The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWUR) was a railway company, authorised in 1836, which was intended to create a broad gauge link between Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon, connecting to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway (GWR). And it was Brunel himself that was engaged with this railway setup as well.
However, the company faced significant financial difficulties and was unable to complete its ambitious plan. It only managed to open a short initial section of its line between Swindon and Cirencester in 1841, which is what was suggested in the 1837 meeting. Despite some attempts to operate as a partnership, the vital section between Cheltenham and Gloucester was actually built and opened by the competing narrow gauge Birmingham and Gloucester Railway company after the C&GWUR defaulted on its obligations.
GWR eventually bought the ailing railway up as apparently the directors were exhausted by trying to operate this line. They managed to open the stations of Purton, Minety and Cirencester in 1841 and the line is still partly still in place, but all of these stations were closed in 1964. The rather lovely Brunel designed railway station at Cirencester is standing empty, now miles away from the nearest track at Kemble. British Rail had the great idea of cutting the double track from single track at the same time in 1968, but this was returned to double track again in 2014.
There is vague talk about putting some sort of rail line into Cirencester, but it doesn’t look likely. Anyone wanting to go from Swindon to Cirencester today by public transport has to use the number 51 bus which takes around an hour, instead of a lovely shiny train which I imagine would today by operated by GWR. I’m not sure Brunel would have been pleased at his efforts being reduced to a bus service….
Back to the Railway Times (I like to mix things up on this ‘riveting’ blog….) and this is an article that they’ve republished from the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard of November 1837.
I rather like that it summarises the debate of this exciting new form of transport which was still not winning everyone over. The article title was “The Importance of the Railways” and they still referred to the rail project as a “great experiment” which isn’t an unreasonable summary of the arrangement at the time.
As an aside, I like the use of the word “ebriety”, which I rarely see used now, it just means drunk although the word sobriety has continued in use. And there’s another interesting use of the word “characterizing” with a ‘z’ which was the frequently used spelling of the time before we’ve diverged off to prioritise our ‘s’ usage….
Most of all, it captures a snapshot of British life at the time, changing quickly and just as the population is getting used to the industrial revolution. It’s not just us today who live in interesting times.
“We beg to direct the attention of our readers to the subject of Railroads, as one destined, ere long, to produce a considerable revolution in the internal economy of this country. Some months ago the public mind was in such a ferment on this subject, and John Bull was so running riot, as he is wont to do on any matter affording scope for speculation, that the attempt to get at any sound notions, or information that could be depended upon, seemed hopeless. Now that this ebriety seems to have produced a complete lethargy, there is a chance of obtaining facts that may be relied on, and of arriving at just deductions from them.
This has become a subject of great national importance, as regards the commercial and manufacturing interests of the country. We have, hitherto, maintained a preference in the foreign markets by the comparative excellence and cheapness of our manufactures. It must be borne in mind that carriage, both of the raw material, and of the manufactured article, is, in many cases, a very important item in the cost of the latter, and that if we allow foreign countries to get the start of us, in modes of conveyance which very materially diminish expense, we shall give them a very serious advantage. It is not perhaps generally known what is going on in this way on the continents of Europe and America. In France, the following lines have been undertaken, some by the government and others by public companies: From Paris to Havre, by Rouen, 55 leagues; from Paris to Calais, 53 leagues; from Paris to Lisle, 53 leagues; from Paris to Lyons and Marseilles, 219 leagues; from Paris to Strasburg, 116 leagues; and from Paris to Bordeaux, 154 leagues. These communications are again carrying on from the Belgian frontier, as appears by the report of M. Nothcomb, the minister of public works, wherein it is stated that the Government has taken in hand an extent of 115 leagues; that the works were commenced in March, 1834, and have continued in progress, and that three sections are already open to the public. These traverse the country from the borders of France to those of Prussia. The Prussian government has fixed a line with various branches from the Belgian Railways by Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne. In America there are upwards of 1500 miles of Railways completed, and 3000 miles reported to be in various stages of progress.
It is difficult to foresee the effect these wondrous means of communication will produce upon the value of property within their influence, upon the conveyance of commodities in different districts; on the localities of markets, and the modes of dealing, and even on the habits and manners of the people, by the great extension of intercourse which will necessarily result.
Though we are at present hardly justified in characterizing this bold and novel mode of conveyance, otherwise than as a great experiment, sufficient has been practically achieved, in particular cases, to render it morally certain that Railways will very soon entirely supersede the existing means of travelling, on all the great thoroughfares of the kingdom. It has been clearly established in practice, that, on a well-appointed Railroad, passengers can be conveyed in one-third of the time at two-thirds of the cost, with greater punctuality, with infinitely greater safety, and with much less fatigue than by the best appointed coaches now in use, excellent as they have become.
The general establishment of Railways, therefore, throughout the kingdom, is as certain as the return of the seasons. In this great commercial and manufacturing country, in which 9-10ths of the population are busily occupied a great proportion of the 24 hours, economy of time is of more consequence than economy of money; and the public will never submit to any system of transit, while another can be devised at once saving of time and money. Experience has shown us, that if coaches between two places, say 100 miles distant, have performed the journey in 12 hours, and a new coach starts and performs the same journey in eleven hours, the former must quicken their speed, or they will be driven off the road. The same result happens, if one coach conveys passengers for a few shillings less fare than those previously established. It having been demonstrated that the means exist of conveying passengers the 100 miles in four hours, at two-thirds of the cost, and with much less bodily fatigue, no man can doubt that the public will yield them.
Railways are so expensive in their construction, that they cannot be multiplied like ordinary roads. Their course and position, therefore, become a matter of the deepest interest to all persons of property, or who are engaged in trade, commerce, or manufacture, as there can be no question, but that the districts traversed by these lines, or in close communication with them, will derive advantages which will greatly enhance the value of property, as compared with that which is more remote. We entertain no doubt that, ere long, in advertisements for the sale of property, the advantage most prominently put forth will be, that it is within a certain distance of this or that Railway. It behoves, therefore, all those interested in any particular district, to bear an eye in time to this subject, and not allow their more foresighted neighbours to steal a march upon them.”
As I’m still reading through the Railway Times (I’ve reached the second issue now), this is from November 1837 and the London & Birmingham Railway has now managed to reach Tring. Although the railway station wasn’t built that near to Tring, the excited local population funded part of a new road to make it more accessible to residents.
They reached Tring on 16 October 1837 and it would be on 17 September 1838 that the full line between London Euston and Birmingham was opened. The glorious station and the Euston Arch were constructed in 1837, but the disaster that was the nationalised British Rail pulled it all down in the 1960s. But, that’s a different story.
Reading the Railway Times it’s evident just how exciting the advent of the new rail era actually was, the country was opening up and there were all manner of opportunities ahead. I was going to note that I’ve never been to Tring, but I’ve remembered that we walked through it when walking the Ridgeway a few years ago.
This advert in the Railway Times in 1837 is the turning point for long-distance transportation in the country. The Red Rover stagecoach route from London to Manchester was being re-established, but the sands of time weren’t in the favour of the service. The Red Rover service had been quite decadent, the drivers were well-paid and wore smart red hats and they were fined if their service was delayed (making them slightly less well-paid).
“LONDON – MANCHESTER. ‘THE RED ROVER’ London (Bull & Mouth, St Martins-le-Grand), Barnet, St Albans, Dunstable, Fenny Stratford, Stony Stratford, Towcester, Daventry, Coventry, Birmingham, Lichfield, Rugeley, Stafford, Stone, Newcastle-under- Lyme, Congleton, Wilmslow, Manchester – Distance 187 miles. Journey time 20 hours – Depart London at 8.30amManchester at 8.00am – 4 seats inside, 8 outside – Operator E Sherman & Co Numbers 3448, 3493″
On 17 September 1838, the rail service between London and Birmingham opened and the service between Manchester and Birmingham had already opened in 1837. The stagecoach services didn’t last much after this, most of the London services had ceased by the early 1840s.
Since I’m now obsessed with this new archive, something that I hadn’t given much thought about is how in 1837 they were starting to wonder how they were going to connect England and Scotland by rail.
The businesses in Scotland were quite exercised by this, the opportunity for new trading opportunities started to become available and the initial thought was that this was all so complex and expensive that there would only be one line needed.
The very first comprehensive rail link between the English and Scottish networks wasn’t created until 1846 by the North British Railway, which opened its line from Edinburgh down to Berwick-upon-Tweed. This route connected the Scottish capital to the burgeoning English railway system, although it was not a continuous track journey into London initially, as it involved two “water breaks” which were crossings of the River Tweed at Berwick and the River Tyne at Newcastle, which necessitated road or ferry transfers. Only later, when bridges were built, did passengers finally get to stay comfortably aboard without the indignity of a ferry detour. It also transpired that the North British Railway made more of their money from transporting minerals around the place than they did from their passenger services.
A fully continuous, uninterrupted railway line between the two capitals for the first time came shortly after with the opening of the Caledonian Railway’s (and they were the big rivals of North British Railway with absolutely no love lost there at all) main line between Glasgow and Carlisle on 15 February 1848, which then linked to the English London and North Western Railway, finally establishing a complete, high-speed rail route between Glasgow and London.
I accept that this might not be very interesting to either of my two loyal readers, but I am very excited to discover that the British Newspaper Archive have just put on 3,295 issues of the Railway Times starting from 1837. The aim of their new journal was to focus on many railway related stories, but they also took a view that they should comment and report on wider news matters.
Expect a wave of quite ‘riveting’ posts of things that I find that are interesting….
