CrossCountry HST First Class train review (and how I saved TONS of money!)

[Music] hello and welcome to another video and welcome to bristol temple mead station here in the southwest of england where i've just got off a cross-country high-speed train just had that one over my shoulder from newcastle in the northeast of england past 43 high speed train is a classic diesel train the journey between newcastle and bristol is about five hours come with me on this video and we'll check out first class enjoy today's video is sponsored by train pal [Music] newcastle central station was built in 1850 and is one of only six currently operating railway stations in the country to be a grade one listed building the main portico is reminiscent of milano centrales in italy and the main building is built in a pseudo-roman style the portico was redeveloped in 2014 previously it was the main vehicle drop-off point but now contains ticket machines and a bar and has been glazed off to protect against the wind and cold the station used to be a bit bigger than it is today there's just one north-facing bay platform for trains towards chat hill there were once several of these bays which were for suburban services which were removed about 35 years ago for car parking space the castle keep has been a popular photography point for generations and the old bay platforms can clearly be seen in this photo fortunately the complex diamond junction in these pictures has long since been simplified and suburban services are now supplied by the tyne aware metro [Music] newcastle's design is typical of the victorian railway age airy and with an overall roof and ornate footbridges linking all platforms to one another when the station was first built only two spans of the roof were actually constructed an extension later in the 19th century which coincided with newcastle gaining city status provided for extra platforms and the third span was added keep a look out for it the next time you visit from the outside it's very clear this is a more recent design to the south is a separate grade two listed building and that's the old water tower which was used to service steam engines today locomotive royal sovereign is on thunderbird duty to rescue any failed trains this is also one of the dedicated locomotives to haul the royal train when needed four train companies serve newcastle northern provide regional services using a mix of train stock while lner provide front rank express trains to london and scotland using new azuma trains which i've reviewed on this channel before most of cross country's trains which link newcastle to scotland the midlands and the southwest are voyager multiple units although today i'll be traveling on a much older and frankly much nicer high-speed train or hst from the 1970s transparent serve liverpool and manchester using stunning new trains which almost identical to the azuma i mentioned earlier our train today is a seven car hst arguably the most significant train to run in 20th century britain and still going strong in 2020 the hst is powered by two locomotives one at each end with trailer coaches unlike the voyagers which have an engine under the floor of every coach riding as a passenger on the hst is therefore a quieter experience with little vibration these old trains were refitted with power doors only a couple of years ago a requirement to meet accessibility standards although now there are no opening windows on the doors which is safer but a bit less fun for the enthusiast there are two first-class carriages on each of cross-country's five hsts with the seating in a 2-1 configuration leaving the station there's an immediate turn to the south to cross the river tine but before we cross the bridge on the right-hand side are the remains of the old fourth yards this used for decades and soon to be redeveloped there are seven bridges over the time and six of them can be seen in this shot if you look closely i booked my tickets for this trip with train pal which can save you an average of 56 on your train fares by using clever split ticketing methods basically a way of buying multiple shorter tickets to avoid paying over the top for the normal through fare why this is possible is complex and has its roots in britain's complex system of privatized railways but it is perfectly legal and has been done for decades train pal makes it easy to find those cheap splits the interface is simple pop in where you'd like to travel from and to and you'll get a range of options cross country 116 pounds and 55 pence for this journey but the split ticket engine finds us an option for just 47.35 a saving of nearly 60 percent what i love about train pal is where there's an option to take a short break on your journey it'll suggest that here's a civilized way to york where you can grab a sandwich or a coffee alternatively stay on the same train for a bit more but still save a whopping 31 percent over the original price the journey information and ticket options are dead easy to figure out and e-tickets on your phone are available as well as the option to collect paper buns from a machine if you're feeling especially frugal train pal also sells bus tickets making it a really versatile app for travel within the uk for full disclosure here's my ticket combination train pal sells first class tickets too of course and i saved over a third on the regular price on this trip train pal has a great offer too called pal day where you can save even more on tickets if you're lucky enough to win a voucher between one pound and 10 pounds every thursday you can increase your chances of winning by inviting more friends to download and use the app too join me in saving money on your train journeys download the train pal app and book a trip today at the link in the description below and you'll get an extra six pounds of vouchers to use with code wing in it [Music] welcome customers joining us at newcastle it's a 740 cross country service through diploma this journey encompasses 291 miles by rail and will take just under five hours but is only part of the whole trip this hst will do today the trains started at edinburgh shortly after six am and passed through beric and almouth before picking me up in newcastle we'll be heading south through durham and darlington and down one of the straightest parts of the east coast mainline to york from here we cut across country to leeds and onto wakefield sheffield and derby stopping at tamworth before we arrive into birmingham new street britain's largest non-terminus station from there it's a quick rundown via cheltenham to bristol the train terminates at plymouth two hours after i'll leave it in bristol [Music] fortunately for this trip i remembered to book the good weather and the morning sun was glorious as we approach durham its cathedral standing proud above this small city the departure from durham is one of the most spectacular vistas of an english city you can get anywhere on the rail network cross country have recently reintroduced some catering after a lengthy period of not providing it during the coronavirus crisis and along with coffee water and biscuits i was able to get hot porridge delivered to my table by the first class host which was very welcome after an early start there's a paid for catering service available on top of this for both first and standard class passengers to take advantage of with such big tables in first class spreading out isn't a problem wi-fi is free although you can't use it to watch videos on youtube or stream entertainment darlington is the next stop the railway has been here in some form or other since 1829. the current station was built in 1860 making it slightly younger than newcastle but it's another super building as you can see the rundown to york is flat and uneventful and now is a good time to show you the seat features there's a thick and well placed armrest and a recline function using a button next to the seat each window seat has access to a plug socket and if you ever get too bored of the english countryside curtains will block out the view and the sun [Music] reservations are displayed on screens above each seat and a small reading lamp can be found overhead the approach to york station takes us past the national railway museum where we can see the steam locomotive tornado steaming up perhaps for a test run this steam engine is in fact only 12 years old and is a replica of the original class a1 locos which plied this route in its heyday in the 1950s all of those locomotives were scrapped hence the replica york is another superb station which retains nearly all of its original features including these beautiful spandrels showing the logo of the old northeastern railway next time you go check out the costa coffee here it's actually in the old york station signal box heading to leeds we're reminded that the route which was built in the 1830s was dug entirely by explosives and by hand by navies short for navigational engineers the name coming from their experience in building canals [Music] modern bridges now cross the line with 20th century roads but original hand-built brick bridges are still there too leeds is one of the larger stations you'll find in britain but is of limited interest following a misguided rejuvenation which began in the late 1990s which deprived it of any remaining character although you'll have to take my word for it as my footage of the station was corrupted nonetheless as we leave leeds and head south you'll see the disused holbeck viaduct on the left which will hopefully be retained and redeveloped into an aerial park and social hub soon the old leeds central station now long closed was served by this separate viaduct which can be seen on the opposite side of the train road the home of leeds united football club is on the left having passed wakefield our next big city is sheffield these decorated platform covers are very common in britain and each railway company used to use its own design wooden ones tend to be known as dags or daggerboards whatever else can be said about britain's railways it's fantastic to constantly be reminded that preserving the heritage and character of the railway a concept invented in britain remains a top priority if you're watching this you might want to know how cross country are dealing with the coronavirus well masks on trains in britain are mandatory unless you have a legitimate exemption capacity is limited first class food is served in bags with minimal contact there was a travelling cleaner disinfecting all the surfaces during the journey and there are reminders to keep plenty of space i traveled a lot by train on britain's railway since the virus arrived and it's very safe we all need to use trains as much as we can justify next up is derby an important junction station which was remodeled in the last couple of years although of all the places to put the war memorial between two service doors doesn't seem the best place keep an eye out on the right and you'll see central rivers depot which is between derby and tamworth this is where cross country services its large voyager fleet [Music] tamworth is the smallest settlement served by our train on my journey today but it provides a crucial link the split level station means that we cross the west coast main line the station here provides connections towards london and milton keynes as well as north towards stafford and [Music] crew [Music] birmingham is the uk's second largest city and is the terminus of the first phase of the forthcoming high speed 2 rail link the site here at kersen street can be seen being cleared this building was the first station in birmingham and of major importance to the city and will be left standing and refurbished when the new kersen street station opens sometime in the next 10 years or possibly later i'll show you around the rest of the train now starting with the luggage racks which will take suitcases and although there are overhead racks they won't take anything larger than a school rucksack so be warned the toilet was clean and now features retention tanks so no more flashing onto the track there are accessible toilets too although this one went out of use during the trip standard class is similar to first but features two two seating and vastly inferior [Music] legroom [Music] the route out of birmingham follows the worcester and birmingham canal for a while and passes the old cadbury factory now a tourist attraction bringing in half a million people a year the station here at bourneville is unique on the line in being painted cadbury purple [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] and so after nearly five hours we finish our journey in bristol temple meads a station with at least as much history as newcastle although i'll save that for a future [Music] video [Music] so [Music] [Music] that's all for now and thanks again to train power for sponsoring the video don't forget to download train pal using the link in the description below to book a trip today and you'll even get an extra six pounds of vouchers when you use code winging it thanks and i'll see you next time

Channel: Wingin’ It! Paul Lucas

Views: 115,081

Rating: 4.8867636 out of 5

Keywords: crosscountry hst, crosscountry class 43, class 43, high speed train, xc hst, crosscountry hst 2020, cross country, tones, plug doors, mk3, mkiii, carriages, crosscountry first class, hst train, sliding doors, cheap train tickets, Paul lucas, Geoff marshall, newcastle, bristol, buffet car, station, bristol temple meads, 125mph, xc class 43, arriva, railcam, review, trip report, crosscountry trains, virgin cross country, valenta, hst horn, hst 125, uk, britain

Id: aA6MoteaJwU

Length: 22min 40sec (1360 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 11 2020