Mikes Rail Tours

08/03/2019

Great news for Farnborough North Station in early 2019
The Farnborough Street Residents Association (FSRA), a group representing people and households close to Farnborough North Station, has agreed to adopt their local station noted as ‘The Town’s Historic Heart’ . This puts a formal agreement in place between FSRA, the train operating company GWR and Sussex Community Rail Partnership (SCRP) which looks after stations and services on the North Downs Line between Reading and Gatwick Airport.

FSRA began to take an interest in the station many years ago, installing and maintaining planters, displaying artwork from local schools and generally keeping the station tidy. Formally adopting the station brings closer links to SCRP and GWR, along with alignment to ACoRP, Community Rail’s national body.

A recent survey carried out by FSRA provided insights into passenger requirements ranging from a more frequent service to additional ticket machines. More shelters and benches were requested, even going as far asking for a café. Also high on the list, and understandably so considering that the stations has around 700,000 passengers per year, is toilet facilities.

David Daniels, North Downs Line Officer from SCRP, said ‘I’m delighted that FSRA has taken up formal adoption of Farnborough North, it will be great to work with a group that is so committed to the ethos of Community Rail’

Steve Gotting, Chair of FSRA, replied ‘ Mike Knott from our group is a great rail enthusiast who understands the value of community and is passionate about improving Farnborough North for everyone’

GWR’s North Downs Line Stations Manager, Mal Thurman, said ‘I’ve known the group for some years and have nothing but praise for what they’ve achieved so far. Formal adoption will open up greater funding opportunities through GWR and ACoRP so we can aspire to even more’

An Action Plan has been drawn up and items allocated from it for investigation and delivery. FSRA, GWR and SCRP will meet regularly to report on progress

For more information please contact Mike Knott [email protected] or David Daniels via [email protected]

18/07/2017

2017 F1 Rail Tour Pt2

Day 5
Today the trip to the circuit will be via the train & the climb up the hill to the circuit, then for the first time I will be watching P1 & P2 from the Super Gold Grandstand. The evening will be a quiet night spent at Jack Doyle’s Irish bar listening to good music and a few pints of beer.

Day 6
Saturday starts with a Limo from the hotel to the Helipad in Budapest to then for the first time fly to the circuit landing inside the main gate join the fans climbing the hill to the Red Bull Stand where the views of the last corner should be great. After a meal back in Budapest I will be hunting out some good music, but having a early night ready for RACEDAY!!

Day 7
Sunday will start with the same train & hill climb that friday entailed. After the race am hoping that my Gold1 seat will enable me to get photos of the podium without the scrum of getting onto the circuit. Come on Hamilton…… Taxi back to city with hopefully 1 or 2 others as this reduces the cost to about £10 per head

Day 8
Monday gives me my last two firsts for the Budapest part of the trip. Firstly a modern coach converted to be a DUKW (Duck) type for a tour of Budapest by Land and Water. Then in the afternoon off to visit and climb the Great Synagogue.

Day 9
Tuesday starts with 2 ½ hour journey back to Vienna and after checkin at the Holiday Inn the sight seeing starts with a visit to the Belvedere Palace, then to the Prater Park for a visit to the wheel before visiting the Brickmakers Pub & Kitchen a new craft pub recently started up in Vienna.

10/07/2017

Well with just a fortnight to go before my rail tour starts, I will begin posting what I plan to do in the 17 Days.

F1 Railtour 2017
London - Budapest - Vienna - Nuremberg - Koblenz - London

This trip while visiting a number of places I have previously visited contains a number of firsts.

Day 1
Firstly I don’t have a early morning taxi journey to the station to get the Eurostar, this is for 2 reasons i) I now live 20 yards from the railway station ii) I am traveling up to London the day before so don’t have to leave till 11.30. The plan was to visit the new Post Office Museum & Railway in the afternoon but this now opens to the public 4 days after I leave so will leave this visit until after the schools go back.

Day 2
Catching the normal 10.55 from St Pancras to Brussels, nice part is due to security restrictions being lifted I can for first time use the mid platform walkway from platform 1 or 2 thru to platform 6 for my ICE to Koln, this should shave 5-10 minutes off the normal scrum for lifts or escalators. Although I’ll still have a long walk to wagon 29 at the front of the train. Upon arrival in Koln the 4 hour stop will allow ample time for shopping and a few beers. The second first of the day will be catching one of the new OBB double decker sleepers with en suite toilet and showers. Hoping to get upper desk as the head height observation windows which will ideal for taking photos as we pass down the Rhine as the villages light up.

Day 3
Arriving in Vienna for just under 2 hours at 8 15am gives me chance to grab some extra breakfast from the OBB first class lounge before jumping on the Railjet thru to Budapest. After checking in to the hotel a visit to the Hungarian National Railway Museum should give me some good photo opportunities. In the evening a trip up the the Buda Castle will give opportunity for some lovely evening / nighttime shots back towards the Pest side of the river, something in 7 years of visiting Budapest I have not done.

Day 4
Today I plan to catch the rack railway up to Szechenyihegy park and take some more photos of Budapest, again this is a first for me in daylight as previously it was dusk as I started up the hill and pitch black by the time I reached the top. In the afternoon I will make my way out to the circuit to join in the pit lane walk and autograph signings.

More days to follow........

09/05/2017

Öbb (Austrian Railways) last year took over many of the sleeper routes run by other rail companies. They rebranded their services Nightjet and bought new rolling stock. Here is a review of one of the new sleeper stock with en-suite. Available in 1st & 2nd class. I will be taking one of the new trains from Cologne to Vienna in July and will post more details after that.

https://youtu.be/go42NiAqtJk

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02/05/2017

Itinerary booking service is where I will plan a unescorted route for you. After initial consultation a route will be planned taking into account number of days and preference on what you would like to do. The consultation & initial tour details and cost inc suggested hotels and routes will be £20, this includes up to 2 revisions of hotels or routes.

After the itinerary is agreed Hotels will be booked and tickets ordered, at this time the cost will be cost of hotels / tickets plus £30. Your tickets / Hotel reservation details along with details of interesting things to see on route, good places to eat etc will be supplied so it as if you had a virtual guide with you.

To arrange a meeting please use the contact us link

You may decide once the itinerary is complete that you will book the hotels and tickets your self and this is possible using sites like Booking.com or trivago .

Whether you’re looking for hotels, homes, or vacation rentals, you’ll always find the guaranteed best price. Browse our 1,227,435 accommodations in over 85,000 destinations.

29/04/2017

Just some of the places a tour can be arranged to.

25/04/2017

Innsbruck

25/04/2017

Munich

Just some of the places a tour can be arranged to.

25/04/2017

Antwerp

25/04/2017

Example Trip Plan Overview

25/04/2017

Having toured Europe by train in the late 2000’s both alone and in groups I noticed that people were paying over the odds or often missing the pleasure of the journey. After 35 years in the IT industry many friends suggested setting up a site to help people plan tours by rail. The art of the planning is knowing where and how to break the journey into segments to get the best fares and hotel rates.

Also why use train and not plane, simple check in 30 mins or less, CO2 and other pollutants much lower, no luggage restrains, and city centre to city centre journeys, and easier access for less mobile people.