News Archives - Rail travel

Travel decisions made easy: Bicycle barometers & desktop departure boards

Whether you’re a self-confessed rail buff, a commuter who likes to cut things fine or simply gadget fan, the desktop departure board is a winner. Available in a variety of sizes, the diminutive displays are designed to simulate real station departure boards with real-time, scrolling info on train/tube/bus/tram departures for your chosen UK station or stop. There’s even an upgrade…

How’s this for a New Year’s Resolution? Rail, hike and camp the UK

Showing ingenuity, not to mention IT wizardry, Will Petty has created a map of UK train stations and walkable campsites. The interactive tool allows you to filter campsites by distance – from <3km to 10-20km away, which Petty describes as very roughly a day’s walk. It’s the ideal planning tool for a ‘rail, hike (or bike) & camp’ trip. Responding…

Brussels offers residents 900 euros to ditch the car

Brussels has doubled the amount of money it pays residents who give up their car. The Bruxell’air scheme launched in 2006 and until recently paid drivers €500 to give up their car. This cash incentive has now doubled to €900 (£762). The financial incentive aims to encourage motorists in Brussels to give up their cars in favour of modes of…

Tickets please: Portugal to Singapore by train

You can now travel by train from Portugal all the way to Singapore, according to rail blogger Mark Smith, the man behind the excellent website The Man in Seat 61. According to his estimates, the 11,654-mile journey from Lagos via Paris, Moscow, Beijing and Bangkok could be done in three weeks. The epic journey is now possible thanks to a…

‘Restoring your Railway’ initiative offers low-carbon travel to Dartmoor

In January 2020, the government pledged £500 million for the Restoring Your Railway Programme which is designed to reopen lines and stations. The Department for Transport (DfT) invited MPs, local councils and community groups across England and Wales to propose how they could use funding to reinstate axed local services and restore closed stations. Later this month, the Dartmoor Line…