Great Railway Journeys...(?)

There is a school of thought in the UK, that the then conservative government killed off the railways in the UK through a botched and ill-considered privatisation scheme in 1995. I'm not sure, but it has to be said that rail passenger numbers have risen steadily since then. Perhaps that was due to the economy that grew steadily from the mid-nineties, until recently.

One of the things that has happened since rail privatisations is that the various companies are forever re-branding and then re-painting the trains. Until recently, the line that links with London with Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Edinburgh, and then Glasgow, Inverness or Aberdeen - was called the "Great North Eastern Railway". A misnomer of course, when compared to high speed rail links in mainland Europe or Japan. I understand that the franchise has now been taken over by a bus company and it seems to be called "National Express". Perhaps I should invest in the specialist contractors that paint trains.

But I love it. My first recollection of using it was aged eight in 1985. My Dad had just started a new job in Edinburgh, so we travelled from Nottingham to Grantham (A minor stop: birthplace of both Isaac Newton and Mrs Margaret Thatcher as it happens.). From there we whizzed up to Edinburgh.

And really it's been a recurrent feature of my life ever since...visiting grandparents in Kent in my childhood and teenage years, travelling home when I use to work in London. I've also worked in Newark-Upon-Trent in Nottinghamshire (don't you know), which is another minor stop on that line (just north of Grantham).

So I went up to London last week. The sun shone as we clattered out of Waverley Station in Edinburgh......Great view of some of the Edinburgh Hills, and then your out into the Arable landscapes of East Lothian. A Nuclear Power station (nice), Berwick-Upon-Tweed (then England). Great views of the Northumbrian coast. The Holy Island at Lindisfarne. Morpeth. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Durham Cathedral (In the good old days there used to be a senior conductor from Durham who used to quip "On your left (or right, depending) the finest view on the East Coast Mainline, but the I'm biased."

Soon you're into the strange flatness of the vale of York. Then more arable landscapes, fenlands; stockbroker belt. And then the conurbation that they call London. Look out for Alexandra Palace ten minutes before London, King X station. I understand that where the BBC started broadcasting television.

I don't think it's a great train line. Too slow. But a great train journey. I normally jump onto this train with some relish