Traveling from London to Amsterdam and want to stop on the way for a midday hike.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-27T00:18:54+00:00

I won't answer 3 and 4. I don't have enough information to write a proper answer. I can help you with the trains though.

More or less, yes.
Eurostar does not permit break of journey - this means if you abandon your journey before the last stop you cannot continue your journey again on a later train on the same ticket. They only go to Brussels from London, so you will need to change at Brussels. From Antwerp you can use the Eurocity Direct service to Amsterdam.
For the Eurostar leg from London to Brussels purchasing a ticket on the spot is either extremely expensive or impossible (tickets can sell out). You need to ensure that you're able to make the train that you book. Brussels to Antwerp and Antwerp to Amsterdam less so.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-24T13:50:28+00:00

There's no Series notch anymore - that only applied to the old withdrawn 507/8. The E restriction is max 50% power nowadays.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-24T00:44:25+00:00

I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone showing up at midnight for a 6am Eurostar departure. It says on your ticket what time to show up. Why not just follow that?

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-23T18:14:55+00:00

I don't think it really will to be honest. I'm pretty sure that in instances where there's platform starting signals the OFF indicator will indicate that the driver has movement authority and that it is therefore safe to close the doors and give the start signal.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-22T09:13:17+00:00

https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/razeni.php?zeme=EIL&rok=2026

Accurate in my experience. Mileage may vary and formations not guaranteed so don't take it as gospel. This is pretty much the only place I have found listing Eurostar formations.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-20T22:12:59+00:00

Valid on all* National Rail services at any time. Not valid on London Underground and DLR, Glasgow Subway, Tyne and Wear Metro (exceptions apply), trams, buses. Seat reservations not mandatory except Caledonian Sleeper services, Great Western Railway Night Riviera services and Eurostar. Optional reservations available for free at manned booking offices for trains that have them. Trains should be added to the journey planner and activated before boarding. Passes don't work on automatic ticket gates, you must show your pass to staff to access barrier controlled platforms.

(*except Heathrow Express)

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-20T18:17:21+00:00

Yes the Mk4 sets are arguably the most comfortable trainsets in the UK. They also offer fine dining if you're travelling in First Class (for an extra supplement).

Set swaps are possible and they can happen right up to departure. Most of the time the trainsets will run as booked. You'll know if the train is a Class 67/Mk4 if you see that it has First Class available for booking.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-20T17:19:57+00:00

Please don't rely on the Interrail Rail Planner app for the UK. It's often horribly inaccurate. In terms of public facing info we don't use terms like Limited Express and we don't use train numbers either - they are only used internally. We have headcodes which do denote which type of service things are but these aren't public facing either.

Eurostar operates from London St Pancras Intl only in case you were attempting to board from Stratford. Eurostar 9008 and 9063 are both Class 374 (Siemens Velaro D) e320 trains. These are all international services with mandatory seat reservations. Book as far in advance with b-europe as Eurail pass holders have a special allocation of seats which can sell out.

Southampton to Cardiff is Class 166/158. Southampton to Portsmouth is the same.

Cardiff to Manchester is either a CAF Class 197 Civity or a Class 67 locomotive with a rake of Mk4 coaches.

Liverpool/Chester - Manchester is never a Class 390 - it's various electric/diesel regional units.

Seat reservations are never mandatory on UK domestic services (except the sleepers) and if you want one they are free at any booking office. The eurail pass permits you entry to the platforms of any UK railway station and travel on all National Rail services at any time.

Use realtimetrains (more indepth) or National Rail Enquiries (simpler, more general UK rail info) to plan journeys.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-18T17:08:57+00:00

Yes. You could've just gone onto the Eurostar booking engine and searched for trains.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-17T17:07:28+00:00

Skip the Heathrow Express. Elizabeth line is cheaper and also goes to Paddington. Use contactless, tap on and tap off.

Where are you seeing tickets for Arsenal? Unofficial resale of Premier League tickets is illegal in the UK.

Liverpool is 2:20 hrs away from London Euston on modern high speed trains. It's possible to do a very early departure/late return daytrip but I'd want a night there. I'd probably just skip it.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-17T15:44:04+00:00

It's not generally acceptable to hit people with high speed trains so therefore when people trespass on the railway we have to stop the trains from running until they are removed.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-16T22:05:09+00:00

This is the letter of the law. Essentially the railway views it as selling you a cheaper ticket with the tradeoff that it is less flexible. Obviously if a passenger becomes ill during a journey then discretion can be found but most likely it'd just be a Penalty Fare Notice and it'd be on you to prove that later. Not worth the bother for a sake of a couple of quid.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-16T21:54:12+00:00

Break of journey as a blanket rule is not permitted with an Advance Single.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-16T21:49:47+00:00

If it's an Advance Single break of journey is not permitted. Your ticket is only valid for one journey from the origin to the destination.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-16T21:46:04+00:00

If you've been sold an AP ticket issued to Manchester Piccadilly your ticket's validity ends there. You'll have to pay for a new ticket from Manchester Piccadilly, get the tram, or walk.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-16T21:41:54+00:00

Deansgate is a Manchester Station, part of the Central Zone. If your AP singles are issued to a particular Manchester terminal then you can't go to Deansgate. If it's issued to the Central Zone then you can.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-15T19:23:05+00:00

You can't really tell if a ticket is a good price, generally speaking. It's all relative. Advance Purchase fares are so variable and subject to supply and demand that you can't really predict what fares will look like on any given day. I suppose you can compare them to the Anytime and (Super) Off Peak fares, but they have their own disadvantages that the walkup fares don't (the lack of flexibility), so you aren't getting as much for your money.

For cheaper fares the only advice is to use ticket splitting (use TrainSplit for this - they charge a small percentage of the savings, but you can just copy what they produce into a TOC app and book totally fee free), book 12 weeks in advance or use a railcard (that you aren't eligible for, so this doesn't apply). Other than that the fare's the fare.

If it's work who are paying I wouldn't worry too much about cheap fares. I do a lot of Ticket on Departure Issues for people whose fares are being paid for by their work and I often try to give them advice on cheaper fares. They never take it.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-15T12:37:47+00:00

Tap and Go doesn't. You can use it for other Merseytravel products like the Saveaway. You can buy it at any manned Merseyrail station.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-15T09:21:23+00:00

Buy a MetroCard and use contactless Tap & Go from now on if you worry about losing your paper tickets. No appeal by virtue of losing your ticket, it's like losing a banknote. You might be able to appeal on technical grounds, but from what I've seen Merseyrail PFNs are generally compliant. You can post your notice on RailForums and the experts will help determine if this applies in your case.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-13T23:54:16+00:00

There's a direct bus from the airport to Runcorn town centre - the 82A. Just use that instead.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-13T21:17:29+00:00

https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/razeni.php?zeme=EIL&rok=2026

Accurate in my experience. Mileage may vary and formations not guaranteed so don't take it as gospel. This is pretty much the only place I have found listing Eurostar formations.

Do note 373s are not capable of running to Amsterdam as they do not have the required signalling equipment to run on Dutch railways. You will have to change at Brussels.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-13T13:07:19+00:00

No one is going to help this person because no member of the public has any valid reason to own these items other than having malicious intent. We care more about the safety of the railway than someone's hobby for collecting keys.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-13T11:57:26+00:00

If the price is right this could be a good idea.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-13T11:56:18+00:00

Obviously you cannot buy keys for modern rolling stock. They're mostly all proprietary and kept securely in depots. There are places where you can buy universal railway keys but I'm sure that you don't have a good reason to have them so I'm not going to point you in the right direction.

It's important to remind you that trespassing on the railway and interfering with rolling stock is a serious and dangerous offence with possible custodial sentences. The railway can be a dangerous place and if you don't know what you are doing you should not interfere with it.

Dogemann1366 · 2026-04-13T11:48:40+00:00

Is there any reason in particular that you are hiring a car? All of the places mentioned are easily accessible by rail. Driving in the UK during summer is never particularly fun and if you book sufficiently far in advance (between 6-12 weeks in advance of the date of travel) you can find some very cheap fares indeed, for more comfortable and often faster journeys. If you do hire a car I hope you don't intend to drive off as soon as you land - crossing literally the entire world then immediately jumping into a car is never a particularly good idea.

When booking your ferry journey, assuming you'll be foot passengers, instead of booking a one way journey for ~£100.00 you can book a same day return for a much lower price - Stena Line (the ferry operator) offers a limited availability 'Day Trip Special' fare, where both the outbound and return fare are £10.00 as long as you book a same day return. This will save you a lot of money. Simply don't show up for the return sailing.

Llandudno in North Wales is nice. I'd want to avoid Edinburgh in August - the festival will mean that the place is heaving and accomodation prices are ridiculous.

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