Distance from ships to train; train transfer to Chippenham

[mirkymirk]

Hello

 

We are scheduled to arrive at 7am on June 10 aboard the MS Rotterdam. How far is it from the cruise ship dock to the train station (Harwich International Port)?

 

Also, from here, we are headed to Chippenham, UK. According to the National Express website, we'd travel from Harwich to London Liverpool street, then take the tube to London Paddington, then jump back on a train to Chippenham. Q: Does the fare price include all transfers? Anything special we need to know about this type of journey (ie., luggage? getting around?)

 

Thanks in advance.

[sddsddean]

Harwich International station is right beside the terminal. I've just checked and trains leave at 6 minutes past the hour to Liverpool St. You then have to get the Circle Line on the tube to Paddington and then your train to Chippenham. The tube fare is included in your trip and single fare is currently £56 and the complete trip takes 3hrs 39mins. The main thing you need to know is that you have got to take your luggage everywhere yourself. As most people have bags on wheels nowadays, the main problem is getting up and down the escalators at each end of the tube. For more info got to www.nationalrail.co.uk . Note that your departure station is 'Harwich International'.

 

Simon

[mirkymirk]

Thanks so much for this reply. How helpful. I'm glad to get confirmation of the name of the port (as the National Rail website brought up a few choices). Funny, last time I checked the price it was only 12 GBP and as you say, it's now 56 GBP :( Hopefully the price will go down as we get closer to final departure??!

[sddsddean]

Funny, last time I checked the price it was only 12 GBP and as you say, it's now 56 GBP :( Hopefully the price will go down as we get closer to final departure??!

 

It might go down a bit, but nothing like to £12. I'm afraid you will be paying at least £50. Bear in mind you will be travelling on a weekday, so the rush hour will be in full swing. Fares before 9.30am are higher, so the earliest departure you should get is the 10.06.

 

Simon

[handfordr]

For your ship they are putting on a special cruise train from Harwich to Liverpool Street. Leaves 08:50, due Liverpool Street 10:10.

 

Its about 200 yards from the front of the cruise terminal to the platform with no steps or anything.

[mirkymirk]

Darn! I thought that there may be a hope that it would drop again. Should have booked when I saw it that low! I figured if it was that low once, it wouldn't go up too much more - apparently wrong!

 

I think we will book the 10:06 train. We are in Chippenham for a few days, then head up to Manchester again. My other thought was, was there a type of train pass for trains within Britain for 2 journeys for two people? I will check Britrail & RailEurope, but if you /anyone knows of anything, please post asap :)

 

Cheers!

[2irisheyes]

mirkymirk

I think the reason you had a much cheaper price is because you were looking at National Express fares (bus) as opposed to National Rail (train). National Express buses usually go into Victoria Coach Station in London and also leave from there. Not sure if there are other bus companies operating bus from Harwich to London (Liverpool Street) unless NE goes via LS.

[sddsddean]

mirkymirk

I think the reason you had a much cheaper price is because you were looking at National Express fares (bus) as opposed to National Rail (train). National Express buses usually go into Victoria Coach Station in London and also leave from there. Not sure if there are other bus companies operating bus from Harwich to London (Liverpool Street) unless NE goes via LS.

 

Obvious when someone says it! National Express has recently taken over the franchise to run the East Anglian trains (which includes Harwich - L'pool St.), so this is almost certainly where you have found this cheap price because they run the national coach system too and they, of course, are cheaper than the trains. Unfortunately, since British Rail was privatised it has become quite complicated doing long trips as you may use 2 or more different rail companies (as in your case). However, have a look at Marks site at seat 61. http://www.seat61.com/UKtravel.htm Under the heading 'On this page' you will see 'BritRail passes and rail rovers'; it may help you out. If you have any queries you can e mail Mark using the link in the red toolbar at the top. He has helped me out with several questions.

 

Simon

[mirkymirk]

Hi 2IrishEyes

 

I can't seem to find a route from Harwich to Chippenham with Express and am fairly sure when we checked Rail, it was that low..but no use me crying over spilled milk, it has gone up now.

 

Thanks too to SDDSDDEAN for that website. I looked there and also checked RickSteves.com (US travel expert) about various rail passes. I guess by the time I pay about 50 GBP twice, it may be better to get a rail pass. Would you know if we did that, would the London tube transfers also be included as we have to make two train changes on our way from Harwich to Chippenham.

[Globaliser]

It might go down a bit, but nothing like to £12. I'm afraid you will be paying at least £50. Bear in mind you will be travelling on a weekday, so the rush hour will be in full swing. Fares before 9.30am are higher, so the earliest departure you should get is the 10.06.

I can't seem to find a route from Harwich to Chippenham with Express and am fairly sure when we checked Rail, it was that low.

I can see a £12 through rail fare for a one-way journey. The first train on which it's valid is indeed the 1006, but through fares for earlier trips go from £16.50 up to £25.50 for the first sensible (2 change) journey with a direct train from Harwich to Liverpool street.

 

This is by searching for next Tuesday, 22 April, and also for 10 May. But the fare doesn't appear for 10 June. It may be that the low fares are not available every day, or every month, or it may just be that they've not yet been loaded for mid-June.

 

Considering that there will be no need to pay any more than £56, as that is a walk-up fare valid on virtually every train, my advice would be to wait and keep checking from time to time to see whether the £12 fares have been made available for 10 June.

 

I don't know whether the fare includes the Tube connection, but even if it doesn't, the single Tube journey will cost no more than £4 if you do it by the most expensive method (ie buying a cash single fare).

 

BTW, AFAIK National Express coach is not an option here, because the coaches don't go to Harwich.

[mirkymirk]

I can see a £12 through rail fare for a one-way journey. The first train on which it's valid is indeed the 1006, but through fares for earlier trips go from £16.50 up to £25.50 for the first sensible (2 change) journey with a direct train from Harwich to Liverpool street.

 

This is by searching for next Tuesday, 22 April, and also for 10 May. But the fare doesn't appear for 10 June. It may be that the low fares are not available every day, or every month, or it may just be that they've not yet been loaded for mid-June.

 

Considering that there will be no need to pay any more than £56, as that is a walk-up fare valid on virtually every train, my advice would be to wait and keep checking from time to time to see whether the £12 fares have been made available for 10 June./quote]

 

Good thing I checked the website today because for June 10/08, the ticket price was back to 12 GBP! :) However, when I went to purchase the tickets, I was redirected to the First Great Western website where I was forced to select one of four delivery options. Unfortunately, FGW isn't so great. They don't deliver tickets outside of the UK, so I have no idea how I'm going to get my tickets. There does not seem to be a ticket station at Harwich- one is not listed in their Self Service Ticket pickup points. Help?!:eek:

[sddsddean]

Good thing I checked the website today because for June 10/08, the ticket price was back to 12 GBP! :) However, when I went to purchase the tickets, I was redirected to the First Great Western website where I was forced to select one of four delivery options. Unfortunately, FGW isn't so great. They don't deliver tickets outside of the UK, so I have no idea how I'm going to get my tickets. There does not seem to be a ticket station at Harwich- one is not listed in their Self Service Ticket pickup points. Help?!:eek:

 

If you want, you can have them sent to my house and I'll forward them on to you...as long as you don't mind taking the risk of them being lost in the post! My e mail address is below, so drop me a line if you want to.

 

Simon

[mirkymirk]

Thanks so much for your offer. What I was able to do today (what I had to do actually) was to call National Rail and book this over the phone with a representative. We are now going to buy a ticket at Harwich Intl port to Harwich Town station, pick up our tickets and journey onto Chippenham. The good news is that we got the tickets for 12 GBP each :)

 

I will now watch the National Rail site and hopefully, we can save equally on the leg from Chippenham to Wigan :)

 

Thanks very much for everyone's helpful responses. These boards really help quite a lot!

[mirkymirk]

There seems to be some confusing info from N.E. When I called to book our tickets, the agent told me that there was no ticket agent at Harwich Intl and said we would have to go from H.I. to Harwich Town to get our tickets, then come back to H.I. and continue on our journey. Because of this extra time needed, I had to bump our "start time" from the 10am train to the 11am, to give us time to go back and forth.

 

However, when I emailed N.E. to inquire, they said that we would be able to pick up our tickets at H.I. (ie, where we disembark) and go from there. This way of course, we could simply catch the 10am train.

 

Anyone know for sure? National Express does NOT make this easy for out of UK'ers :(

[mirkymirk]

Hello again

 

I have booked our tickets via National Rail from Harwich Town (pick up location for tickets) to Chippenham but have a question. When I booked the trip, the route below is what appeared. The route mentions a train change (via the Tube). Do we have enough time to do this?

 

Leg 1: departs Harwich Town (11am); arrives London Liverpool St (12:33pm)

 

Leg 2: Underground: departs London Liverpool St (12:33) via either Circle Line or Paddington Line to London Paddington Line (arrives 1:28pm)

 

Leg 3: London Paddington (1:30pm); arrives Chippenham (2:45pm).

 

It's Leg #2 & 3 that are concerning. I am not familiar with the trains enough to know if this schedule is even doable, but it's what National Rail brought up for our journey. :confused:

[sussex-woody]

mirkymirk:

The National Rail site can be misleading to non-regular users when giving London connections. Unless there are problems on the Tube that day, it should not take anywhere near the time National Rail suggest to get to Paddington.

 

Transport for London's web-site suggests at that time of day that an approx. 20 min tube trip will do the trick:

 

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2

 

You need either the Hammersmith & City Line or the Circle line.

 

HTH

sussex-woody

[mirkymirk]

Thanks Sussex-Woody

 

Good to know. Are we also ok with our time off National Rail to transfer to the Tube @ Liverpool?

 

Glad you (fellow) UK'ers are there to help. (I'm Brit-born myself!)

[sussex-woody]

Thanks Sussex-Woody

 

Good to know. Are we also ok with our time off National Rail to transfer to the Tube @ Liverpool?

 

Glad you (fellow) UK'ers are there to help. (I'm Brit-born myself!)

 

Yes, you should have ample time to transfer from National Rail to tube platform at Liverpool Street (but do not omit STREET if asking directions - we have different practices to what you are used to on this!). 10 mins max I would have thought to get from mainline staion concourse to tune platform.

[mirkymirk]

Great. Hopefully that is the last post I will have to bother you all with! Cheers. "See you on the other side" - 2 more weeks!