Simon Calder
@SimonCalder
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Travel news/advice shared here, on TikTok @caldertravel and answering questions at weekends with my 5.30pm UK Instagram Live: https://t.co/qE5vXA5qw0
Joined September 2010
Passport validity for European Union. A UK passport must meet two conditions:.On day of entry to the EU, issued less than 10 years ago. On intended day of exit from EU, at least 3 months left before expiry date. (Also Switz/Iceland/Norway but not Ireland.).
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People of Sheffield and Leeds: Rishi Sunak says he will quadruple the number of trains between Sheffield and Leeds. As there are currently five per hour each way, that will mean 20 trains per hour: one every three minutes. Rail boffins: can you help me understand how that works?.
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Dover: sympathy for all the people stuck on coaches for hours. The UK asked for an European Union external frontier, similar to the hard borders the EU has with Russia and Turkey, to take effect in Kent, with every British passport inspected and stamped.
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Southampton to Newcastle: cheaper by cruise ship than rail or air. Balmoral sets sail tomorrow evening from the Solent to the Tyne. The 2-night voyage, including all meals and entertainment, has been selling for £99. Super off-peak train: £103.Flight: £161.
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Stanley Johnson was aboard the BA flight from Malaga to Gatwick that diverted to Heathrow due to the runway closure. Plan: refuel then fly to Gatwick. Passengers say he insisted on leaving the plane at Heathrow. Police were called, onward flight cancelled.
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On EU border access. The UK asked for British travellers to become third-country citizens, the same as people from Tonga, Venezuela and dozens of other faraway lands, with passports stamped and scrutinised. And Europe delivered exactly what was asked for.
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Oh . bother, I may have bought the wrong brand of wine.
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What’s your worst-value hotel stay? I’ll start. Just emerging from the TWA hotel at New York JFK. For a room that cost more than my flight to London, I won the building site view and the right to pay £12* for a “pint” of beer in a plastic glass. (*plus service)
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More on the Stanley Johnson "Gatwickgate". After the passengers were offloaded at Heathrow, the crew stayed on board. The plane was needed back in Gatwick to fly holidaymakers to Crete. But it didn't arrive until 6pm. The flight to Heraklion was cancelled.
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Key Brexit policy: ban EU citizens from holidays in the UK using national identity cards. Overnight 200 million-plus potential visitors to the UK with ID cards but no passports were excluded. “A disastrous act of economic self-harm” says top tourism leader.
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Goodbye old friend: about to go through the UK border for the last time with my final European Union passport. It runs out tomorrow. “Dangerous” said the lady at the departure gate. I think she meant travelling with such little headroom before passport expiry, rather than Brexit.
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Dover: did French border staff slack last weekend?.No, the port boss tells me. “Police aux Frontieres turned up with the full complement of resource on the Friday. On Saturday, when they knew that we were having challenges, they turned up with more people".
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Exclusive.Frontier checks for British travellers to Europe next summer could take 4x longer than now. Reason: the UK asked to be treated as a "3rd country" after Brexit so subject to the fingerprinting and face biometric checks of the new Entry Exit System.
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In search of the worst-value rail ticket in Britain. I'll start: £7.40 for the 3.5 miles between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Central.
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Hi from London, “crime capital of the world”. In Birmingham? Beware “rotting rubbish” and “boarded-up buildings”. Manchester is “the worst city in Europe for eco-friendly transport”. The ruling party’s new social media campaign is doing wonders for tourism.
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Eurostar has cut the number of seats by 30% and is pushing up its fares. Why? Extra post-Brexit passport checks mean London St Pancras can handle only 1,500 passengers per hour, down from 2,200. The boss of the Channel Tunnel train firm says it can't go on.
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Spain this summer?.Staying with family/friends? You'll need a Carta de Invitación (takes several weeks and costs £70+). Financial resources: each UK visitor needs access to at least £862. Not “new rules”: existing requirements that we asked to apply to us.
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Rail: the ultimate example of crazy train ticketing?.Edinburgh-London on Saturday morning. LNER says the cheapest ticket to King's Cross is £200. Avanti West Coast has a £125 fare. Yet from Haymarket, 1 mile away, you pay just £91 on either line to London.
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Amazing what a £14 cut at Mr Toppers, London’s top hair stylist, can do.
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A story just published on another news site is headlined "Furious British expats blast EU's new post-Brexit travel rules". Just to be clear: there are no "new" travel rules. They are the same as apply to all other visa-free third countries. Full story here.
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Remember the "Stanley Johnson" BA flight? Diverted to Heathrow, where the former PM's father asked to leave the plane before its planned onward hop to Gatwick. After a stand-off, the flight was cancelled. Now BA is refusing compensation for passengers. 1/2.
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Mordor is a late addition to the green list, being slightly more accessible than the South Sandwich Islands. Rumours that Ryanair plans flights from Stansted, though they will actually touch down in Gondor (known as Mordor West). Narnia also on the cards for the next green list.
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Is Brexit partly causing flight chaos?.No, says aviation minister: "It looks as if Brexit has little if anything to do with it.".But this morning the easyJet boss told me: “We have had to turn down a huge number [8,000] of EU nationals because of Brexit.”.
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BREAKING Best foot forward: Brits urged to wear flip-flops or sandals for Euro passport checks from Oct 2024. When the Entry Exit System begins, UK travellers to the EU will have to give toe prints + facial biometrics. Aim is to swerve legal cases over right to take fingerprints.
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The majority vote to leave the UK means British travellers to the European Union are treated as third-country nationals. From May 2023, passport stamping on arrival will end. But every traveller will have to be fingerprinted and provide a facial biometric.
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Hastings MP who campaigned for Brexit has joined calls to ease the travel ban on most EU school groups with ID cards. Sally-Ann Hart's constituency has seen a collapse in EU school groups. She says it is vital that barriers to inbound tourism are removed.
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If BA or easyJet cancel your flight you are due a full refund within a week.But both airlines have removed the website refund option, to try to get passengers to accept a voucher instead.To get actual money back you must phone the airline within a year from the date of the flight.
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Earlier this year, as foreign secretary, Liz Truss chose to spend £500,000 of taxpayer money and generate nearly 500 tonnes of CO2 flying to Australia and back on a big private jet, even though equally convenient Qantas scheduled flights were going anyway.
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Here’s what happens when you ask the Shadow Chancellor for a solution to the BA strike, and Dennis Skinner MP is behind him:
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Tragic news from Hays Travel: the founder, John Hays, has died. John was a brilliant travel entrepreneur, providing great service for countless customers and creating jobs for thousands of great staff. He was also a very decent man. Thoughts with Irene and the rest of his family.
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Anyone with the good fortune to have been born on the island of Ireland – or with the foresight to have Irish ancestry – is in the strongest possible position and might as well let their UK passport lapse. Irish passports are cheaper and more powerful.
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Thrilled to get an @AstraZeneca vaccination at @wabbey from Rebecca, top @British_Airways Worldwide cabin crew currently helping the amazing @NHSEnglandLDN team effort
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Five years ago tonight, I was aboard the first ferry from Dover to arrive in Calais after Brexit took effect. I think we can all agree that leaving the European Union has been marvellous for travellers since then. Keen to hear your Best Benefits of Brexit.
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In the 3 months after the UK said anyone from Qatar changing planes at Heathrow must pay £10 and apply online for an Electronic Travel Authorisation, transit passengers from the Gulf state declined by 14,000. Paris CDG, Amsterdam & Frankfurt are delighted.
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Bad luck, Hastings, and other seaside resorts hoping to attract back French school groups. The new government looks set to double down on the Brexit ban on ID cards and make it impossible for school groups to travel here without passports from April 2025.
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Final Disneyland Express preparing to depart this morning, the latest casualty of Brexit in the incredible shrinking Eurostar network. Renovation work at Amsterdam means by this time next year there may be only 4 stations: London, Paris, Brussels and Lille
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London St Pancras International is in chaos. All Eurostar and Southeastern trains this morning cancelled due to flooding in the tunnel beneath the Thames. Many Thameslink services cancelled due to staff shortage. Trying to find out what I can and will report as soon as possible.
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Cheap and cheerful. No, not me: the excellent Hotel Venezia in Trento, far northern Italy. Do you have a recommendation of a two-star (approx) family-run hotel in Europe or beyond?
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Brexit ban on tourists from the EU using ID cards has begun to be reversed. Insisting on passports almost obliterated school group travel to the UK. From next year the ban has been lifted for children attending French schools, with others likely to follow.
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Breaking news: the UK will award Green List status to every European nation that voted for us in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. (Thanks to Robert Page for the revelation).
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EU travel after Brexit transition ends on 31.12.20.It turns out the UK voted for:.Higher travel insurance and mobile roaming costs. Tougher passport rules. Pet travel rules so complex that BBC man says: "Pets of Great Britain, say farewell to the Dordogne”.
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Travel to Europe. I hope I can help ease the confusion over what's changing and when with this timeline.
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Toner’s it is. Thanks very much for the recommendations. Evidently much more research is needed.
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By 2 April 2025, all international arrivals to the UK except British/Irish nationals must obtain a digital permit in advance. Rule even applies to passengers changing planes at Heathrow and remaining "airside". Amsterdam, Paris CDG and Frankfurt delighted.
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It's now 2018 everywhere, so 2017 can now officially be declared the safest ever for commercial aviation; no jets crashed in passenger service.
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EU passport rules. Still hearing sad tales of British travellers unaware that, since Brexit, UK passports must:. On the day of travel to EU, be less than 10 years old .On day of return from EU, have 3 months' validity. Check issue and expiry dates, please.
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Coming soon to Dover. Sealed buses, their passengers cleared by French border officials into French territory, driving through the middle of town. Mimics Cold War transit travel from West Germany through DDR to West Berlin. Weirdest Brexit consequence yet?.
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First sighting of Global Airlines Airbus A380 at Glasgow airport this evening, ahead of the maiden flight to New York JFK at 11am on Thursday.
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Thomas Cook fails. Sad news for the excellent staff, for one million people with advance holiday bookings, and for the travel industry.
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@AndyBurnhamGM Hi Andy, Simon Calder from The Independent. Trying to replicate your air fares. Please tell me the cities and the travel dates?.Here's what I've found for travel on Monday:.Mumbai via Abu Dhabi £607.Montego Bay via Atlanta £1,080.Rio via Lisbon: £1,599.Abidjan via Brussels: £901.
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"No foreign holidays until everyone is vaccinated at home and abroad." Yes, that is what the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has just told @BBCBreakfast.
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Flybe has failed. Condolences to the airline's fantastic staff.
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Starting today, almost all foreign visitors to the UK must go online and pay £10 for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA). One key exception: Irish citizens, who have a golden ticket to enter the UK and travel anywhere in the EU without undue red tape.
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Taking back control: how Brexit made Dover gridlock inevitable.
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Thoughts with the loved ones of the victims of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103. Thirty-five years ago today, the Boeing 747 on a London-New York flight was destroyed over Lockerbie in Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew lost their lives, along with 11 people on the ground.
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Eurostar is having to leave thousands of seats unsold on trains between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam because post-Brexit passport checks mean stations could not cope if Eurostar filled its trains. Morning trains capped at just 550 out of 900 seats.
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Prospective transit passengers using Heathrow are to be told: before you book flights via London, go online, apply for a permit (issued “usually” within three days) and pay £10. Yes, even for a two-hour connection. Or fly via Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris.
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UK inbound tourism slumping compared with EU. More barriers to visitors every week. The promotional budget has just been cut by 42%. Now the chair of VisitBritain, Nick de Bois, tells me: “Government and in particular the Treasury just doesn’t get tourism”.
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Uk passport validity for EU. Sad to see more cases of travellers turned away at airports. Your UK passport must pass these tests:.On day of travel to EU, under 10 years since issue date. On day you intend to leave the EU, at least 3 months to expiry date.
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Rail ticket office closures. June: Government asks train operators to come up with radical proposals to close ticket offices. July: Rail Delivery Group, representing firms, does so. October: Government decides it was a terrible idea all along and U-turns.
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International travel allowed coronavirus to spread swiftly and lethally across the world. But now the Covid travel rules have been cruelly rewritten. Every travel job lost.Every dream of escape crushed.Every family reunion wrecked.rests with the government.
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Good morning. What's the view outside your window today? I'll start: Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. Normally I get the car park view, but here's a panorama across the Bristol Channel towards Wales.
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HS2. From the wreckage of a world-beating example of how to foul up a giant infrastructure project, surely the winners are travellers between Birmingham and London?.Wrong. The very last thing the nation needs is a stand-alone link between these two cities.
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New cheap trains between London, Newcastle and Edinburgh begin 25 October. One-way fares from £14.90. One-class, brand-new trains in competition with LNER. But the main aim of "Lumo," as it is interestingly called, is to grab travellers from the airlines.
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Good morning from cheap and cheerful Paris. “The city is empty,” says Rachida, who runs the good £75-a-night, 3* hotel where I am eating breakfast. The only queues are for the Louvre. Olympic tickets still available. Go for tourism gold on a bronze budget.
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Live pictures from South Georgia as TUI reps set up their operation for the summer in one of the dozen green list locations.
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Heathrow airport is furious at ministers' insistence that all transit passengers (except UK/Ireland) must pay £10 for an online visa even if they plan only to spend 2 hours in the transit lounge. Government insists: "We are making the border more secure.".
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No foreign holidays till August? That's what leaks from government suggest. Travel industry is furious.
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If you are one of the 36,000 affected passengers just sent a cancellation message, let me make clear – because easyJet doesn’t – that you can INSIST on a flight on your original day of travel, including on a rival airline such as British Airways or Ryanair, at easyJet’s expense.
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Which is the best way to reduce the risk that British travellers in Croatia contract the virus?.(a) Let them stay on the beach on Friday and return on their planned weekend flights.(b) Set an arbitrary 4am deadline, triggering hectic journeys across Europe.
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All going well so far on the bus to Brussels. What could possibly go wrong?
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Four years after the train drivers' strikes began, a no-strings pay deal has been reached between Aslef & the government. The union is urging acceptance of the deal, which would see the average basic salary of a train driver rising from £60,000 to £69,000.
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Trainline charges fees on about 1/3rd of the tickets it sells, in addition to the 5% commission it earns. So I was surprised to read the claim: ‘You won’t find cheaper tickets anywhere else.’.You will – just choose one of the fee-free rail firms/retailers.
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BA refund update. Your booking has been cancelled? Airline must repay you. The cancellation email encourages you to accept a voucher; normal refund facility has been disabled. But if you call 020-3250 0145 and DO NOT PRESS 1 a human will arrange cash back. Only a 10 min wait now.
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Air rage in Europe at record high, Ryanair boss says. Passenger punch-ups now weekly occurrences, fuelled by a cocktail of drink, drugs and delays. Michael O'Leary calls for 2-drink limit at airports. "Flights from Glasgow and Liverpool to Ibiza are worst".
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April 2020: Heathrow boss writes to health secretary Matt Hancock asking for a common international standard for pre-flight testing.January 2021: UK set to introduce pre-flight testing for some arriving travellers.Official confirmation expected later today.
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Incidentally as I approach hour 2 on hold to @easyJet, I must say the hold music is excellent. It starts with Rag’n’Bone Man (Human) and continues with Daft Punk, Ed Sheeran and many other top artistes. Older travellers may recall Dial-a-Disc: it’s like that without the crackles.
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Yet again an airline – in this case KLM – wrecks holiday plans because ground staff concoct their own passport rules for journeys to Europe. I told carriers the exact rules 4 years ago. They are still wrongly denies boarding. Time for some official action.
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Passports. Five years ago, only one in 1,000 of “straightforward applications” took longer than three weeks. Today, three in 1,000 applications take longer than 10 weeks. It turns out there are no plans for reducing the target time to its pre-Covid level.
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Train drivers' dispute is as good as over. Aslef members almost certain to accept a 15% pay deal for the past few years. But deep problems remain:.£240-per-second taxpayer subsidy. A baffling fares "system" that deters passengers. Decaying infrastructure.
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British Airways staff at Gatwick boarded an Airbus about to fly to Malta at Christmas and removed a passenger. They claimed, wrongly, that Sue Heath's passport wasn't valid for the EU. Once again, BA messed up someone's holiday – and then blamed them. 1/2.
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Public transport prioritised in Germany. The unlimited travel pass, valid nationwide, is coming – price €49 (£43) for each calendar month, starting in May. For £1.40 per day you can go anywhere on trams, buses and trains (except for the fastest expresses).
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Inbound tourism is an economic and social marvel. It represents free money and increased amenities for the local community. So banning EU citizens from holidaying in the UK with their ID cards was pure self-harm. Thankfully the government is rolling back.
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Reminder: Avanti West Coast running a strike timetable on Sunday even though the RMT union has suspended industrial action; too late to reinstate trains. And if you make it to northwest England your problems may only just be beginning: Northern cancelling entire routes on Sunday.
Sunday 19 Jan on Avanti West Coast. Although the strike has been called off, 2/3rds of trains cancelled between London Euston and West Midlands, NW England, N Wales and S Scotland. Last trains departing very early: final Manchester-London direct is 3.55pm.
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Rail. How would you sum it up in one word?.I'll start: shambles. Not a great start to my onward trip from Manchester airport with three trains cancelled in a row – but much worse for people trying to do the right thing and travel to the airport by rail; why would anybody risk it?
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Most – and least – central railway station?.Which UK railway station is at the very heart of a city – and which is annoyingly distant?.Edinburgh Waverley is in the middle of everything; Cardiff is pretty good, too. But Cambridge and Plymouth are a hike away from the city centres.
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Good morning sunshine. Best British beach in a mainstream resort? (So no idyllic Hebridean islands, I’m afraid).I’ll start:.Exmouth, Devon (pictured).Rhossilli, Gower Peninsula.Scarborough, North Yorks.Aberdeen. Bottom of the table, Brighton (which I adore in all other respects).
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Welcome to Britain?.Two years ago inbound tourism was the UK's third-biggest employer and fifth-largest export earner. Today it is reduced to tatters, according to the industry leader – destroyed by onerous, incoherent and unpredictable travel restrictions.
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You're in France, fully jabbed. Due to the Beta variant on Réunion Island, almost all of France is "amber plus": quarantine needed on return to the UK. To avoid self-isolation, just spend 10 days somewhere on the regular amber list. Such as Réunion Island.
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New Covid travel restrictions. These are the questions I have put to the government:.Any restrictions on passengers who travel from mainland China to the UK via third countries?.% of passengers to be tested on arrival?.If they test positive, must they self-isolate or quarantine?.
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The government stipulates complex, onerous and expensive testing rules for international travel. Then it assists companies that mislead passengers with their marketing. World-beating folly.
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Most Great Western Railway intercity trains cancelled today. In northwest England, Northern has axed all trains on nine routes. “The underlying reason is train crew availability, in particular on Sundays which is contractually outside of the working week.”.
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