Travel by Steam Train - Kelling Heath, Norfolk

Unusually, Kelling Heath has its very own train stop along the small but stunning North Norfolk Railway. This 10.5 mile round trip by steam train takes you through an area of outstanding natural beauty. 

Our beautiful old steam train chuffed into the station, complete with two drivers covered in soot!
The old style cabin seating only added to the charm, taking you right back in time.
We headed south to Sheringham, a charming little station, with station museum, signal box and gift shop. The children loved the play area. A train inside a train, the mini loco complete with ticket office and carriages was a real hit!

When our return train arrived we watched as it pulled in, surrounded by plumes of smoke. Tucked back into our cosy cabin we headed back out along the track, this time to Holt. Due to the gradient of the Kelling Heath station, trains can only stop when travelling downhill. Our return train would take us past Kelling Heath and Weybourne to Holt before making an about turn and dropping us off on the way back to Sheringham.
As well as marvelling at the detail of our train and the carriages, it was wonderful to be able to sit back and simply enjoy the view. The coast in Norfolk is stunning, and what a great way to enjoy it!

Book your Train Journey today: Senior travelers - SAVE! with discounted rail passes

No inflated prices at TrainTickets.co

We're all a bit more savvy about train travel nowadays. We don't just turn up at the station with five minutes to go and pay a fortune for our ticket. We know that if we go online a few days - or even a few weeks - in advance we can pay far less for our ticket.

But before we get carried away with just how clever we have become, it's worth bearing in mind that many of us are still paying almost 50% more than we need to - because we're falling foul of the rip off train booking websites.

The complexities of the UK train system make it tricky to know exactly who will be operating your rail service. There are scores of services around the country and even the same journey is often run by more than one train company. It's hardly surprising, therefore, that so many people don't try to tack down their train company website.

The rip off
There's no doubt that they are easy to use, but research by Southern Railway has discovered that they often charge far more than going direct to the rail company, and in some instances charge 50% more.

They searched for a journey from Brighton to London Victoria, and found that while their lowest fare was £4.50, Trainline and Raileasy would charge £5. To add insult to injury the other companies also add a booking fee, a fee if you use a credit card and another fee if you want the tickets posted to you first class. It means overall a £4.50 ticket from Southern would set you back £9.50 at The Trainline or £8.95 from Raileasy.

The solution
And you don't need to be booking tickets with the operator running your service in order to pay less. Most operators will allow you to book on other company's lines, and it will still constitute a saving. The railway operator found that in every single case it was cheaper to buy direct from Southern, even when travelling outside their operating area.

Alistair Buckle, head of marketing at Southern Railway said: "With headline adverts like 'Save up to 80% on train tickets', customers could be mistaken into thinking they are getting a good deal by using a commercial ticket site. In fact, these percentages only compare the commercial sites' prices to the cost of buying a ticket at a station on the day of travel, when even greater savings could be made by buying advance tickets direct from the train operators' websites. The truth is that all commercial ticket sites include a mark-up on the face value of the tickets sold, and then create extra revenue with added booking and credit card fees, further increasing the cost to the consumer."

The simple message, therefore is that if you have a few minutes more to shop around for your ticket, you could save significant sums. It's worth doing a search for who runs the service and looking up the prices on its website. It's also worth bookmarking a few other operators who don't charge booking fees, postage fees or credit card fees, so you know you can make a saving when you travel.


With no booking fees TrainTickets.co is the place to go for the best deals on Train Tickets

Railways upgrade postponed

CHILTERN Railways has postponed bringing in its new speeded-up timetable for May, just days after unveiling it.
The train operator said it had taken the decision to reduce the risk of disruption for passengers after reviewing progress on its Evergreen3 improvement project, which will cut journey times between Oxfordshire and London by about 25 per cent.
The review found there was a possibility that the final phase of engineering work in late April and early May could overrun and disrupt services at short notice.
Chiltern’s chairman Adrian Shooter said: “We’re obviously disappointed to be postponing the launch of the Chiltern Mainline timetable but I do believe it’s the right decision for our passengers.”
As a result of the decision, work to commission the final track and signalling changes will be rescheduled for the end of August, when many commuters are on holiday.
Once the work is complete, trains will be able to run at 100mph most of the way between London Marylebone, Bicester and Banbury.
Mr Shooter added: “We’re sorry that we’re not able to offer the improved service from May as planned, but it will be ready when commuters get back from their summer break.”
Chris Bates, chairman of the Cherwell Rail Users’ Group, said: “Something has slipped, what it is I’m not sure at the moment.”
He added: “They have done the right thing. There was no way to complete the commissioning in the time they had left, to be ready for May 22, when the new timetable was due to start.
“They now need to give passengers more information, as quickly as possible, about when the work will be rescheduled, so they can plan for work and holidays.”
Book your train tickets today at www.traintickets.co