The ongoing rail disruption has seen many people across the country see their travel plans upended.
While many have been forced to cancel plans, some have been determined to make their trip whatever it may be.
As another train strike begins, we’ve heard how far some people are going to get to their destinations.
Mike Simpson was looking forward to seeing blues and rock band George Thorogood and the Destroyers at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall on Wednesday night.
When the 54-year-old learned that his train from his hometown of Leicester to Nottingham had been cancelled, he didn’t give up.
He decided to cycle the 33-mile route instead.
“I got the exercise and fun of a big e-bike ride and managed to see the performance, so it was a win-win,” says Mike.
It would have taken him about half an hour by train. Instead, the door-to-door journey took five hours each way.
The cycling took three hours, and he stopped along the way to have lunch at his mother’s house.
“It was a fantastic performance, absolutely rocking, so I was lucky that I was able to turn a slight inconvenience into an advantage,” he says.
“I don’t have strong feelings about the strikes, but having more cars on the road isn’t good for the environment, so I was glad I could make the trip by bike.”
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Train enthusiasts Huub van de Pol and his wife Mariëlle from Haarlem in the Netherlands had planned a holiday around Huub’s birthday on August 20th.
They were looking forward to a lovely five hour train journey from London to Cornwall which they had booked in June.
But with a strike planned for the day, they are now getting an eight-hour bus ride on the National Express to reach their destination in Falmouth.
“I thought I had to make the best of it,” says Huub.
“It’s quite a disappointment but I support the strike and believe they deserve better wages and working conditions. But I think the privatization of railway companies in the UK was a bad idea and this is the result.”
Jordan, 26, had booked tickets to see Coldplay at Wembley Stadium on August 13. When he learned this week that a strike had been called for that day, he decided to act.
He and his friend Nathan sold their Saturday tickets, bought new tickets for Friday night, and rebooked their hotel. Although Jordan was able to sell his early bird ticket for £77, the new one cost £162.
What would have been an hour’s train journey from Ipswich has now turned into a three-hour journey each way, 60 pounds of petrol and a day off work.
“It was a nightmare from start to finish,” says Jordan. “It’s still a drama getting the money back from Trainline and there’s not a lot of time and notice to give work.
“It’s a real inconvenience. I can understand why they did it, but how long will this go on before we can get back to normal?
“People’s plans are in all sorts of trouble, so action must be taken.”
Some are doubly affected by the ongoing industrial action.
Husband and wife Simon Robinson and Alison Whalley are moving to Derbyshire from London and had planned to spend a few days setting up their new home in Buxton.
Last month’s train journey from Euston to Buxton should have taken around three and a half hours, but ended up taking eight hours, two taxi rides and a total of seven rail tickets.
Stuck on the West Coast Line by problems at Euston, the couple decided to continue their journey from St Pancras on the East Midlands Line.
Again there were delays and cancellations so the next course of action was to take a taxi to Marylebone and from there the couple took a Chiltern train to Birmingham Moor Street.
Then they went to Birmingham New Street, took the Cross Country Line to Derby, then the East Midlands train to Matlock. Another cab ride ended their journey to their new home.
“It’s really unnerving and just becomes a lot more of a mystery,” says Simon. “It’s more expensive, but to be honest, I’m annoyed at the time lost. It’s like traveling in the 19th century.”
Alison was also affected by the strikes on Wednesday this week.
“I have a lot of sympathy for the unions and I think they should get a fair wage for the job,” says Simon.
“I think the government needs to allow rail companies to negotiate, and I think rail companies need to think about how to make their services resilient.”
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