The station is very convenient for me - just an £8 pound taxi ride from home. It is not the best in…read moreconnectivity unless you want to go to Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham or a few other cities - Plymouth, Bristol for example. However to get to London you can just take one stop to Tamworth and then change for direct to London - that is my plan today. The station is not really very inviting but they do have a small news and coffee shop and (very important on a cold winters day like today!) a heated waiting room serving both platforms. In summary - thank goodness for little stations like this that connect you with everywhere in England, Scotland and Wales affordable and without having to drive! Review #92 2019

Burton Upon Trent is located between Derby an Birmingham. Burton Upon Trent rail station is…read moreoperated and managed by Cross Country Trains, which operate frequent services between Nottingham and Birmingham New Street / Cardiff Central. Crosscountry services run twice every hour to Nottingham, and once hourly to Birmingham, and once hourly to Cardiff Central. Cross Country high speed services to the South West, and th North East stop at the station, however these are less freqent, and occur mosty during the morning and evening commute.

As Hannah noted before me this is a weird railway station. I would add the word desolate! Weird…read morebecause it is on multiple levels making it very customer unfriendly if (like me today) you are laden with a heavy suitcase from airline travel to London. No staff to guide you so I could have made a connection but no idea if it was the right train. And it was I discovered just too late - oh well next one in 25 minutes.

On the train as I make this, it's fairly quite and seems to be quick, train wait isn't too long.read more

Shrewsbury Railway Station is the busiest station in Shropshire, serving Shrewsbury town centre,…read moreit's a short walk up the hill to the main shops in the town. The station is classed as a C1 station and is managed by Transport For Wales, of which I travelled with on my journey to and from Manchester. While it is also served by Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Railway, it is mainly served by TFW. The majority of services pass through Birmingham New Street which is just over 40 miles from the station OR goes into Wales which is also a short distance from here. Only two trains a day into London, so if you're heading into the capital you might want to go into Crewe or Wolverhampton. Crewe is a pretty decent stop to head too if you are travelling further as this can be the stop along the way if heading to many cities including London, Liverpool or even Edinburgh. The station doesn't have much in terms of facilities, it does have a Starbucks alongside Platform 4 which is shut due to COVID-19 (Most Starbucks' locations in train stations seem to be shut so this is nothing new based on Manchester/Stockport/Liverpool etc), it has a waiting area right next to the lift, where it's a little warmer than the platform. Most of the station staff seemed a little friendly, there was one exception who seemed disinterested when I was struggling to scan my ticket at the barrier, but the platform staff were great. The layout can be a little confusing at first, I did struggle to find the Information Desk and this is one of the few stations to use letters in platforms (such as 4A/4B) FUN FACT: Despite having 5 platforms, it doesn't have a platform 1 or 2, the platform numbering goes between 3 and 7 - would love to find out why! Decent old station providing a useful purpose, satisfactory facilities, certainly not a bad station considering the population of Shrewsbury is just over 70,000. 3*

Twee enough building, but I really wasn't impressed with the staff. Yes, we'd all had a few, but we…read morewere 15 minutes early, and in no way unruly. There was a lot of I am big man from the station guards, and one made a comment on what I was wearing, and "Are you you sure you don't mean "blah" station love because you're friend is getting off at a diffferent one". There were a lot of cancelled trains, so they possibly had a lot of rubbish from annoyed people, but you'd hope it wasn't carried across!

Centrally located train station in the heart of Walsall underneath the Saddlers Centre. Trains go…read moredirect to Birmingham New Street (4 per hour) and Wolverhampton (2 per hour). Station facilities are very basic but the nearby shops in the Saddlers Centre provide ample provisions ... until that is they close. After 6pm, there isn't a whole lot of facilities but I have a soft spot for Walsall (being my home town) despite this problem.

This station is so small. Only 3 platforms. To be perfectly honest it is probably the best place in…read moreWalsall-the way out. Clean enough, not too busy and attached to the shopping centre. Didn't have much time waiting around or shopping as was obviously in a rush to get back to Birmingham City center!

This is an ideal station for people needing to park to get the train to Birmingham City. The…read morestation boasts two large car parks and offers wheelchair access throughout. This train line is one of the busiest in the West Midlands. It stretches as far as Lichfield (Staffordshire) and goes through to Longbridge and Redditch calling at several main town stations such as Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Aston and of course Birmingham New Street. So if you are a shopper this is the station to get your train from. The office here is manned part-time and mainly covers the peak time slots. The staff are friendly and willing to help and they keep the car parks and surrounding areas clean and tidy. There are shelters on the platforms so if the heavens open up you can keep dry until your train arrives. This station is located on the outskirts of Four Oaks and has a large pub/restaurant next to it called the Blake Barn Inn. There is a small convenience store just a few minutes up from the station and a few minutes after that you are lead out onto the main Lichfield Road.

It's one of the quietest and relatively attractively-set stations on the Cross-City Line which…read morelinks Lichfield to Birmingham. A huge ticket office and car park boost the site and while there is a dingy underpass letting you switch platforms, it really is quite safe. Typical of the stations across the Sutton stretch of the line, the staff are particularly friendly. Despite the car park, it's not overly blessed as a viable park and ride option and over the years, residents have been increasingly complaining about commuters' ditched cars clogging up roads outside their homes. Do them a favour and drive to Four Oaks station (two stops along). That said, the location makes the activity tempting as it's just a short trip into Sutton Coldfield from here and, as the last stop within the northern end of the Birmingham boundary, also a short ride into Lichfield. If you've been using the station simply as a point to begin a rail journey, don't dismiss the idea of having a look around the estate on which it's based - the Blake Barn pub is nearby and scores not too badly with its outdoor seating and great meal deals.

The Northern end of the Severn Valley Railway nestles below castle hill with its tilting Castle…read moretower keep which leans further than the Tower of Pisa all as a consequence of Cromwell forces not using sufficient gunpowder trying to blow it up . The station itself is a bustling terminus of the steam railway taking you back to the heyday of steam trains . It hosts a great pub serving lovely real ales a great place to relax on a cold winters day with its open fires . There's the engine maintenance sheds to see too on special events .

The best thing that can be said about Uttoxeter Railway Station is that it's useful. The most…read moresignificant thing that can be said is that it's next to the main Uttoxeter Racecourse. And that's all the attributes that it can really boast in the 21st century. It's unstaffed, there's no ticket sales point, no refreshment point, no toilet facilities, no waiting rooms and no lots of other things. It's a two-track station, with each side of the platform having a covered shelter. The seats inside are that awful slanted bench style (to discourage Special-Brew swilling itinerants and teenagers?) and they aren't always any too clean (proof of the failure of their purpose?). On the small walkway up there is a public payphone. Hooray. But don't expect to be able to catch a taxi into town .. The Uttoxeter Taxi service is legendary - in that many people have heard of it, most people believe it probably exists, but no-one you ever speak to has seen it for real. I kid you not. If you do manage to get hold of a taxi number then be sure to book well in advance - at least a day or two, if you have a shed-load of luggage to porter. There are town buses that stop here, although in all my years of travelling to Uttoxeter I've never actually seen one. Another myth I hope to disprove one day. The other down-side is that whilst Platform One can be walked straight onto from the car park, you have to cross the track on foot (no bridge or tunnel) to reach Platform Two. I've done this with luggage and a small toddler in a buggy in the past, and it's actually quite scary, worrying if a wheel is going to get stuck. It wasn't always like this - the town has been rail-linked since 1848, and at one stage in it's 19thC history had three railway stations to boast of. But progress dictates change and at the end of the 19thC these were amalgamated into the one station that still stands today. A fire destroyed the station building back in the late 1980's and was never rebuilt to it's full glory. Now, however it simply serves the Crewe/Derby line, with it's gateway to larger stations are Stoke and Stafford. The trains are faily regular - hourly - and if they run on time (reasonably so) then at least the station is soon a thing of memory!

This station really is a waste and could be used for better routes to Birmingham and further afield…read morebut it only goes to either Crewe or Derby. The station is very simple and small, the timetables are clear and readily available to view. It does get a bit busy at peak times but the queues are not normally too bad. The biggest problem is the lack of parking here.

The UK's Southeastern Railway operates one of the busiest networks in the country, running the…read moretrain service between London and Kent and parts of East Sussex.. Gayle and I recently were on their system for a round trip (St. Pancras to Faversham and Canterbury West back to Charring Cross). We sat regular class on slower "local" trains both ways, which were basically commuter runs. The price was right, we had lots of room to spread out as there were few fellow passengers, the ride was comfortable, and the scenery out the window was interesting enough. I'm not sure I'd want to commute like this every day, but that's the bargain that a lot of folks make to live in a nice area that's not the big city.

Southeastern Railway is currently owned by London & South Eastern Railway Limited, it operates…read moreroutes on the Integrated Kent franchise by Govia, who in turn is owned by two rather big players in the UK transportation game including Go-Ahead (largest bus operator in London, Manchester and offering services in other cities) and Keolis (A truly worldwide company who operate buses in Sweden, trains in Boston, the Metro in Shanghai as well as services closer to home such as Manchester's Metrolink, the DLR in London and TFW Rail services.) While the interior of my train wasn't overly impressive or modern, it was comfortable for a short journey of 10 minutes between Charring Cros and London Bridge which also goes via Waterloo East, this is a zone where you can use your Oyster meaning it can work out pretty cheap to travel in comparison to a normal ticket. This journey only came to £2.40, with a daily cap of £7.20 for all zone 1 and 2 services in the cap which includes national rail, tube, DLR and buses. Trains seemed to operate efficiently and quickly with services every two minutes between these destinations and the train staff seemed friendly enough at both stations, although I didn't see a train staff member on board which could be down to it being a short journey. The website is easy to use and explains the ticketing system including Oyster well. Southeastern has 73 stations in the Oyster PAYG area (the price varies between zones obviously between 1 and 9), which is one of the highest of any railway operating company and I presume is second after TFL Rail. I would recommend going along their central London route between London Bridge and Charing Cross via Waterloo East just for the view, with trains every 2-3 minutes during the day (which didn't get busy outside of rush hour) and a journey lasting just under 8 minutes, it is worth it for some great views on the bridge crossing including Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye. 3*

Tame Bridge Parkway is a useful little station on the main Walsall to Birmingham line. It lies on…read morea convenient commuter route half way between West Bromwich and Walsall and well connected by the legendary 404 bus route. Parking is free. Places can be at a premium after about 8.15am in the morning and overspill often takes in the road to the car park itself. There is an automatic machine to buy tickets and a ticket office to duck out of the rain from or if you just want to grab today's copy of the Metro. There are no toilet facilities or snack machines though. Due to the location of Tame Bridge Parkway, if trains are cancelled, you would be forced to take the 404 to West Bromwich and get the metro or the 74/75 (the former taking 15 mins, the latter taking as long as it needs to to clear Handsworth).

A convenient train station with trains pulling into Birmingham New Street 20 minutes later…read more There is a free car park which gets full during the week days with commuters, but I have been known to arrive here at 11am or later and there has been the odd space despite the cars parking on the road. There is one self serve ticket machine outside, and a ticket counter inside the waiting area which is always manned. There is no toilet here which would be a nice addition as would a little coffee hatch. All in all a good station that is always kept clean and tidy.

Chasewater Country Park and Railway is a lovely place. We ended up there by accident! It's…read morecompletely free to get in, no parking charge. There is plenty to do but many of the activities are charged for. The cost of most activities is £1.50 each which I think is reasonable when you haven't had to pay to get in! There is a children's play area which is free of charge as well as beautiful walks around the large lake which is like being at the seaside. Boats are available to hire on both the small and large lakes. The small lake having kayaks suitable for most ages and the large lake offering sailing boats and motor boat rides as well as lessons. There are loads of ducks and swans on the lakes and they don't mind people. A cygnet came right up and let me take a picture of it! We walked along to the railway. We didn't go on the train but we defintely plan on going back to do so. The prices for the trains are really good (£8.45 for a family of 2 adults and up to 4 children for an all day ticket). There are a couple of nice cafes. We had a drink in Alfie's by the train station which is a bar and cafe. I was amazed (in a good way) that 2 large glasses of coke was just £2. The food prices were reasonable although we had taken a picnic so we didn't try the food! I could go on about this place forever. It's brilliant and if you don't want to do any of the activities, you won't have to spend anything if you don't want to! The only bad thing I found was that the toilets in the main bit weren't very nice and the only toilets with soap in were at the train station. There are plenty of toilets though so you don't have to come all the way back to the start just to go to the loo which is good!

this makes a lovely trip out for all, the heritage railway is very well run & maintained completely…read moreby volunteers usually on saturday and sundays and some weekday specials during school holidays and over xmas etc. there is the chasewater visitor centre, an independantly run water sports centre - currently out of operation i think due to the fact they have drained the lake temporarily - an outdoor park, mini golf, wooden climbing equipment, a small stone built castle overlooking the lake, a stone beach, a wooden bridge and a path to alk around the whole place which is approxiamatley 4 miles ideal for walking or cycling, chasewater is also notorious for bird watchers. ideal for a short trip out or to make more of a day of it.