Flipping traffic - just moan really!

The loo situation must be desperate if not!

I wonder whether kittys made it home yet?

Wasn't it "Constantinople is a very long word. Can you spell it backwards?" So you were wrong, tegan.

Sorry; there seem to have been a lot of programmes on the telly about Constantinople recently[ which I've realised I can't actually spell , and every time they mention it I think back to that old schooldays joke...

Oh - funny !!!

No you spell it eye tee

You don't spell it with a 'k' do you?

We have just arrived home from a short break in Suffolk. We live in Berkshire. The sat nav offered an alternative route to save us from "heavy traffic". Took us right through the centre of London! Traffick doesn't get heavier! Was very interesting though.

Blimey; usually takes us 3 1/2 hours [although not sure how bad the traffic works round Newcastle are at the moment].

Spot on rosesarered.We have just tried to buy tickets for Oban with a stopover at Carlisle. Absolute nightmare !We were told to come back when Peter was on duty because he understood these things better !

Train fares have become so complicated.The days when you just breezed into a station, waited your turn, and stated destination/bought a ticket are long gone: what you have is a huge difference in fares to the same destination, but according to whether or not you have booked ahead and paid with a credit card, are going at peak/off peak times, a quiet day/busy day, or if the month has an R in it, single, return etc, you don't know if you are coming or going and need a lie down. When you actually board the train, chances are that there will be no seats anyway.

Beginning to wonder, but how stupid is it to have a £10 difference in price for the same ticket and the same train? Admittedly I "wasted" £3 on the advance outward leg as I went up with DD and the children who had been down to see us for the day, but from now on I will definitely never accept the first price quoted for any ticket.

alea the answer to your why is, it's because the rail fare pricing system is an unholy cock-up and no one understands it, including the people who make it up set the prices.

Alea, were you the victim of a real-life A-level maths question?

This might be one reason people choose to go by car and not by train. Can anybody tell me why.....
I was quoted £19.85 for an (off peak) single using my Senior Railcard from Birmingham back to MK this week when by purchasing an unwanted Advance single to Birmingham for yesterday morning AS WELL for £3.00 , I could buy a ticket for the same off peak Birmingham - MK service for £9.85? In both cases my Birmingham -MK ticket was a standard Virgin Off peak at 15.10.
Do I need an Economics degree to work out the best price for a fare or do I think blow it, I'll go by car?

I always travel by train to visit my two sons' families. There are rarely any delays, but last time, something slowed us down between Coventry and Birmingham and I missed my connection at Macclesfield. Fingers crossed for better luck on Monday. Kitty, I hope you are closer to home by now. That sounds like a long slow crawl.

I use trains too - always on time! But too crowded.

Hope you get home soon, kittylester - it sounds awful. I know that Bamburgh is not on the railway, so you don't have the option, but I never understand people who say that they don't travel by train as the trains are always late. They aren't, but if there is a delay, it's someone else's problem to get it sorted out and there is usually a choice of functioning toilets.

Good luck!