Guildhall closure?

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
You must lead a very busy life if three trains an hour to or from Wolverhampton and Birmingham, two an hour for Liverpool and hourly for Manchester isn't a frequent enough timetable for you, and if you can't relax with a pint or two if you've a while to wait for a train.
Or, maybe just mad - and spouting nonsense since the day you learned to talk !.
I am busy. I'd rather use my own transport so I can go when I like, come home when I like and not be beholden to a timetable not of my own making. Plus I don't have to deal with idiots on public transport and I don't need to drink alcohol every time I go out.
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
Strangely relevant, the carer has decided to take the train to his meeting in Manchester this week, purely for financial reasons as the company will pay for a train ticket there and back, but will only pay a percentage of his fuel costs and none of the parking charges he would have to pay.

The train drops him within a 5 min walk of the meeting, and muggins has arranged her shifts in order to drop & collect him....
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
Driving to any big city when there are good and direct train links served from Stafford multiple times per hour is quite frankly madness. Train to Wolverhampton is les than 15 minutes duration and there are trains approx every 15/20 mins during the day. Even accounting for the few minutes you might have to wait for the train it's quicker than driving. I'm genuinely stuck for any reason why a healthy adult not buying something big would drive given the cost of petrol, parking, time, congestion and overall negative impact on the environment. SMH
You can't get a train from door to door.

To get to Birmingham, I would have to try and get one of the infrequent buses into town, or walk, or get a taxi. Then wait for the train to travel. Then the reverse on the way back. I'd rather get in my car, drive to where I need to go. I find it easier and far more convenient.

Trains are great for some things, but not for me the majority of the time.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
Trains are fine IF the seat reservation system is working
Not for social distancing they're not. As @proactive says they can be full of strangers that can't be arsed to wear a mask and aren't bothered if they infect somebody else.

The reservation system makes it worse because it places the idiots in the next seat to you.

I'm catching trains a lot earlier when going to the match and a lot later coming back in an attempt to minimise the risk of catching an overcrowded train.
 

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
You can't get a train from door to door.

To get to Birmingham, I would have to try and get one of the infrequent buses into town, or walk, or get a taxi. Then wait for the train to travel. Then the reverse on the way back. I'd rather get in my car, drive to where I need to go. I find it easier and far more convenient.

Trains are great for some things, but not for me the majority of the time.
Your shopping excursions to Birmingham might not be regular enough to make it worth your while moving to Castletown, just a cockstride from our railway station.
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
But you're nice and convenient for the Railway inn where, all being well, I shall have a pint or two tomorrow.
Now can we please get back to discussing the Guildhall closure ?
You have your own pub thread, nice and convenient for all talk about public houses.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
But you're nice and convenient for the Railway inn where, all being well, I shall have a pint or two tomorrow.
Now can we please get back to discussing the Guildhall closure ?
Travelling to other towns to shop is perfectly relevant to the Guildhall closure.
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
I prefer to drive, cos if I'm getting something heavy, I'd rather shove it in the car, than struggle carry it from the train station.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
You have your own pub thread, nice and convenient for all talk about public houses.
But do I catch a train or drive to get back to the pub thread? And if I drive which pubs do I go past?

Now there's a couple of questions for you 😁😁😁
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I've been trying to think when I last went to neighbouring towns and cities to shop.

Wolverhampton - only once this century (in fact, that is the only trip this side of 1985) and that was for a log splitter, which would have been entertaining to try to get home via a train.

Stoke - I used to call into Machine Mart as a treat, when I was going to the Blood Donor place, not an easy trip for public transport - other than that, I think I last went to Hanley around 1995.

I don't think I've ever gone anywhere else with 'shopping' as the target activity.

I'm not a 'proper shopper', of course, but it always seemed to me that most places had essentially the same variety, apart from the odd specialist thing.

An advantage of having a car is that any purchased goods can be (fairly safely) stashed in it, rather than carted about for the rest of the time there.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
I've been trying to think when I last went to neighbouring towns and cities to shop.

Wolverhampton - only once this century (in fact, that is the only trip this side of 1985) and that was for a log splitter, which would have been entertaining to try to get home via a train.

Stoke - I used to call into Machine Mart as a treat, when I was going to the Blood Donor place, not an easy trip for public transport - other than that, I think I last went to Hanley around 1995.

I don't think I've ever gone anywhere else with 'shopping' as the target activity.

I'm not a 'proper shopper', of course, but it always seemed to me that most places had essentially the same variety, apart from the odd specialist thing.

An advantage of having a car is that any purchased goods can be (fairly safely) stashed in it, rather than carted about for the rest of the time there.
My Grandad had the same problem remembering the cities he'd visited.

He said he only went to Berlin once but that was a fleeting visit in the back of a Lanc. 😁😁😁
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
As someone who commutes to Nottingham twice a week I'm quite hair of all you fair weather train goers take your cars and give me space on my lovely trains
I used to go to Lincoln by train in the 70s and early 80s - I found it to be a good bit quicker, and a lot cheaper, to cycle to Uttoxeter and catch the train there.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
I used to go to Lincoln by train in the 70s and early 80s - I found it to be a good bit quicker, and a lot cheaper, to cycle to Uttoxeter and catch the train there.
I can't imagine going to Lincoln by train, car or any other means of transport.
 
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