Train / Bus Stations, London

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During WWII - 10,000 mostly Jewish children were sent out of Austria, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia by their parents to escape the Nazis and almost certain death. These children came by boat from Holland to London and arrived in Liverpool Street Station to be sent around the country - some to hostels but mostly to foster families.

This monument of a rather forlorn little girl is found just outside the main entrance to Liverpool Street Station. The glass case she is standing next to, usually houses other artefacts and memorabilia from that time but currently it's empty due to renovation.

The Excess Baggage Co.

If you have checked out of your hotel/hostel but need to leave your rucksack, suitcase or holdall for an afternoon or a day or so while you sight-see then most major London railway stations have an Excess Baggage office somewhere on the station concourse. Rates for this service are currently £5.50 per item (at the time of writing) for 0-24hours (or part thereof) Monday-Sunday 7am-11pm. This goes up to £6 for each additional 24 hours. For obvious security purposes, bags are x-rayed on arrival and monitored constantly by CCTV. The Excess Baggage Co is open 364 days a year – closed Christmas Day.

Just look up for blue and yellow sign.

The train to Cambridge takes just over an hour on the WAGN trains. There was no trolley service on this train. Deep disappointment. Remember to buy something at the station to take with you.

This is the station where you will find Harry Potters Platform 9 & 3/4. Thousands of Japanese tourists have also found this platform. Fight for a space to take a pic! :))

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The centre of London is encircled by number of mainline stations, each of which serves a large number of towns and cities all in the same general direction – e.g. Paddington for the south west of England and south Wales, Kings Cross for the north east of England and eastern Scotland etc. All of these mainline stations are in turn well served by tube lines, usually bearing the same name (but if you’re going to St Pancras mainline station, for instance, you’ll need Kings Cross tube station).

Train services are provided by a number of operators, who have contracts to provide services on certain lines. Prices are high by European standards, though there are bargains to be had. The general rule is that the earlier in advance that you can book your ticket, and the more flexible you can be, the lower the price. Try The Trainline for online booking – I find it easiest to identify the best value here and you can have your ticket sent to you in advance or collect it from the station on the day of travel.

If you‘re staying in Britain for any length of time there may be useful discount cards and passes, depending on your circumstances. For information on these check out National Rail Enquiries.

Our train journey ended at Waterloo Station, on the south bank of the Thames River. This is the largest railway/subway terminus in London and is quite an experience in itself. Originally constructed in 1848 as a railway station, the first subway line was added in 1898 to further improve city transit service. However, due to the deteriorating state of the terminal, the original buildings were torn down and reconstructed between 1900-22. The photo shows part of this 'new' 800-foot long concourse with it's buildings housing many shops and facilities, with the millions of yearly passengers protected from the elements by the overhead roof as they make their required transfers here. Everything is well sign-posted for passengers and it was fun to join the throngs and we headed off, first on our short walk to the London Eye and then back here again to catch a 'tube' beneath the Thames to the Westminster area on the other side.

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We stopped for a coffee on our arrival in Paddington Station. A very busy station indeed, but made much busier due to the imminent arrival of some VIP. We watched as the press & lots of people gathered round one of the tube entrances - Who did we see? No one special so it must have been that little Bear returning once again to his favourite station.
You can catch a tube from here to many London underground locations & of course your Heathrow Express return train.

Arriving in Waterloo Station you can take connections with the bus or by tube.

Connections by Bus: look at the official bus schedule.
Connections by Tube: look at the official tube schedule.
Connections for the Eurostar: look at the Eurostar page.



Inside the hall there is a huge screen on which you can see arrival and departure times of trains.

Tip: in some stations (train or tube) you need to use your ticket to show or insert in the automatic doors to get out again, so pay attention you don't loose it!

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The 20 tonne, 9 meter high statue by Paul Day is the brand new statue that is currently drawing a lot of attention from visitors to the newly re-opened St Pancras International Station. It is absolutely massive and really quite awe-inspiring! Anyone meeting a friend here couldn't fail to find The Meeting Place!

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Situated in the north west section of London, Paddington station has regular trains to destinations in the south west which include Bath, Bristol, Windsor, Warwick to name a few. The Heathrow Express departs every 15 minutes in both directions and takes approximately 15 minutes to Terminals 1, 2, 3.

It is this reason alone why I decide to find a hotel and base myself in this area. My plan was to visit Warwick and Oxford on day trips.

The Paddington Tube is located here as well. There are plenty of shops and kiosks selling your usual goods like coffee, water, drinks and quick bites to eat like baguettes and pizzas.

There is also a left luggage area if you need to leave your bags behind.

Victoria Coach station is not as bad as it used to be...but if there are a few delays about, then it can become a very crowded and deeply downright unpleasant place to be.

On the other hand if you want cheap travel to other parts of the country then you may well have to use it. Even this "Thrill" may be passed up soon by the new operators such as "Easybus" who intend to pick up from lay-bys to cut costs.

You may enjoy this poem that I found on a e-publishing site (Mudlark) which seems to sum the place up :

In Victoria Coach Station

Exhaust fumes, urine, immemorial cigarettes –
A reek even freezing cold cannot dispel;
Passengers in groups, in queues, in seats
As the Rapide from unsunny Carlisle
Flexes brakes, with faces in a sullen row
The coach for Coventry prepares to go...

By the railings a mouth works up-and-down
At the universe and no one, the man
Attached identikit twentyish, lean.
The radiation he emits is all his own.
Studs like Braille, his jacket reads ‘Exterminator’ –
Fashion advertising a wide berth.

Daubed beneath, as if for bad measure,
Is ‘Chaos Day, March 4, 1996,’
The tatty dictat, ‘Let’s start a war’.
Self-picked anti-hero in a B-movie
He cannot, thank Heaven, control, lack of script
Recasts him as sidewalk nihilist,

Bystander furioso whose mutters
Complement the chains about his wrist
And waist, spiky violet-tinged clusters
That are his hair. Minutes bristle. In a twist
He has not envisaged, a squad-car
Pulls up. “May we look inside your bag, sir?”

Misted breath. “None of your ***ing business...”
This the expected give-away. Snap search.
Routine interrogation. One man’s mess
Others’ law, he’s led away. Also a bystander,
Though seated, here from the 5:10 for Digbeth
I shuffle sight with words, a verbose voyeur:

Have mercy upon policemen, punks and poets,
O Lord. Defend each of us from over-
righteousness; though this bus is no Chariot
Of fire and our Arrows of desire are
Blunted, somewhere amidst the fume-bleared concrete
A dream of Jerusalem, that Countenance, those feet