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Travel To Stratford
1. By Air
a) Birmingham International Airport (BHX)
This is 26miles North of Stratford. As far as I am aware there is no direct bus service. If suggested avoid going into the centre of Birmingham. There are many buses to Leamington Spa. These will get busy at peak times. Then join a frequent service from there. Best journey time is normally 1½ hours but choose the route carefully because companies do not warn that journey times can go a very long way out of your way taking as long as 4 hours with a huge price hike !
Bus Times
Bus access anywhere in the UK may be investigated by the following commercial websites:
Warning
In all UK city centres buses are frequent, convenient and safe. Vulnerable people should be vigilant for all the obvious reasons. However between cities bus services vary hugely both in frequency and rather annoyingly the very ‘round the houses’ route that operators choose so as to pick up the maximum custom on the way. For long distances booking is essential. And here’s another however: I’ve found booking really hard work so be exceedingly careful with the online websites both in terms of route, waiting time and cost.
b) London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
This is 88miles South of Stratford. As far as I am aware there is no direct bus service. There are two methods. 1) As visitors often want to see London then in order of decreasing cost/speed there are: express trains, express coaches, tube trains and buses. Onward to Stratford from London’s Marylebone Station or Victoria Coach Station. 2) Take two express coaches and change (involving a few minutes walk) in Coventry. Please take care - see warning below.
2. By Coach Or Bus
4. By Train
a) Scheduled Services
Stratford was the crossroads of many railway companies and so had several railway stations. All but Stratford-Upon-Avon (GWR) were closed. This is just a few minutes walk from the town centre so don’t bother with a taxi unless you have a lot of luggage. (Under the Make Britain Green strategy a new station for commuters was opened in 2013. Stratford Parkway Station, near the A46, is three miles outside of the town). Train services to Stratford are frequent, reliable, clean, safe and usually have free power and Wifi. They are award winning for being the most punctual in the country. Two companies operate:
National rail ticket booking companies are:
Personally I use TrainLine for the wonderful advantage of being able to book any national rail journey on an app on my phone AND the eTicket becomes a Barcode recognised by barriers so you don’t need to collect tickets from anywhere.
Chiltern and WMR are moderate competitors. Both offer special fares, breaks and two-for-one packages from time to time. By careful selection of travel times significant savings (upto 90% off) can be made. Ticket offices are only open during office hours. Because of tourism and the very large technical college opposite the railway station trains are exceedingly popular at peak times. Therefore it is wise to book ahead. The websites are very logical to use. The usual caveat applies: be careful with what dates and times you select. Fares are always one way (external sites charge a small booking fee) but tick the Return checkbox and you will be offered a sensible return. You may then book both tickets together but only pay a single book fee ! If you choose not to use an e-ticket on your phone you must nominate a station (that need not be manned) to collect your tickets from the machine. All of these are monitored electronically and are repaired quickly if become faulty - I assume that the website will warn you if one is faulty but I’ve never experienced a problem.
a) Vintage Steam Services
Because Stratford is so attractive many companies arrange special excursions here. When there was a fashion about a quarter of all mystery tours came here. There used to be an active steam preservation society but I assume that health & safety and insurance have ended that. Companies operating steam services here are:
b) Steam Tour Information
For a synopsis of expected steam tours in the UK go to:
5. Special Vintage Steam Trains To Stratford
d) Previous Steam Tours
For your delictation....
Places-To-Go: Stratford-Upon-Avon
f) History Of Stratford Railway Companies
There have been several. Due to the commercial exploitation of the river, then the tramway, then the canal and eventually the railways Stratford has a huge industrial history and because of the success of one man it was arguably one of the motivating factors in the start up of the very first commercial railways in the world (see William James in Stratford Tramway Photo Vault). Industrial archaeology is best accessed from the brown links on the webpage: Stratford-Upon-Avon. However for the railway related material here’s a quick link to: Stratford Railways Photo Vault.
c) Steam Tours To Stratford
From the information b) above one can see the following will be arriving at Stratford. If you intend to travel booking is essential.
2019
Mar 23 Sat
Arr - Dep (approx)
12:56 - 16:35
Locomotive
Tornado 60163
(below right)
Tour - From
Bard Of Avon - Manchester via Shrewsbury
Booking Details (these pages may expire)
b) Find Any Train Any Time - UK
Remarkably clever websites for locating, and therefore predicting, the routes and times of any train currently running in the UK. You will be amazed how all is laid bare:
Tornado 60163 arrives Stratford-upon-Avon March 2019
Just enter a location, date and approximate time to find live information all about your train.
Not as user friendly but click on the four letter train code to get scheduled and actual times at every junction on the way -surprising ! Even some maps are live !
The most technically advanced piece if webwizardry on the internet: Google maps or network maps with trains superimposed -click on the little train to see it’s station calls. Makes UK look like a Hornby train layout. Includes departures, stats, personalised key perf metrics and more -unbelievably clever !
National Rail and TrainLine also show times of expected live departures from any one station without any detail.
April 13 Sat
Jul 21, Aug 4, 18 Sun
Sept 1, 15 Sun
Aug 21 Wed
12:50 - 16:10
10:00 - 11:00 & Rtn
13:56 - 15:00 & Rtn
12:50 - 16:10
70000, 46100, 34046
5043
70000, 46100, 34046
William Shakespeare - Preston via Crewe
Shakespeare Express - B’ham Snow Hill
William Shakespeare - Preston via Crewe
(There are others now -needs update)
Using the Evil Polluter
From M40 at Junction 15 follow A46 West to Stratford Centre (SatNav Postcode CV37 6AP)
3. By Car
Quick Timetables Train timetable are confusing so I here is a summary page of just what you need to know: Chiltern Railways Quick Timetable
g) Stratford’s North Warwick Line To Birmingham - Sneaky Attempted Closure By British Rail In 1960‘s
I have always been amazed by the massive under-estimates that transport companies make. Of course it is well known how, back in the 1960’s, Dr Beeching was responsible for the closure of one third of Britain’s rail network. Stratford was not on the list but British Rail marked it for closure and announced as such. This underhand way in which it was handled by the national carrier British Rail beggars belief. My Dad thought that the local bus companies had enticed various in BR to do this. In the early days of the internet I remember reading that after the Tower Of London Stratford was the second most visited place in England with Edinburgh third. So if roughly one million people came here, most tourists coming by public transport, how did they do it ? Not easily I can now see. Stratford’s bus station, where the Red Lion Pub is now, closed decades ago. That therefore left rail. Yet BR had the closure of the Birmingham link all wrapped up and ready to go. It used to carry one million passengers per year - mostly commuters. It now carries three million.
With just an hour to go one man saved the line. David v Goliath. See here how he did it: Stratford Herald: How One Man’s Bold Act Saved Our Railway Line.
e) Many Preserved Steam Railways Nearby
Presented by the Birmingham Mail newspaper here are: 12 Delightful Steam Full Size & Miniature Railways Near Birmingham