The East Midlands Railway direct service from Sheffield to Widnes by Manchester is a route I enjoy and take at least six times a year. But last week, the money-saving expert Martin Lewis wrote a scathing critique of an EMR-operated trip from London to Sheffield, writing it was packed with 500 people served by one toilet. I filmed my experience on one of the busiest trains out of Sheffield with a more critical eye on what the service provides.
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00:00 The direct East Midlands Railway train from Sheffield to Winders passing through Manchester
00:08 is a train I take about six times a year, and to me is something of a miracle because
00:12 it will take you to just south of Liverpool in an hour and a half by cutting straight
00:15 through the peaks. I'm filming my journey this time in response to money-saving expert
00:19 Martin Lewis, who last week posted about an East Midlands Railway trip from London to
00:23 Sheffield he took, which he claimed was packed to standing room only with 500 people served
00:28 by one toilet. The rail provider blamed network upgrades. My train wasn't packed this time,
00:35 but it was full. It's not as bad as trips to and from London, which I've also taken,
00:40 but it was nevertheless the direct train to Manchester at 16.48 on a Friday. As these
00:45 things go, there were free seats, but only if you were happy to sit next to strangers.
00:50 The funny thing is I don't have a problem with sitting next to strangers. If there's
00:55 an open seat, I'll just take it. But I do need to film this video, so I have to sit
01:02 by a window, and these jump seats are the only ones I'm going to get. So maybe when
01:08 I stop filming, I'll make a move. In the past, I've basically forgiven all shortcomings
01:14 for this particular trip because of the view. Despite how blaringly loud the train is, how
01:20 cramped it might be, how a 90-minute train somehow costs £20 in the UK even with a rail
01:24 card, for a blessed half an hour, the direct line has some postcard views of the Peak District
01:31 and of Hope Valley and Mount Tor. For this reason alone, even if I had to take the rail
01:35 replacement bus, it isn't that bad because the views are so good. Hell, in some ways,
01:40 I'd probably recommend it occasionally for a change of pace. But a train in England is
01:45 still a train in England. There was a mother sat on the floor with her child because she
01:51 could not get two seats that were together. There was a bike blocking three disabled access
01:55 seats. It was loud enough to wear you out. It was rocking like a ship at sea. Toilets
02:00 that vary in quality. And let's not shy away, exceedingly, nonsensically expensive. I've
02:07 said I regularly enjoy this East Midland Railway journey, but I don't excuse its shortcomings
02:13 because I don't excuse the shortcomings of privatised rail in England. It is blindingly
02:17 expensive for a service that is only ever passable and at worst a complete hindrance
02:22 to what you're trying to achieve that weekend or on that day. And I struggle to understand
02:27 why it costs what it does to travel. Something I've not mentioned so far is that you would
02:36 know this, but I, as the, turned 30 in October 2023, which means I also have approximately
02:46 one month left on my 25 through 30 rail card. This exact trip I'm taking right now with
02:53 an open return to Wythnes from Sheffield will, in a month or two, start costing me £30.90
02:59 at a time. Taking a trip to see my brother in London will cost around £90 on average
03:07 for the trip down there and return. And I'm faced with either having to take these journeys
03:12 on coaches and planning my days with about five hours of leeway in there, going to Wythnes
03:18 is going to be three hours, going to London is going to be around three hours, or I buy
03:24 a car, which is maybe just something I don't want to do or can afford some days. So for
03:32 all these troubles I'm having right now, I like to have an optimistic view on trains
03:37 in general and I enjoy taking them. That period of my life is about to come to an end for
03:42 the next five years when I sharply can no longer afford them quite as much as I used
03:46 to because the price of them is going to go up by around a third on average. My freedoms
03:53 are going to be limited as a result. So for all these problems I've mentioned of overcrowding,
04:00 not enough carts, noise and general price, I'm going to have to start paying more for
04:09 it as well. The views of the peaks don't last of course. I never got to find a seat next
04:17 to a stranger as I say because the train only got busier and busier towards Manchester where
04:22 you can only hope enough people will get off to ease the pressure. But as it was, it was
04:26 also standing remotely in the booster seat area of the carriage where I was sat. I arrived
04:33 at Wythnes three minutes overdue and I can only sign off by saying the train back on
04:38 Sunday was even busier.
04:40 [Train noises]