On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 01:32:02 +0100 iMark
said...

My girlfriend and I travelled from Amsterdam to London and back on the
21st and 29th of December 2003. We bought our tickets through NS
Internationaal in Amsterdam. The tickets issued by NS don't have a
magnetic strip so we had to go through the manual check in at both
Brussel Zuid and London Waterloo. Neither in Brussels nor in London
passports were checked at the check-in.

ISTR reading in this newsgroup a while back that NS were introducing a
new booking system which incorporated magnetic strips. I'm surprised
other railways (e.g. DB) haven't introduced ATB technology. There are big
advantages, for example the system used in France will allow you to
insert your ticket into a machine to carry out last minute exchanges
(amongst other things) which save having to queue up.

We got a very good deal: EUR 125 return 1st class from any station in NL
to London. Both outward and inward the journeys went extremely smooth
and with the exception of the traditional waiting for a free platform at
Amsterdam Centraal on the return journey everything went according to
schedule.

Even the "inconvenience" of the check-in which some regulars in this
newsgroup make a big issue of?

The trainsets are beginning to look a bit dated. The designs are not
very good and my girlfriend was not happy at all with the reading light.
And the lights in the ceiling should be in the middle and not the on the
edges. A overhaul of the trains would be a good thing.

Agree and a refurbishment program to completely re-fit the carriage
interiors is scheduled. What worse than the decor is the incredible poor
condition/cleanliness of the carpets which are badly in need of
replacing.

A tip for people from the Eurozone travelling to the UK. Take out some
money from your savings account. London is incredibly expensive.

The exchange rate between the Pound & Sterling is a lot more favourable
for visitors to the UK now than say two years back. But I agree, London
(hotels and admission fees especially) is an expensive city compared to
others in the Eur ozone. Another expensive city is of course Dublin.

--
Phil Richards, London, UK
European Rail Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/europeanrail/