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When you travel by train to Blackpool, you’re retracing the path of history. A once sleepy seaside town on the north-west coast, Blackpool first became a spa resort for wealthy 18th-century travellers to take in some sea air. But when the railway arrived in the middle of the 19th-century, followed by affordable holidays for British workers in the twentieth, it made Blackpool the tourism destination it is today. In 1894, alongside the holidaymakers in deckchairs and hanky sun hats, the tower went up and became the tallest structure not just in Britain, but in the British Empire.

Two years later the Pleasure Beach was opened, and it has been a major attraction ever since. The town has completely transformed over the years, but the spirit of Blackpool remains constant – it’s a town of laughter, exhilaration and somewhere you can let your hair down. And don’t forget the whole reason it became a resort – the beach. The seven miles of golden sand often get overlooked, so if you like the sand between your toes alongside thrill rides and entertainment, you can’t go wrong with a town that combines fresh air and fun

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If you’re not familiar with Blackpool or its station, you’ll find everything you need right here, There’s information from accessibility to parking and ticketing to WiFi coverage. More details on our wider network can be found on this page.

No trip to Blackpool is complete without going up the Tower. The views of the town, Pleasure Beach and the coast are impressive enough, but on a sunny day you’ll also be able to see North Wales, the Isle of Man, the Lake District, Liverpool and possibly more. The Tower is part of an entertainment complex that includes the Ballroom, where they stage Strictly. Before you get a tower ticket, check out the deals you can get for multiple attractions.

There have been rides and other funfair attractions at Blackpool Pleasure Beach since 1896, and it has continued to be on every thrill ride lover’s favourites list ever since. Its most famous rides throughout the years have included The Grand National, the original wooden big dipper, Revolution, Valhalla, and the most famous, The Big One, which was the tallest and steepest coaster in the world when it opened in 1994 (it’s still the tallest in the UK at 65m). If this all sounds like heaven to you, it’s a must.

Blackpool is also a place to be entertained by some of the best acts in the world. We can’t possibly list all the shows here, but if it’s glitz you’re after there are several venues where comedy shows and musicals are packed to the rafters night after night, so check out the listings at the Grand Theatre, Empress Ballroom, Winter Gardens and Opera House for details.

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How far in advance can I book train tickets?

Tickets usually become available to book online and on the app 12 weeks in advance. You can sign up for Advance Ticket Alerts to be notified when tickets for your routes become available. Remember that the earlier you book, the more you save - and with an Advance ticket , you’ll always have a seat booking for stress-free travel, whatever your destination.

What do you get in First Class?

When you travel First Class with Avanti, all you need to do is sit back and relax - and let us take care of the rest. You’ll enjoy roomier seats with a guaranteed table, so you can catch up on emails, watch an episode of your favourite show, or get stuck into a good book. We also offer complimentary food and drink on board in First Class, served to you at your table by a dedicated host (subject to availability), with a carefully chosen menu featuring suppliers local to our routes. And if you’re departing from or arriving at one of our stations with a First Class Lounge, you can take advantage of it to enjoy snacks, refreshments, comfortable seating and free, fast Wi-Fi.

How can I get to and from Blackpool North train station?

There is no taxi rank available at this station.

Can I get to Blackpool by train?

Yes, it’s easy to get to Blackpool by train. Avanti West Coast runs regular trains to Blackpool North, so you can travel in comfort from wherever you are in the country. Check our train times page for up-to-date information on routes, journey times, and train timetables.

Can you park overnight at Blackpool North train station?

The car park at Blackpool North station is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, meaning you can leave your car overnight, or for the duration of your trip.

You can take the bus to Blackpool North train station - buses 42, 61, 68 and 9. There is also ample car parking at the station, for those who prefer to travel by car, as well as bike parking - although there is no sheltered cycle storage.

How can I get a cheap train ticket to Blackpool?

The best way to get cheap tickets to Blackpool is to book in advance. You can do that online or on the Avanti West Coast app - and remember that when you book directly with us, you don’t pay any booking fees. It’s also easy to upgrade or change your ticket when you book with us, giving you more flexibility. There are also lots of other ways to save with Avanti. If you’re travelling with friends, family, colleagues or with a school group, consider booking a group ticket to benefit from cheaper tickets, or if you fall into one of our eligible groups, you could save up to a third on the cost of train tickets with a railcard.

When is the best time to visit Blackpool?

If you want to make the most of the beach and visit the amusement parks, then the summer months are the best time to visit Blackpool - although the shoulder seasons, in spring and autumn, will have fewer crowds. Winter is also a good option if you want to see the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations, which are lit up from September to January. Blackpool Dance Festival, a celebration of ballroom dancing, takes place every year in May, while Blackpool Pride is one of the biggest Gay Pride events in the country, with events in both summer and winter.

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Before you set off on your trip to blackpool, make sure you plan ahead. .

Car Parking

When you arrive in Blackpool, there are plenty of car parks to choose from. Find a Blackpool car park .

Did you know you can also pay by phone at most Council-owned car park facilities? It is a great alternative if you would like to avoid queuing, handling cash and touching payment machines. You can also top up your parking session remotely, without needing to take a trip back to the car. Pay by phone car parking - more information .

Please note: we strongly recommend wearing a face covering onboard the buses and trams here in Blackpool, especially during busy times.

Blackpool is well-connected to the national railway network. Superfast Avanti trains bring passengers to Preston and there are two services an hour for the onward journey to Blackpool North provided by Northern Rail - we advise you to check with Northern Rail before travelling as this may change. Preston Station has direct services to all major cities including: London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Northern Rail has resumed their Manchester Airport to Blackpool North service and there are also direct services to Blackpool North from Liverpool Lime Street. If you travel to Blackpool via train, the approximate journey times are:

• Manchester: 1h 27m
• Liverpool: 1h 17m
• Leeds: 2h 36m
• Sheffield: 3h 9m
• Carlisle: 2h 4m
• York: 3h 2m
• Birmingham: 2h 36m
• Newcastle: 4h 7m
• Edinburgh: 3h 40m
• Glasgow: 3h 14
• Bristol: 4h 12m
• Cardiff: 5h 6m
• London: 2h 54m

National Express Coach Services resumed their daily service to and from Blackpool, stopping at Preston, Manchester and Birmingham from 1 July.  For more details on their safety measures, head to their website .

Handy tips on staying safe when travelling to and around Blackpool:

We strongly recommend wearing a face covering, especially in busy times

Buy your ticket in advance online or pay by contactless

Wash your hands before and after your journey. If this isn’t possible, use hand sanitiser 

Allow extra time for your journey. If the bus or tram is too busy and you do not feel comfortable boarding, don't hop on. The next tram or bus is only a few minutes away

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Climate Forward

Trains are cleaner than planes, right.

The surprising carbon footprint of an Amtrak trip across America.

By Hiroko Tabuchi

Recently, I did something I’ve long dreamed of. I took the train across America.

The views were majestic, particularly as we swayed through the West. The Wi-Fi was bad, and the food not much better. But I wanted to do it partly because trains are cleaner than flying.

But when I got back home and crunched the numbers, I discovered something surprising: it would have been less polluting for me to have flown.

As a climate journalist, I often fly to report my articles, but I’ve always worried about the climate cost. Flying in jets that burn a lot of fuel is probably one of the most polluting things we do. By taking a flight to report on a problem, I’m basically making that problem worse by causing tons of planet-warming emissions that are heating up our planet to dangerous extremes.

So when I started to work on a story that would involve spending time with two climate scientists at Stanford University — one who wants to rid the school of fossil fuel funding, the other fully funded by Exxon — I wondered whether I could try something different.

What if I traveled from New York to Stanford by train, a method of transportation that generally has a far smaller climate footprint ?

The most direct route was to take the Lake Shore Limited train to Chicago, then the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., just outside San Francisco.

That 3,400-mile journey would take a daunting 72 hours. But I convinced my editors to let me use a work day, plus a few vacation days, to take the trip.

I was set. And I was doing my part to save the planet. Right?

Wrong. In short, I took a train across America and ended up emitting more planet-warming emissions, not less. I’ll explain why in just a bit.

The journey itself was epic . I boarded a packed train at New York Penn Station and was quickly speeding along the Hudson River at sunset. After a train change in Chicago, and traversing Iowa and Nebraska, we reached the Colorado Rockies. Our ascent from the flat plains to the green forests, then through the snow-capped Rockies, the deserts of Utah and the panoramic Sierra Nevada, was nothing short of magical.

It was also a slog. A sleeper cabin would have cost more than $2,000, so I was in an upright seat the entire trip. (Compression socks helped.) That still cost $600, about the same price flying the same route would have cost during the holiday season. I’d heard that the dining car was expensive, so I brought along vegetable sticks, crackers, cheese, hummus, instant noodles and miso soup. I tried to work on the Lake Shore Limited, but the Wi-Fi was down. There was no internet at all on the California Zephyr.

But then I did the math on my emissions.

A nonstop flight from New York to San Francisco emits, on average, about 840 pounds of carbon dioxide per economy class passenger, according to Google Flights, whose data is independently reviewed . That’s equivalent to burning 420 pounds of coal, or more than the annual emissions of someone living in Cameroon. Air travel is wildly polluting.

But what about trains? I tracked down several estimates of carbon emissions per passenger-mile, including Amtrak’s official estimate. What I got back: My cross-country train journey had emitted somewhere from 950 to 1,133 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger.

There are a few reasons for this result. Amtrak is far cleaner than flying where its tracks are electrified, along the Northeast Corridor, from Washington to Boston. But outside the Northeast, Amtrak trains run on diesel, a highly polluting fuel.

What’s more, Amtrak’s trains are decades old. (Its single-level Amfleet cars were built in the late 1970s.) Add to that generous seat pitches, large old-fashioned private rooms for longer-distance trains, a longer, winding route across the country and “per-passenger-mile emissions go through the roof,” said Justin Roczniak , a co-host of “Well There’s Your Problem,” a podcast about engineering.

Amtrak is still the more climate-friendly option for the vast majority of travelers, who on average travel 300 to 400 miles, said Olivia Irvin, a spokeswoman for the rail company. (That is, not many people are crazy enough to go cross-country by train.) A 2022 Department of Transportation study found that traveling by train from Los Angeles to San Diego generated less than half the emissions , per passenger, of flying, or driving. For Boston to New York, an electrified route, taking the train generated less than a fifth the emissions of flying or driving.

It’s when journeys start getting longer than about 700 miles that planes start to gain an advantage on trains. Planes burn the most fuel when they take off and climb to altitude. That makes short flights very inefficient — you’re burning all that fuel only to travel a short distance. (Some countries, like France and Spain , have tried to ban the shortest flights when rail alternatives are available.)

Longer flights also tend to use larger aircraft, which provide economies of scale. And aircraft have become more fuel-efficient over the years. But choosing flights with several connections, for example, can quickly add to your footprint, because you’re taking off and landing multiple time

Flights for the same route can differ in terms of emissions by a factor of three, according to Dan Rutherford, director of research at the International Council on Clean Transportation, who advises Google on its flight emissions calculations. And comparing air and train travel can be tricky: Amtrak does not provide emissions estimates for different seat classes. Airplanes also emit other pollution like nitrogen oxides and soot, and form contrails , all of which warm the planet further.

And experts agree that aviation is going to be one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. With trains, electrification is already readily available. The technology is there. China, for example, has managed to electrify 70 percent of its train lines over the past decades and made them faster, too. And as the electric grid gets cleaner by adding more solar and wind, so will trains that run on electricity from that grid.

An electric, long-distance passenger plane is much further in our future.

Whether Amtrak will ever electrify outside of the Northeast corridor is another question, however. In America, tracks are owned by freight companies, which have resisted electrification. (Freight trains are also why some Amtrak trains stop frequently to make way. And all that stopping and starting makes America’s passenger trains even less energy-efficient.) Amtrak is currently updating its fleet with newer diesel trains, albeit ones that are less polluting and slightly faster.

One thing I did learn during my cross-country train journey: There are still a lot of Americans who love trains. The trains I took were booked solid. Among my fellow travelers were a college student traveling to see her long-distance boyfriend, and grandparents on a family trip (but they didn’t want to travel by car with their grandchildren).

But would I travel cross-country by train again? Probably not, unless Amtrak electrified the route. We can only dream.

More climate news

Only 57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers accounted for 80 percent of global fossil fuel carbon emissions in the last decade, a new report reviewed by Axios shows .

The Biden administration’s $7.5 billion investment in electric car charging has only produced seven stations in two years, The Washington Post reports .

Most of the European Union’s embattled farming subsidies go to meat and dairy products, researchers reported in The Conservation .

An earlier version of this newsletter stated incorrectly the train’s route after leaving Chicago. It traversed Iowa and Nebraska, not Indiana and Nebraska.

An earlier version of this newsletter also described incorrectly the pollution from airplanes. It contains nitrogen oxides, not nitrogen.

How we handle corrections

Hiroko Tabuchi covers the intersection of business and climate for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York. More about Hiroko Tabuchi

Learn More About Climate Change

Have questions about climate change? Our F.A.Q. will tackle your climate questions, big and small .

“Buying Time,” a new series from The New York Times, looks at the risky ways  humans are starting to manipulate nature  to fight climate change.

Big brands like Procter & Gamble and Nestlé say a new generation of recycling plants will help them meet environmental goals, but the technology is struggling to deliver .

The Italian energy giant Eni sees future profits from collecting carbon dioxide and pumping it  into natural gas fields that have been exhausted.

New satellite-based research reveals how land along the East Coast is slumping into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea level rise . A major culprit: the overpumping of groundwater.

Did you know the ♻ symbol doesn’t mean something is actually recyclable ? Read on about how we got here, and what can be done.

By barge, rail or truck? Feds propose travel routes for Indian Point's nuclear fuel

At Indian Point nuclear power plant , 125 hardened casks of spent radioactive fuel sit idle, waiting until the federal government can figure out how to safely transport and dispose of them.

So far, no one's been able come up with a plan everyone can agree on, but hundreds of pages of documents offer clues on the range of options.

The radioactive waste stored at Indian Point could be trucked to Connecticut along U.S. 9, to Metro-North railyards in the lower Hudson Valley or by barge along the Hudson River, according to an Energy Department study of shuttered nuclear power plants.

The 558-page study released in February is based on site visits over the past 12 years at 18 power plants in 13 states, as well as one still in operation and a nuclear waste site, both in Illinois.

It offers up dozens of potential truck, rail and barge routes that could be used to alleviate the nuclear power industry’s biggest headache as it tries to capitalize on the nation’s push for carbon-free energy sources: What to do with spent fuel stranded at 75 sites across the U.S.A.

Nearly 90,000 metric tons of radioactive waste is being stored at the nation’s nuclear power plants at a cost to the federal government of more than $9 billion and counting. The total is expected to grow by 2,000 metric tons a year.

And there’s still no place to put it. A decades-old effort to build an underground repository in the Mojave Desert northwest of Las Vegas floundered in 2010 amid political opposition. Efforts to build interim sites in western states are mired in legal challenges spearheaded by the oil and gas industry.

Anti-nuclear groups say the answer is keeping it where it is — at shuttered and operating nuclear power plants in 33 states.

They say it’s too dangerous to move radioactive material across public highways, railroads and waterways.

“That DOE is relying even more so than ever, it seems, on barge shipping, is very concerning,” said Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist for the anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear. “I mean, look at what just happened in Baltimore. What if a high-level radioactive waste barge were involved in a major disaster like that?”

Beyond Nuclear is fighting efforts to build interim repositories for the waste in Texas and New Mexico, where it has found allies in oil and gas companies eager to keep drilling in the Permian Basin.

Radioactive fuel on trucks to Connecticut, lower Hudson Valley?

Several of the shuttered plants studied don’t have direct rail access, which means multiple modes of transportation would be needed, in some cases all three.

At Indian Point, the 125 casks of spent fuel housed at the site could be put on trucks and delivered to nearby rail links.

The report lists eight routes for heavy trucks, most of which would use U.S. 9 North. Four options include travel to rail links in the Connecticut towns of Newtown or Danbury.

Fuel: Nuclear waste stranded at Indian Point as feds search for permanent solution

The Hawleyville Road rail yard in Newtown, some 60 miles from Buchanan, has been used to receive truck shipments of low-level waste from Indian Point that have been sent by rail to a waste site in Andrews, Texas.

Other possible options include the Hopewell Railyard in Hopewell Junction, some 30 miles from Indian Point. It’s run by Metro-North Railroad but not connected to its commuter rail network.

Also included as possible rail links are Metro-North’s Croton-Harmon Railyard in Westchester County and Lower South Street in Peekskill.

All the routes would need to be approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the movement of spent fuel across the nation’s highways.

Decommissioning funds for sports teams? Indian Point owner Holtec used $63K in ratepayer funds for sports teams, fashion show

What about barges to move Indian Point's spent fuel?

Indian Point, some 35 north of New York City, sits on 240 acres along the Hudson in the village of Buchanan. It was once the site of an amusement park where day travelers would come by boat from New York City.

To use barges, the Indian Point site would need to fortify a dock at a cost between $2 million and $6 million, the study notes. The area was used to deliver a massive transformer to the site in 2016.

The Energy Department report included barges is an option at 17 of the 20 sites it visited. Many of the nation’s nuclear plants were built beside lakes, rivers and oceans, which are used to discharge hot water from reactors or in emergencies to cool down reactors.

This is not the first time barges have been broached as an option for Indian Point’s fuel.

In 2020, the plant’s owners, New Jersey-based Holtec, said it was considering using a portion of $2.3 billion in decommissioning trust funds to move spent fuel by barge. Indian Point is among 17 nuclear power plants across the country that don’t have rail access.

And a 2002 Energy Department study of possible routes to an underground site at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain Indian Point fuel could be moved by barge down the Hudson to railyards in New Jersey for the trip west.

The proposal ignited an outcry from lawmakers in both states.

Attempts to use the Hudson for radioactive transport would likely run into opposition.

Last year, responding to concerns raised by the environmental group Riverkeeper and others, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that would prohibit the discharge of millions of gallons of radiological into the Hudson.

Holtec said the decision will delay the completion of decommissioning until 2041, eight years longer than its earlier estimate.

Radioactive: Hochul inks Indian Point bill but radiological waste debate rages on

What options are best? What the nuclear industry says

Nuclear energy proponents, including the Nuclear Energy Institute, say some 1,300 shipments of spent have been moved across the country by barge, truck and rail in hardened containers without a release of radioactive material.

“Trucks are commonly used for smaller shipments,” said Rod McCullum, a specialist in nuclear waste transport at the NEI. “Rail for larger shipments.  Fuel from the Navy’s nuclear-powered ships is routinely transferred from the ports in which the ships are refueled to inland storage facilities using both methods.”

Barges were used to move spent fuel from the Shoreham nuclear power plant on Long Island, the Limerick Plant in Pennsylvania and overseas in Sweden, France, Japan, and England.

 For now, with no place for the spent fuel to go, the Energy Department study remains mostly academic.

And, if a repository is chosen, it could take years to come up with a transportation plan.

Teardown: Why Indian Point nuclear plant won't close until 2041

What about the cost?

Nevada lawmakers opposed to the Yucca Mountain site used the transportation issue argue it wasn’t just just a Nevada problem, but one shared by all communities where the waste would pass through.

And there are still cost issues that haven’t been resolved, according to Fred Dilger, the executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, a state agency born out of opposition to Yucca Mountain.

“Although we are learning about the best way to move waste from the various sites, there is no clear idea about who will pay for needed infrastructure upgrades, how long it will take and when it will begin,” Dilger said. “Many nuclear power plant sites may need costly, time-consuming improvements to enable shipments to take place.”

A snarl in nuclear energy's potential comeback?

The debate comes at a time when the U.S. nuclear industry is on the cusp of what some have termed a nuclear renaissance.

Government officials in Michigan, California and elsewhere, faced with hard-to-achieve climate goals, are rethinking their views on nuclear power.

The Biden Administration says nuclear power should be a key piece of its strategy to rid the electric grid of carbon-spewing energy sources.

In Michigan, officials are considering restarting the shuttered Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. And in California, rolling blackouts caused state officials to pivot in 2022 and reconsider opening the state’s last nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon.

Dilger said he’s unpersuaded by those who say the future lies in advanced nuclear options like small modular reactors that don’t produce the same amounts of spent fuel as traditional reactors.

“The recent boosterism about advanced nuclear wishes away the problem of waste,” Dilger said. “We already have more spent nuclear fuel than can fit in Yucca Mountain. Ideally, we should already be looking for a second repository and haven’t got the first. Advanced nuclear will make even more.”

Towns caught in the middle

Caught in the middle are communities that are home to shuttered nuclear power plants.

They’re dealing with the loss of property tax revenue from revenue-producing power plants, as well as canisters of spent nuclear fuel that makes redevelopment problematic.

The town of Vernon, Vermont, chose to scrap its police force in 2015 after the Vermont Yankee plant shut down in 2014, putting a strain on its $2 million budget. Police services were taken over by county sheriffs.

Fiscal planning helped the town weather the worst of it and Vernon’s tax rate is around the average for the region, said Tim Arsenault, the town clerk.

“Unfortunately, the whole issue right now is not in my backyard,” said Arsenault. “Nobody seems to want to have a depository for spent fuel. So, while some people may not like it, it’s there until something changes.”

Funds: Indian Point owner Holtec used $63K in ratepayer funds for sports teams, fashion show

Vermont Yankee, unlike Indian Point, has direct access to rail, which would be used to transport its containers of spent fuel.

Power plants owners have been able to recoup billions of dollars from the federal government as compensation for the failure to find a repository. A 2021 Government Accountability Office report pegged the total at $9 billion but that’s expected to grow in the coming years.

State and federal officials have passed measures to help towns where plants shut down. But Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker said it’s not enough.

“It is time for the federal government to resolve this,” she said. “There was an agreement that was made. The nuclear communities did not agree to become de-facto storage facilities.”

Knickerbocker questions why nuclear plant owners are able to recoup their costs while towns can’t.

 “Holtec and others sue the DOE every few years to recoup their expenses,” she said. “Why isn't the host community compensated? Either find a home for the spent fuel or compensate the community until it is removed from the site.”

Vintage photos show how first-class train travel has changed over the past 100 years

• First-class train cars used to include gramophones and leather armchairs.
• Travelers would dress up in suits and fur coats for their trips.
• Celebrities like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger traveled in first class.

Modern first-class train tickets include perks like lounge access and meals, but trains used to be even more luxurious.

Train travel has experienced a renaissance in recent years, with more passengers opting to avoid rising airfare costs and the environmental impact of flying. Amtrak reported its ridership reached 28.8 million in 2023 — a 24.6% increase from the previous year.

Here's a look back at how glamorous first-class train cars once were and how they've changed through the years.

In the early 1900s, first-class train carriages featured club cars with sumptuous leather furniture.

This ornate 1905 club car was part of the British railway company Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.

In 1912, meals on the Great Eastern Railway's first-class dining cars were served on fine china and silverware embossed with the GER logo.

The carriages also featured upholstered leather booths with covers, known as antimacassars that were embroidered with "GER."

First-class lounges looked more like living rooms aboard the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway in 1928.

First-class lounges on LMS trains were furnished with leather armchairs, drapes, and carpeting.

Passengers dressed to the nines in hats, gloves, and fur coats in a first-class London North Eastern Railway car in 1930.

The lounge also included a gramophone and decorative wood panels.

Travelers on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1930 passed the time by reading newspapers or listening to the radio.

The first-class car featured plenty of windows, as well as striped furniture and tabletop lamps.

In 1937, sleeping carriages on luxury Pullman trains included perks like being served breakfast in bed.

The carriages included clothing racks and shelves for storing luggage, as well.

In 1951, waitstaff served food and drinks in a first-class dining saloon on a train at Marylebone Station in London.

The tables were set with white tablecloths and patterned china.

Lunch was also a dressy affair in British Railways' first-class dining car.

Passengers wore suits and ties, as did the waitstaff.

Glamorous Golden Arrow trains, operated by Pullman, ran between London and Paris from 1929 to 1972.

The Golden Arrow's Trianon Bar, the first-class bar car pictured above, debuted in 1951.

Pullman offered rides on restored Golden Arrow trains in 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of its final run.

Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger traveled in style in first class in 1967.

The musicians rode the train from London's Euston Station to Bangor.

King Charles (then Prince of Wales) also rode in first class in 1978.

Charles chatted with a journalist in a first-class cabin on a train in the UK.

In 1992, the first-class lounge on Indian Pacific trains offered entertainment in the form of board games like Scrabble.

Passengers were photographed playing Scrabble as an Indian Pacific train pulled out of the Broken Hill station in Australia.

In 1997, British Prime Minister John Major and his wife, Norma, ate a meal in first class as they rode a train from King's Cross Station in London.

Their table featured a rose in a vase and blue linen napkins.

Today's first-class cars on Amtrak don't look much different from the rest of the train.

Business Insider's Joey Hadden rode in a first-class Amtrak Acela car in 2022 and concluded that while she enjoyed the meal service and travel experience, she didn't feel it was worth the $270 price tag.

Some trains still offer the old-world glamour of yesteryear, like the Venice Simplon-Orient Express.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express consists of vintage luxury train cars from the 1920s and 1930s that transported passengers through Europe as part of the Orient Express.

The sleeper trains now travel to 17 European cities on 60 routes. Prices for a private cabin range from $9,000 to $26,000.

• Main content

Watch CBS News

Earthquake snarls air and train travel in the New York City area

By Megan Cerullo

Edited By Aimee Picchi

Updated on: April 5, 2024 / 4:36 PM EDT / CBS News

An  earthquake  centered in New Jersey and felt across the New York City region on Friday disrupted air and rail travel, with ground stoppages at airports in the New York City area and delays in train service. 

Travel operations were momentarily halted Friday morning with ground stoppages at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens and at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, with crews working to resume normal air traffic operations. By early afternoon, the ground stoppage at JFK had been lifted. 

Arriving and departing flights in Newark also resumed in the afternoon, but delays averaged roughly two hours,  according  to the Federal Aviation Administration. 

The earthquake, which occurred roughly 10:20 a.m. Eastern time, had either a 4.7 or 4.8 magnitude and was centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, 40 miles west of New York City,  according to the United States Geological Survey.

Newark airport is experiencing average departure delays of 43 minutes, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Inbound aircraft that are already airborne are delayed by about an hour. Inbound flights that have not yet taken off are being held until 12:30 p.m., according to the site.  

Flights in and out of LaGuardia airport in Queens were also delayed, likely in order for airport staff to check for damage to the airport and runways and clear away any debris. 

The ground stoppages and delays are not expected to last long. 

Additionally, New Jersey Transit said it's experiencing up to 20-minute delays across its entire rail service system, in both directions. NJ Transit said it's inspecting a bridge for damage to ensure train travel is safe. 

—CBS News' Kris Van Cleave contributed reporting.

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News Streaming to discuss her reporting.

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Train drivers strike for third time in four days

Members of the Aslef union are walking out in an almost two-year dispute over pay with no sign of a breakthrough.

News reporter @niamhielynch

Monday 8 April 2024 08:20, UK

Passengers on some of the UK's busiest rail routes will face travel chaos on Monday as train drivers are set to strike for the third time in four days.

Members of Aslef will walk out resulting in significant reductions in services, especially in East Anglia and the South East.

Train strikes: Full list of who will strike when

Aslef is embroiled in a near two-year long dispute over pay, with no sign of a breakthrough and no talks planned.

The strike will hit c2c, Gatwick Express, Greater Anglia, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, Great Northern and Thameslink.

What train operators are affected?

No c2c trains will run on Monday, with its managing director Rob Mullen saying he was "really disappointed" an agreement hadn't been reached.

"The impact of this ongoing action is significant for our customers and colleagues," he said.

"I'm hopeful that further meetings with the unions are productive and see progress made toward concluding this challenging time for the railway."

Gatwick Express

There will be no Gatwick Express services but Gatwick Airport will continue to be served by the limited non-stop Southern shuttle.

Great Northern

There will be no Great Northern services on Monday.

Greater Anglia

Greater Anglia said its first trains of the day will start later and last trains finish earlier than normal, excluding the Stansted Express.

An hourly train service will operate on the following Greater Anglia routes: Norwich/Colchester and London Liverpool Street, Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street, and Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street

A bi-hourly train service will run between Cambridge and London.

No other Greater Anglia services will operate on any other routes.

Southeastern

The operator said most of its routes and stations will be closed. There will be an extremely limited service where trains are running and the operator advised customers not to travel.

A statement said: "If you do travel, expect severe disruption, plan ahead and allow much more time for your journey.

"Trains that are running will be extremely busy, they start later and finish early.

"You may be unable to board trains at some stations, and we estimate that there could be queues for up to two hours due to the very limited service.

"Only 29 out of 165 Southeastern stations will be open. No rail replacement buses will serve stations that are closed."

Southern said there will be no trains running across the vast majority of its network, with a limited shuttle service running non-stop between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.

South Western Railway

South Western Railway said a significantly reduced service will operate on a small number of lines, while the rest of its network will be closed.

Trains will only run between 7am and 7pm.

There will be no Thameslink services running, except for a limited shuttle service calling at Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras and another limited non-stop shuttle service between London Kings Cross and Cambridge.

The union says the dispute has cost the industry over £2bn, far more than it would have cost to resolve the conflict.

Aslef members at 16 train companies are also banning overtime on Monday and Tuesday which will further disrupt services.

More on Rail Strikes

Train strikes in April and May 2024: Full list of dates and lines affected

Train drivers at five companies vote to continue strike action for another six months - ASLEF

Rail strikes: LNER train drivers to walk out for five extra days in February

Related Topics:

• Rail strikes

Picket lines will be mounted outside the railway stations of operators affected by the strike.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said his members remained solidly behind the industrial action and criticised the government and rail companies for the lack of contact over the past year.

The government introduced a new law last year aimed at ensuring minimum levels of service during strikes, but none of the train companies have opted to use it.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: "Train companies are working through plans to manage the unnecessary disruption to our passengers caused by this damaging industrial action.

"Minimum service levels are one potential tool for that but they are not a silver bullet.

"In the meantime, we remain committed to resolving this dispute and our offer, which would take average driver salaries to £65,000 for a four-day week without overtime, remains on the table."

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A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Aslef is the only rail union continuing to strike, targeting passengers and preventing their own members from voting on the pay offer that remains on the table.

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"Having resolved disputes with all other rail unions, the transport secretary and rail minister have ensured that a pay offer is on the table - taking train drivers' average salaries from £60,000 up to £65,000."

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