East Coast journey times set to fall

The current Transport Minister, Lord Adonis, plans to introduce a service which will link London and Edinburgh by rail in less than four hours. Unfortunately, the proposed 'Flying Scotsman' service will not be 'on-line' (sorry about the pun) until 2012. In another initiative, journey times between the English and Scottish capitals are to be reduced to 4 hours and 20 minutes by May 2010.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reports in a piece today that the number of trains from London to York will increase from 32 to 37, Monday to Friday. The newspaper notes that the average journey time from York to London will be brought down by almost ten minutes to 1 hour and 51 minutes.

It is well worth making the journey to York at anytime of year. The city is approximately halfway between London and Edinburgh. York is perhaps best known for its magnificent Minster (pictured above). The city has plenty to offer in terms of shopping and has some underrated museums, as well as better known establishments like the Jorvik Viking Centre which celebrates its 25th birthday in April this year. The Jorvik Viking Centre is closed until January 31, 2010.

Laudable though the aim to reduce train journeys time is, one of the biggest factors in taking a train journey of any distance in the UK, for many people, is the cost. Seeing the sights when you arrive can seem extortionate, too.

Explore the city with the Best of York audio tour guide, which costs just £4.50 and is yours to keep. Like the other Walk Talk Tours it is composed of commentary points (like tracks on an iTunes album or a CD). Simply download and away you go.

And if railways are your passion, York is the place for you as the city is home to the National Railway Museum. The Museum is home of the original Flying Scotsman. Please note that the National Railway Museum is not a commentary point on the Walk Talk Tour of York.

The picture (above) shows the Queen's Gallery, which is located at the foot of the Royal Mile opposite the new Scottish Parliament in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence in Scotland. Visitors to Edinburgh can hear about these places with the Royal Mile & More, Edinburgh walking tour.

Buy One Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

Visitors to York can also hire on a MP3 player preloaded with the Walk Talk Tour of the city and neck phones from the De Grey Rooms Tourist Information Centre. (Please note that the Tourist Information Centre is scheduled to move in May).