Harwich/Manningtree question

[iHeartGlaciers]

I'm thinking of taking the Harwich train from London with the Manningtree transfer (instead of the non-stop cruise train). Does anyone know which end of the train (going from London to Manningtree) is closest to the stairs? Front or back of the train?

 

Since there's only 5 minutes for the connection, it would be nice to be near the stairs when I get off the train.

 

Thanks!

[Bobocasey]

Check the train schedule they don't stop at Manningtree now I think they stop at Colchester and there are seven minutes between trains. From what I can figure out is is down one flight of stairs to a underground walkway and then up a flight of stairs. Hope this helps. Not a big station Greater Angelia told me you shouldn't have any trouble making connecting trains. Also make sure you book it from LIVERPOOL STREET STATION to Harwich international. (Not Liverpool the city).

[John Bull]

Change at Colchester? :confused:

Bobo may have come across an old web reference to a period a couple of years back when track to Manningtree was being re-laid.

It's still a change at Manningtree, and that applies 7 days a week.

 

Front of centre of the train is probably nearest the stairs, but the platform is no longer than 200 yards from end to end.

 

But the 5-minute connection isn't a coincidence.

Manningtree is the start of the line for the Harwich train & it's timetabled to meet the train from London.

If the train from London is a few minutes late, the Harwich train will wait.

And it'll wait until the last American cruiser has hauled far too much luggage up the stairs & onto the train :p

This is a laid-back little rural station, not the big bad city ;).

 

No worries :cool:

 

JB :)

[iHeartGlaciers]

Thanks!! I'm used to NYC where trains leave you behind even if you're running down the platform :-P

[sddsddean]

JB is spot on, but to give you an idea look at this map

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=51.949202,1.045914&spn=0.000989,0.002358&t=h&z=19

 

This is Manningtree station. You will be coming in from the left side from London. As you can see there is a north side track (lets call it track 1), a platform, 2 tracks in the middle, another platform and the southern side track (say track 4). You will almost certainly arrive on track 2, but possibly track 1. The Harwich train will almost certainly leave from track 4. The black rectangles in the centre of shot and on the platforms are the rooves of the subway entrance, so I would say if you are in the 2nd carriage from the front of the train, you should be just about ideally placed.

 

Simon

[Turtles06]

Last fall, we sailed out of Harwich on a TA. One of the people on our cruise said he got to Harwich from London by train but changed trains at a station other than Manningtree, where there were no steps he had to climb in either direction when changing trains. I believe he said it was at Colchester, but I may not be remembering correctly. I've never seen anyone on here mention another place to change trains other than at Manningtree, so I just wanted to ask about that, in case the info may help anyone planning a London/Harwich transfer.

 

Thanks.

[John Bull]

Last fall, we sailed out of Harwich on a TA. One of the people on our cruise said he got to Harwich from London by train but changed trains at a station other than Manningtree, where there were no steps he had to climb in either direction when changing trains. I believe he said it was at Colchester, but I may not be remembering correctly. I've never seen anyone on here mention another place to change trains other than at Manningtree, so I just wanted to ask about that, in case the info may help anyone planning a London/Harwich transfer.

 

Thanks.

 

That was possibly when the line from Liverpool St station to Manningtree was out of action.

Yes, it's possible to go from Liverpool Street via Colchester, but you change there to a train which goes to .............................................................................................. Manningtree :rolleyes:

And almost certainly involves using those same stairs.

(there's the occasional direct train but not one that suits cruisers, and there may have been more direct services from Colchester to Harwich during line disruption).

Very frequent trains to Colchester, but the service from there to Manningtree is hourly, same as trains direct to Manningtree. Via Colchester virtually doubles the fare, though with the right connection it adds little to the journey time.

 

Nice try Turtles, but almost-certainly no cigar. ;)

 

JB :)

[njkruzer]

We did the TA a few tears ago and spent the extra money to take the nonstop direct train. Culdn't imagine dragging lunch up and down stairs! The porters met as as soon as the train pulled into the port so we hardly walked more than a few feet with the luggage. We are doing it again in August for our cruise to the Baltics and Scandanavia.

[Scriv]

To John Bull and Turtles

 

Turtles, just had a thought - John Bull might be able to help you with your onward travel to Southampton after Eurostar question! There's not much he doesn't know about trains.

 

John B - please could you look at the thread Eurostar from Paris to London Question and see if you can answer Turtles' question. I got stuck.

 

Sorry to hijack the Manningtree thread, but I just thought you might be able to help Turtles.

 

Going now...

Edited June 13, 2014 by Scriv

[John Bull]

To John Bull and Turtles

 

Turtles, just had a thought - John Bull might be able to help you with your onward travel to Southampton after Eurostar question! There's not much he doesn't know about trains.

 

John B - please could you look at the thread Eurostar from Paris to London Question and see if you can answer Turtles' question. I got stuck.

 

Sorry to hijack the Manningtree thread, but I just thought you might be able to help Turtles.

 

Going now...

 

Job done, as best I can.

 

JB :)

[Scriv]

Job done, as best I can.

 

JB :)

 

That's an amazing reply.Thanks so much JB! I have learnt such a lot too.

[sddsddean]

That's an amazing reply.Thanks so much JB! I have learnt such a lot too.

 

I taught him everything he knows!!:D:D

These retired folk have too much time on their hands while some of us are still grafting away!:p

 

Simon

[John Bull]

These retired folk have too much time on their hands while some of us are still grafting away!:p

 

Simon

 

Grafting away, Simon?

So how come you've got the time to be on your computer at 11 o'clock in the morning? :rolleyes:

 

I'll tell you what "grafting" was in my day, you young whipper-snapper.

Before I retired, there were a hundred and fifty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work.

 

But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe you.

 

 

JB :)

[newport dave]

Grafting away, Simon?

So how come you've got the time to be on your computer at 11 o'clock in the morning? :rolleyes:

 

I'll tell you what "grafting" was in my day, you young whipper-snapper.

Before I retired, there were a hundred and fifty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work.

 

But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe you.

 

 

JB :)

 

As soon as I started reading this post JB, I knew you'd quote Monty Python. One of my all time favourite sketches.....

 

:-) :-) :-)

[sddsddean]

Grafting away, Simon?

So how come you've got the time to be on your computer at 11 o'clock in the morning? :rolleyes:

 

I'll tell you what "grafting" was in my day, you young whipper-snapper.

Before I retired, there were a hundred and fifty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work.

 

But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe you.

 

 

JB :)

 

I'm on nights this week...whats your excuse!!??

 

Just to satisfy Dave, I'd better go and have some spam, spam, egg, chips and spam.

 

Simon

[Turtles06]

You guys crack me up. And thanks again to everyone on both threads for all the train info.

 

BTW, for anyone traveling from Heathrow directly to Harwich, we used Harwich Taxis for a private transfer. It was costly, but after an overnight flight, it was worth it, and meant we didn't have to schlep everything into London just to take the train.

[SixOneTwo]

We took the route that stopped at Manningtree both to and from Harwich. Here's some advice from some non-native tourists:

 

DON'T PANIC ABOUT THE CONNECTION!

 

If you have no mobility problems, the stairs are no big deal. In fact, there were personnel on hand helping people lug their bags up and down if necessary.

 

Our experience is that even if you had a suitcase in each hand and stopped for 30 seconds to wipe your brow, you could make this connection in 2 minutes. (And we're not spring chickens by any means.)

 

As for where to sit on the train to make the connection easiest, the advice we were given is to "sit near the front." We didn't get a seat in the front car and we still made out just fine.

 

I believe we paid 8 pounds per person for the route with the connection. The non-connecting route was 30 pounds. Avoiding the stairs is NOT worth the extra cost.

 

We'd take the Harwich train with the connection again without hesitation.

[iHeartGlaciers]

Just wanted to report back and thank everyone for your advice! My party of 15 (ranging in ages from 3-75 years) all took the train with the Manningtree transfer. It was very easy and we didn't feel rushed at all. There were also many others doing the same as us. Definitely worth the stairs trek as it only cost $14/person!

[chips9996]

I'm thinking of taking the Harwich train from London with the Manningtree transfer (instead of the non-stop cruise train). Does anyone know which end of the train (going from London to Manningtree) is closest to the stairs? Front or back of the train?

 

Since there's only 5 minutes for the connection, it would be nice to be near the stairs when I get off the train.

 

Thanks!

Manningtree is only a small station. The stairs are towards the middle but 5 minutes is plenty of time to get across to the other platform. The train will be there waiting.

 

The stop before Harwich international is Wrabness. you have 8 minutes from there so plenty of time to gather up your bags.

 

You will not need transport from the station to the ship as it is right next to the berth.

 

Opps sorry, I'm too late you've been. Perhaps this will help someone else.

Edited August 8, 2014 by chips9996

[scottbee]

Just wanted to report back and thank everyone for your advice! My party of 15 (ranging in ages from 3-75 years) all took the train with the Manningtree transfer. It was very easy and we didn't feel rushed at all. There were also many others doing the same as us. Definitely worth the stairs trek as it only cost $14/person!

 

Glad to hear it. I'm always surprised at the vitriolic responses some people will give you when you suggest you might take the train and actually carry your luggage more than 10 feet.

 

It got so heated on a previous cruise we took that someone actually went to the extra effort to get a t-shirt printed that they wore on the cruise saying "I'm not a bag shlepping train rider" or something along those lines.