New trains

Indeed, bus services in West Yorkshire are terrible these days (as they no doubt are in many other places). From what I can tell, hardly any Bradford bus services pass through the central Interchange any more, leaving people having to walk all over the City centre to change routes. Visiting friends and planning walking trips in the area gets ever more difficult as the rural bus routes gradually disappear, and the times of last busses are shockingly early in the evening.

Like you, I do like train journeys to have that sense of effortlessly gliding along so that I can lose myself in the passing scenery.

During my past family holidays to York in North Yorkshire, I remember travelling on a few of those somewhat infamous Northern Rail Pacer trains, and I was keen to check out how infamous they really were. I have been on them from Leeds to Bradford Interchange, and in addition to them being noisy, that upward climb towards Bradford was quite slow, and it added to the noisy travelling experience. Saying that, though, it's more convenient than getting Firstgroup's X6 bus service from Leeds to Bradford, as Leeds bus station is quite a walk away from Leeds railway station, and those roadwork/construction sites can add to the anxiety. I would have liked to suggest easier bus transport access between the railway and bus stations, such as rerouting the X6 via the railway station, or a dedicated shuttle bus service of some description.

I also travelled on them from York to Hull, which was (and still is) a nice, scenic railway line via Selby, Brough etc. They weren't that bad on the route, but with the journey lasting a bit over an hour, especially since they started stopping at Church Fenton and Sherburn-in-Elmet. They used to go direct from York to Selby, but this rerouting was disruptive to my routine, and the route doesn't interest me quite so much. I do like my train journeys to involve plenty of continuous full-speed running, such as when a 90mph train actually maintains 90 for, say, a minute or two.

Though I rarely travel by train, I'm actually glad to see new rolling stock coming in. My nearest line is the infamous Northern Rail line through Bradford and Leeds; for a long time now, the franchise with some of the oldest rolling stock in the country. The much-maligned "Pacers" (basically Leyland busses on rails) are (so I hear) finally being phased out, and they were a big part of the reason that I so rarely used the line. Besides always being in a disgraceful state of repair and reeking like a public lavatory, the carriages have no bogies and incredibly noisy diesel engines, so getting one around the tight curve at Bradford Interchange was a sensory nightmare of vibrations and metal grinding on metal - like fingernails down a blackboard amplified to the volume of jack-hammer during an earthquake. They will not be missed one bit by anyone, I should expect.

Hello there. A lot of commuters tend to rely on one train service to get to my destination. If, for example, I wanted to travel from Ipswich to London, I would be prepared to travel indirectly if there's any disruptions whatsoever. I could therefore travel to London Liverpool Street, or perhaps reroute to London Kings Cross via Cambridge, Ely or Peterborough.

It does pay to put at least two (or more) routes on your shortlist when travelling. It then wouldn't matter what train classes are on what direct/indirect route - these indirect routes are potential safety nets to the autistic.

Hello there. Whenever I travel by train, whether it's old or new, I sometimes find a priority seat. I agree with you that some train seats are too close together, especially in the cases of the electric commuter units. Greater Anglia's Class 321 units are amongst them (you can research these online if you want to), and each time I travel on them, especially on a busy Ipswich to London service, I often fear being squashed by those allegedly inconsiderate peak-hour commuters. 

Finding somewhere else to sit is tricky because some non-priority seats are too short of legroom for taller people (I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, by the way). A short journey would be OK, such as Ipswich to Colchester (20 minutes), but a comparatively long or slow journey such as Ipswich to London (1 hour 25 minutes) can get tiring and uncomfortable.

I would rather spend more money to use an early-morning train service with fewer passengers than less money on an off-peak train that won't give me much time at my destination. If it means spending, say, an hour at a local cafe or restaurant before the shops open, so be it.

As with any form of public transport, trains are an important part of my independent life.

I have been terrified of riding the new trains in case the schedule gets cancelled or the doors fail to open or some unexpected delay happens.

Nice to hear that you're living independently now, and I hope that's going well for you.

Perhaps treat the new trains as a new toy. Book yourself a train ride where you have nowhere you need to go, no time pressures, just a chance to get on board, explore the train, get to know it and welcome it into service.

That way it's there for you, and not something new and scary when you do need to use them.

Modern trains are far too crowded, the seats uncomfortable and too close together.  Oh for the days of empty compartments where one could be on one's own on occasion.

However, the new trains do have seats set aside for disabled, and being disabled does not mean you have to have a wheelchair.  The best way of getting a seat is informing the station beforehand of your problems and they will do their best to ensure someone gets you a seat and gets you through to any connection as well.  A Sunflower lanyard can help, if you can get one from supermarkets such as Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Argos or major Rail Stations, as this should be recognised by rail staff.

I have received excellent service by being taken to my seat and met at the other end.  Not all disabilities are visible and autism is a disability.  And the service from railway staff is especially helpful when a train is cancelled and connections missed.