Air traffic controllers monitor new ash cloud

[Ibtisam]

Air passengers are braced for further delays after warnings that a "new ash cloud" is spreading towards the UK as the volcano eruption in Iceland "strengthened". Skip related content

Related photos / videosDramatic footage above crater of Icelandic volcano Play video Dramatic footage above crater of Icelandic volcano Play video More delays likely as eruption worsens Play video New ash cloud heading for UK

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More delays likely as eruption worsens

Air traffic control company Nats described the situation as variable, but did say Scottish airports should be available from 7am and other airspace over England from 1pm, although not including the main London airports.

 

In an update shortly NATs said: "Since our last statement at 9pm yesterday, the volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.

 

"This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working. Latest information from the Met Office shows that the situation is variable."

 

The Prime Minister has announced plans to use Royal Navy vessels to bring home some of the estimated 150,000 Britons stranded abroad.

 

A brand new £500-million cruise ship, the Celebrity Eclipse, is due to leave Southampton later for Bilbao to pick up around 2,000 British tourists from the northern Spanish port.

 

A meeting of emergency planning committee Cobra, chaired by Gordon Brown, was held on Monday night to discuss the latest updates on the ash cloud.

 

A Downing Street spokesman said the committee agreed the Government should "continue to do whatever it can" to return stranded Britons to the UK.

 

There has been pressure from airlines to restore flights, with carriers including British Airways pointing to the success of test flights to press home their arguments. BA said the flight ban had cost it around £15 million to £20 million a day

[Ibtisam]

Anyone seen that clip with the English man in the background at some Airport shouting @"I hate Iceland" . I feel to do that now,

[SayidSomal]

it is all a conspiracy - I have theory why they are doing this and it goes much higher and deeper than the average joe know or thinks they know.

[Ibtisam]

^^Well do you have a useful theory on like how I can get home?

[SayidSomal]

as i matter of fact i do - what was that song - oh yeah

you can reach me by railway

you can reach me by trailway

you can reach me with your mind

you can reach by caravan

cross the desert like an Arab woman

 

 

I don;t care how you get here - just get here if you can

 

i gave the same advice to issa - he is catching a train from sweden. you can do the same.

[Ibtisam]

^^Catch a train from India??? :eek:

I really don't think they should let you teach kids.

[SayidSomal]

Above: A key stage in the journey is the excellent weekly Istanbul-Tehran train, the 'Trans-Asia Express'...

 

There were newspaper articles last year about the possibility of train travel from London to India or even Dhaka in Bangladesh, prompted by Calcutta-Dhaka trains resuming after 40 years and the planned completion of the final missing gap in the rails between Bam & Zahedan in southeast Iran. The Bam-Zahedan section was finally completed in late 2008 (having been "under construction" for decades) and a passenger service reportedly started running in June 2009*, so the rails do indeed now stretch all the way from St Pancras to Karachi, Lahore, Delhi & Dhaka, with just a short hop by ferry necessary across the Bosphorus in Istanbul (a gap due to be filled by the Bosphorus tunnel now under construction).

 

However, you can't just buy a London-Delhi train ticket and hop on a train to India. Far from it! Such a 2- or 3-week trip should not be undertaken lightly, as it will take a lot of D.I.Y. organisation, including the bureaucracy involved in getting an Iranian visa, and there are security concerns with bandit attacks in southeast Iran near the Pakistan border. But for more adventurous travellers willing to brave this, it promises to be an epic trip.

[SayidSomal]

Timetable & costs...

The itinerary shown here assumes you're travelling eastbound, but it would work exactly the same way westbound:

 

Days 1-4: London-Istanbul: Travel from London to Istanbul (3 nights) by train.

There are daily departures via a choice of routes, the best being London-Paris-Munich-Vienna-Budapest-Bucharest-Istanbul. The whole journey (which involves at least 6 separate trains) can be booked via several UK European rail ticketing agencies in the UK, and we're talking a minimum of £270 one-way, £450 return. See the London to Turkey page for times, fares, & how to buy tickets.

 

Days 5-8: Istanbul-Tehran:

Take an evening ferry across the Bosphorus to Haydarpasa station on the Asian side and travel from Istanbul to Tehran in Iran on the comfortable weekly 'Trans-Asia Express' (3 days), see the London to Iran page. This train departs every Wednesday, so your timetable will need to be built around this. We're talking £40 each way including sleeper, plus maybe £15 booking fee.

 

Day 9: Tehran-Kerman:

Travel from Tehran to Kerman in southeast Iran by daily overnight train leaving Tehran at 16:45 and arriving at Kerman at 05:50 next morning. The train has comfortable air-conditioned sleepers (4-berth compartments). There's also an earlier train if this train is full. Times and fares can be confirmed at

www.rajatrains.com.

Fares are very cheap, less than £10, though an agency may charge more.

 

Day 10: Kerman-Bam:

The railway was extended a further 225km to Bam in 2004, so change trains at Kerman onto the 08:30 connecting train to Bam, arriving 11:30. The journey takes you through spectacular desert. The fare is only a few pounds.

 

Day 10: Bam-Zahedan:

This section of line has been under construction for some time, but was reported as physically complete in May 2009. A train service reportedly started running over it in June 2009, but it's not yet clear what form this train service takes - possibly a direct train from Tehran to Zahedan, maybe weekly, maybe daily, maybe several times per week, who knows. Details have yet to be released. Latest report August 2009: No passenger train service has yet started between Bam & Zahedan. Alternatively, there are buses from Kerman or Bam to Zahedan . A bus reportedly leaves Kerman daily at 20:00, calls at Bam a few hours later and arrives Zahedan at 04:00 next morning. The fare is just a few pounds.

 

Day 11+: Zahedan-Quetta:

From Zahedan, a mixed passenger and goods train leaves on the 3rd & 17th of every month at 08:30, arriving in Quetta (in Pakistan) at 15:20 the next day (see report below). This train consists of several very basic passenger seats cars attached to a freight train, with no sleeping berths or restaurant. The fare is about Rial 30.000 (£2 or $3). The more frequent Taftan Express on this route, which had sleepers, was withdrawn due to security problems a few years ago. Bring plenty of food and above all, lots of drinking water, as it gets very hot in the desert and there's nothing available on board. As an alternative, there are also regular overnight buses on this route, but the train will show you great desert scenery in daylight - treat it as an adventure. Expect an arrival in Quetta 3-6 hours late. Alternatively, there are share taxis available from Zahedan to the Pakistani frontier, then more taxis from there to Quetta, and this option can be a good bet - see the Travellers' reports section below. Please check locally that the twice-monthly train is running, as there have been reports that even the twice-monthly train has been temporarily suspended because of bombing. If it isn't running, buses may be available as an alternative. If you have more information that might help other travellers, please contact me.

 

Day 13+: Quetta-Lahore:

From Quetta, the 'Quetta Express' runs daily trains with comfortable air-conditioned sleepers to Lahore, taking 24 hours, see the Pakistan page for times and fares. Expect this to cost less than £20.

 

Day 15+: Lahore-Amritsar:

From Lahore there is a twice weekly train, the 'Samjhota Express', taking 7 hours (see the Pakistan page eastbound, see above westbound) or daily taxis/buses to Amritsar in India, 46km away. The time taken is down to the border formalities, not the distance! Spend the night in Amritsar, an perhaps visit the Golden Temple.

 

Day 16+: Amritsar-Delhi:

There are regular daily trains from Amritsar to Delhi, see above for information on Indian train travel.

 

Onwards to Dhaka in Bangladesh: Take the prestigious overnight 'Rajdhani Express' from Delhi to Calcutta, and the new 'Maitree Express' train (currently running Saturdays & Sundays only, an all-day journey) or daily buses from Calcutta to Dhaka in Bangladesh.

 

Onwards to Kathmandu in Nepal: Take a train from Delhi to Gorakhpur then a bus, see the Nepal page for more info.

 

Onwards to Burma, Thailand, China: Unfortunately, there are no easy overland routes from India or Bangladesh into either Burma (Myanmar) or Thailand. It's possible, visas and permits permitting, to travel to Kathmandu in Nepal then take a $300 tour (you can't go independently, it's not allowed) across the Himalayas to Tibet then a train into China, see the Nepal page. For overland travel from Europe to China the easy way, see the Trans-Siberian page.

 

[SayidSomal]

Originally posted by *Ibtisam:

^^Catch a train from India??? :eek:

I really don't think they should let you teach kids.

is the kids that tell me this things - not the other way round - how do you think all these young afghans arrive here - by plane - think again.

 

Just in case - i am not advising you do that - it is night mare - upside is you can write novels - that is if you survive the journey.

 

epic adventure - insha'Allah i will do it one day - perhaps when is established that links qardho to london.

[Dhubad.]

Originally posted by *Ibtisam:

A brand new £500-million cruise ship, the Celebrity Eclipse, is due to leave Southampton later for Bilbao to pick up around 2,000 British tourists from the northern Spanish port.

 

A

I was supposed to be on the Celebrity Eclipse Ship for two nights of cruising for the naming ceremony now we are not sure whether its gonna happen :eek:

[N.O.R.F]

 

Hmm, maybe one day. When the gulf train joins the network in 2017 (target date).

[nuune]

I took the ferry, and arrived safely.