Train/Bus help please

[artnbarb]

Trying to do this on my phone is challenging, and impending strikes make it worse! We're visiting friends who live in Braintree, just NE of London. They suggested we take the train to Bishop's Stortford, but it looks like the Stansted Express won't be running that day (https://www.stanstedexpress.com/travel-information/station-information/london-liverpool-street/ ), and I can't find any other direct trains. We have too much luggage to transfer!

They suggested we try Liverpool street station to Braintree on Greater Anglia as it uses different lines out of London which are not under repair at the moment, but I don't see that option.

Next I looked at bus schedules but can't seem to find anything close. Our friends will drive to pick us up, and obviously I'd like to get reasonably close to them. What am I doing wrong???

 

[Pauline]

Google maps shows it is only 22 minutes from Stansted Airport to Braintree. It might make things a lot easier to take a taxi.

 

[Pauline]

Google maps shows a bus from Stansted to Chelmsford. From there the train to Braintree, changing trains at Witham. This plan takes over an hour with two changes. I see other options where you don’t change trains. Going into London seems very out of the way.

 

[Ian Sutton]

bus timetable

133 - Stansted Airport - Braintree

Arriva Herts and Essex

bustimes.org

and arriva's own site is informative

Arriva Bus

www.arrivabus.co.uk

 

[Andrew]

One thing that isn't clear: Are you starting from Stansted Airport, or are you mentioning the Stansted Express because Bishop's Stortford is on the line? I rather think you're starting from London, and the question's about getting from London to Braintree. Google Maps for Aug. 16 shows a direct Greater Anglia train from London Liverpool St. to Braintree at 10.47 a.m., for example.

https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/ but their home page also mentions a strike on certain dates.

 

[artnbarb]

Google maps shows a bus from Stansted to Chelmsford. From there the train to Braintree, changing trains at Witham. This plan takes over an hour with two changes. I see other options where you don’t change trains. Going into London seems very out of the way.

We'll be in London, and need to travel from London to somewhere closer to Braintree/Stansted. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

 

[artnbarb]

One thing that isn't clear: Are you starting from Stansted Airport, or are you mentioning the Stansted Express because Bishop's Stortford is on the line? I rather think you're starting from London, and the question's about getting from London to Braintree. Google Maps for Aug. 16 shows a direct Greater Anglia train from London Liverpool St. to Braintree at 10.47 a.m., for example.

https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/ but their home page also mentions a strike on certain dates.

Correct. We need to travel from London on Sunday, Aug 21. I see there are some strikes scheduled for that day.

Trying to do this on my phone is difficult, so I may have to wait until I can access my laptop, which won't be until late Wednesday or early Thursday. Because of the scheduled strikes I wanted to make reservations as soon as possible.

 

[Andrew]

So for the Greater Anglia trains, they say the 20th is a strike day and for the 21st:

If the strike goes ahead on Saturday 20th August, our Sunday morning services will start later than usual. And some morning trains will be cancelled.
Our journey planner will be updated with the revised train times a few days before. We will update this section with a date. Plan alternative travel.

 

[Andrew]

If I'm seeing it correctly, the trains that operate on Sunday would call for a change at Witham. For a direct alternative, you could look at the coach a.k.a. bus from National Express: https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

[artnbarb]

Yep, looks like we'll be taking the bus. Thanks everyone.

 

[artnbarb]

Update: what a nightmare! After three attempts to book bus tickets online (using my phone), and three failures, I thought we might have to wait until we arrived in London and go to the Victoria bus station in person. After thinking about it, I was really worried that the bus we wanted - service is limited on Sunday - would sell out, so we asked our friends if they would try to buy the tickets for us. They also had trouble, but eventually were successful, so we'll be traveling by bus from London to Braintree on Sunday. I expect the bus will be packed. At least we were aware of the strikes and had time to prepare.