Transport

ALL-NIGHT train services to a major UK airport will begin next month.

The roll out of a new rail timetable will connect travellers to the UK’s third busiest airport all through the night.

Eight overnight trains will go between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.

Beginning from May 17, night trains are expected to run roughly every hour between the city and the airport.

The TransPennine Express (TPE) services are being put in place as part of a timetable shakeup.

It’s hoped it will better connect passengers making journeys to and from Manchester Airport in the late night and early morning.

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Andrew McClements, customer experience and transformation director at TPE, said, “We’re pleased to be introducing services that give customers more choice, added flexibility, and an improved overall experience when travelling with us.”

Other changes to the TPE timetable will see an update to 08.05am weekday services between Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly come into place.

The regular service will begin to call at Dewsbury.

This is to help commuters and students with early morning commutes and to better connect them to the city.

TPE is also urging customers to check their usual routes to see if they have been impacted by the timetable changes.

It said, “Although most of our services are unchanged, we encourage customers to take a moment to check any journeys they make regularly.”

A FIRST look at a new £40million train station has been revealed.

The hub is set to connect thousands in a rural English village to two major UK cities.

Construction for the new railway station in Charfield in South Gloucestershire began in August 2025 and will host train services for the village for the first time in decades.

Now, locals have been given a first glimpse of the £39.5million project that will provide them with hourly trains to and from Bristol, Gloucester and Yate.

With the station set to open in spring of 2027, a new image of its 70-space car park has been shared.

“This 70-space car park will support future rail users by providing safe, convenient access to the station and is a big step forward ahead of the station welcoming its first passengers in spring 2027,” a spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said.

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There will also be other facilities built as part of the two-platform station, such as a pedestrian footbridge, bus stop and cycle parking.

Located off of Charfield’s Station Road, the renovation will provide the village with train services for the first time since 1965.

Thanks to funding for the project from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, residents will enjoy fast links to nearby cities and be able to reduce reliance on car travel.

“It will improve the local and regional road network and give people the option of fast, clean travel to the heart of neighbouring towns and cities for work, education and leisure,” said South Gloucestershire Council Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration, and Infrastructure, Councillor Chris Willmore.

“We know this project has been a long time coming, and there will inevitably be some disruption while the work is carried out, but it’s an investment for the future of the village and the surrounding area and we are so pleased to be getting on with delivering the infrastructure that people need,” he added.

Charfield is one of five new station builds set to take place in the West of the country over the next few years.

“Local people in and around Charfield will see and feel the difference, with new travel options thanks to regional investment with the support of local and national partners,” said Mayor of the West of England, Helen Godwin.

“Delivering projects like Charfield station lays the foundations for a better transport system overall for the West of England, building the kind of regional railway network that other places take for granted.”

ONE of the UK’s most-loved National Parks will soon be much easier to get to without a car.

Last year, Dartmoor National Park in Devon celebrated winning a court debate that allowed the public to wild camp for free.

And now it’s getting a new £15million station on its doorstep, allowing more people to visit the park.

The new interchange station will open at Okehampton, which is on the northern edge of the National Park.

The station will be called Okehampton Interchange and is a different station from Okehampton.

Work on the station began back in February last year.

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Once complete, it will be the newest stop on the Dartmoor Line since it opened in 2021 and will connect Okehampton to Exeter, as well as Crediton in North Devon.

And if you are travelling from London, it won’t take you too long to get there, making it the ideal escape for the weekend.

You’ll need to hop on a train between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids, taking just over two hours, and then switch to a service to Okehampton.

The single-platform station is planned to open this summer.

I was fortunate enough to grow up within short distance of Dartmoor National Park, which is the ideal spot for hikes and walks.

In my opinion, the Dartmoor doesn’t get the love it deserves.

It is the only place in England where you can wild camp without prior landowner permission, which is an incredible situation that shouldn’t be undervalued.

While tourists head en masse to the Lake District and the Peak District each summer, Dartmoor still feels like an undiscovered gem.

On many of my hikes, for example, I haven’t come across another soul – unless you count the free-roaming sheep or loveable Dartmoor ponies.

To head on a hike from the new station, exit onto Hameldown Road before reaching and crossing the B3260.

Then drop onto Fatherford Lane, where you’ll head under the bypass and onto Dartmoor.

From here, there are several walks you can go on.

For a two-hour round walk, you can venture to Belstone, which is a tiny village at the edge of the National Park.

Once you reach the village, you can stop by for a pint at The Tors Inn.

If you want to head off on a longer hike, you can also use Belstone as a base, as there are a couple of holiday lets in the village.

Points of interest in the moorland surrounding the village include the Nine Stones Circle, also known as the Nine Maidens or 17 brothers.

It is a Bronze Age stone circle that was a burial ground and is mentioned in folklore, where locals are nervous of carrying out restoration work on the circle as they believe those who tamper will become cursed.

If you don’t mind a longer route, you can head to Meldon Reservoir, which dams the River Okement and was built over 50 years ago.

On your walk around the Reservoir, you can expect breathtaking views, and you can also spot Meldon Viaduct, which was built in the 19th century.

For the keen hikers, you might want to visit High Willhays – the highest point on Dartmoor and in southern England.

Reaching 621metres above sea level, it is no small feat to hike to the top, but once you do you will be greeted by panoramic views.

And depending on the time of year, High Willhays often has snow when the rest of Dartmoor doesn’t.

You can also add in a stop to Yes Tor, which is slightly more rugged.

The best thing about hiking on and visiting Dartmoor is that it remains the only place in England where visitors have a legal right to camp for free, without seeking landowners’ permission beforehand.

The National Park just asks that you do it within the areas marked on their backpack camping map and that you stay no longer than two nights.

The right to wild camp on Dartmoor was threatened last year when, back in 2021, landowners (and millionaires) Alexander and Diana Darwall claimed that visitors should not be able to camp without landowner permission.

Over four years of back-and-forth debates, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that wild camping was allowed.

Even though wild camping on Dartmoor often means you’re exposed to the elements, there is no way to camp closer to nature in the UK.

But before you visit Dartmoor, make sure to check the live firing times which are posted on the Gov.uk website.

Though this might sound scary, it is nothing to be worried about – the British military use Dartmoor as a training site and have since the 1800s.

This means they will sometimes carry out exercises using live ammunition, but in the areas they do, red flags or lights will be displayed to warn the public.

On several occasions I have come across army cadets hiking and training, as well as seeing empty ammunition shells on the ground – though, The Ministry of Defence advises not to pick them up.

And if you are heading on a hike, you’ll need good boots as a lot of Dartmoor is boggy.

Make sure you know where the bird nesting areas are as well, as they cannot be accessed during certain times of the year.

Dartmoor National Park’s website lists the different areas with maps and also the times you cannot enter them.

Some do have set paths through them though that you can use.

There are also so many more places you can explore and hike to on Dartmoor than High Willhays, Meldon and Belstone.

The National Park has been used as the filming location for a number of major productions including Sherlock Holmes’ Hound of the Baskervilles, War Horse and even the upcoming HBO Max Harry Potter series.

As you explore the National Park, make sure to look out for the wild ponies that also call it home.

And if you fancy a bit more of an adventure, there are some companies that offer canoeing and rafting on the moors’ rivers.

Name a better place to enjoy ponies, peaks and pubs…

If you are looking for other places to camp in the UK, here’s the English campsite named the best in Britain that families are raving about, and it costs just £12.50 each a night.

Plus, here are five affordable campsites with some of the UK’s best views – and pitches from just £11.