The information on this site is provided free of charge, to give you a reasonable idea of train times, fares, and how to buy tickets - hopefully enough to know what's available, plan a trip and contact a booking agency. I do my best to keep the site updated, but it's simply impossible for one person to keep every time & fare up to date 100% of the time. Fares are particularly difficult, as I do not generally have access to the fares manuals or reservation systems, only the same internet resources that are available to anyone. And operators don't tell me when they put their prices up, I have to spot that they've done so, unless a seat61 user helps me by spotting it first!
So treat all train times & fares as a guide and not as gospel, and use the links provided to double-check them using the official railway & ferry websites wherever possible. Always confirm details direct with the operator or ticketing agency. I can't take responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in the information I provide, but please e-mail me if you find any and I will put them right as soon as I can.
Finally, this is a personal website which started as a hobby and has now become a full time occupation. I'm not a company or corporation or travel agency, just an individual with knowledge that other travellers may find useful. Affiliate schemes provide commission to support the site and my travel habit (er, I mean research, of course), and buy me a beer or two if you choose to click through to buy a ticket, railpass, hotel, holiday, guidebook or insurance, and so on. Affiliate schemes include Amazon.co.uk & .com, RailEurope.co.uk, .com, .com.au etc., Deutsche Bahn, NS HiSpeed, Venere.com, Hostelbookers.com, HotelsCombined.com, Booking.com, directline.com, dfds.co.uk, Stena Line, Eurostar.com, Disneyland Europe, Expedia.co.uk, Tripadvisor.com, Chinatripadvisor.com, Real Russia, Great Rail Journeys, Holiday Autos, Columbus Direct, Brittany Ferries, SeaFrance, Travelbag, Railbookers.com & .com.au, FTS and others.
I also feature ads chosen by Google Adsense, but please note that I have relatively little control over exactly what they choose to show!
Other than this, I have no direct connection with the railway, shipping or booking agencies listed on this site, so if you have any difficulties with them, please don't blame me, but let me know, by e-mailing me. Tell me if an agency gives you particularly good service, too!
Best wishes, and happy travelling!
Mark Smith.
The Man in Seat Sixty-One...
All pages on seat61.com are © Mark Smith 2001-2011. All photos are © Mark Smith 2001-2011, except where they are shown as provided courtesy of another person.
I personally don't use 'cookies' on this website, or gather or keep any information about visitors to seat61.com, unless they email me, when of course I keep emails on my PC just like any other private individual. I do not normally disclose names or email addresses to anyone else, but if you email me to report an issue or problem you've experienced with a particular train, ferry, agency or organisation, then I may share this with my contacts in the relevant train, ferry or ticketing companies to see if they can help you, or at least make them aware of the problem and perhaps resolve it for future travellers - Unless you ask me not to in your original email, of course, and then I won't. Similarly, if you email me to provide a report on a particular journey or experience, I'll assume you're happy for me to post this on this site as a 'traveller's report' to help other travellers, crediting you by name but not showing your email address, unless you tell me you'd rather not be named, or would rather the report wasn't posted, and then I'm happy to respect your wishes.
However, I use Google Analytics to understand at how people use the site, and Google Analytics does use cookies which are stored on your PC. The information which this generates is used to create reports about how people in general use seat61, and Google stores this information. Google's privacy policy is available at www.google.com/privacypolicy.html.
I use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit the site. These companies may use aggregated information (but not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide adverts about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
I have also signed up to a number of affiliate schemes, where a link from seat61.com to a retailer's website is 'tracked' to provide commission to seat61 if you buy something, and such schemes often also use cookies temporarily stored on your PC. The cookies are created and managed by the relevant third party retailer or affiliate scheme management company, not by me, and as far as I am aware they are only used to attribute commission to seat61.com, and perhaps capture aggregate data, not to capture specific data on individuals.