A few months ago I had to travel from Edinburgh to Liverpool for work. It was utterly miserable. That was partly down to the fact that the event I was attending didn't go very well (for me, at least).
But the real problem was getting to and from the event. You can get to any of the major cities in the UK from London with no bother at all. It might take an hour longer than you would like, but the trains go all the time and, they are pretty fast, and crucially they are direct. Not so up north.
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