Initial purpose of this tour

The tour of 2025 included many Cross-Country trains and only 8 of the other 22 Train Operating Companies (TOC) excluding Eurostar and Caledonian Sleeper. So I wondered if I could devise a tour that used all the TOCs.

First was to check that they all ran regular services with First Class accommodation. Several hours investigation has identified 16 TOCs which do, and I aim to use all of these during this two-week summer tour of 2026.

Several more hours have identified 23 stations with decent hotels within 10 minutes slow walk, and in a further few hours I've now got a list of 14 regular direct services between these stations. I have eliminated Edinburgh (EDB) from this list because its nearby hotels are either very expensive or at the top of a very steep hill.

The basic plan, and it may change a few times before the start date, is (one line = one day): 

1. travel from Hotel1 to Hotel2, 
2. day-trip from Hotel2 to somewhere, 
3. maybe day-trip from Hotel2 to somewhere else
4. travel from Hotel2 to Hotel3
5. day-trip Hotel3
6. etc
7. etc