Are there any restrictions on that route? Can I go via London?

You are travelling in Britain...and decide to take the train. You are asking for train information. Sometimes tickets have restrictions. This means that you can't travel via / through a particular place. If you buy a ticket from Bangor (North Wales) to Brighton, for example, you want the cheapest one, right? With the cheapest ticket you will probably not be able to go through London. A ticket from Edinburgh to Brighton via London will probably cost you more money. Via London means going through London. If you travel on a more expensive route than the one you have paid for, you'll probably have to pay a fine. (Fine = a financial penalty / punishment.) This sentence is an example of tourism, tourism, public transport, public transport, public transport, public transport, information on britain.

Would it be a good idea to make a reservation?

• You are travelling in Britain...and decide to take the train.
• You are asking for train information.
• Sometimes, on some routes, at certain times of the day, the trains are packed (completely full.)
• Making a reservation is sometimes a good idea to ensure you get a seat.
• It is a seat reservation.
• It's pretty miserable (and annoying) to pay £40 for a train ticket and then have to stand up for 3 hours.
• It's free to reserve a seat, but you may need to book the ticket in advance.
• You have to reserve the ticket for each section of the journey. So, if you have to change trains twice on a journey, then that means you'll have to make reservations on three trains.

This sentence is an example of tourism, tourism, public transport, public transport, public transport, public transpo

Is that an express train or a local train?

Notes:

• You are travelling in Britain...and decide to take the train.
• You are asking for train information.
• This can make a big difference to journey times.
• An express from London to Brighton will only stop once - at Brighton - a fast journey.
• A local train from London to Brighton will stop at 167 stations in between, adding fourteen hours to your journey.
• Perhaps I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the idea.

This sentence is an example of tourism, tourism, public transport, public transport, public transport

Excuse me, does this train go to Blackpool? Is this the Blackpool train?

You are travelling in Britain...and decide to take the train. You are asking for train information. Excuse me. This is the polite way of asking for something. Sometimes, if you are going to get off the train before its final destination, this is a good thing to ask. This is because your station might not be written on the train. You could also ask: 'Do you know if this train goes to Blackpool?' This sentence is an example of politeness, tourism, tourism, public transport, public transport, public transport

Sorry, this seat's taken.

• You are travelling in Britain...and decide to take the train.
• You want to sit down... so you ask: 'Do you mind if I sit here?'
• The other person replies: 'sorry, this seat's taken.'
• This means, 'someone is sitting here: he isn't here right now, but, believe me, he's coming back.'
• Sorry. Sorry? It's not his fault you can't find a seat.. why is he sorry?
• However, in English we say this a lot. It's polite.
• It's a passive sentence: to be + past participle.
• This seat is + taken. (Take / took / taken - it's an irregular verb.)

This sentence is an example of tourism, tourism, public transport, public transport, public transport, public transport, passive voice (get), irregular verbs.

Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the police station, please?

• You are travelling in Britain...and want to ask for directions.
• Excuse me, could you tell me…? This is very polite.
• How to get to… = how to go to / how to arrive at…
• We say this when we know the place we want to go to exists, we just don't know where it is.
• E.g. Every town has a post office / police station etc. - so we can ask '…how to get to the post office?'
• If we're not sure that a place exists, we'll ask this:
• Excuse me, could you tell me if there's a cinema, please?

This sentence is an example of directions, tourism, tourism, politeness.

• s, tourism, tourism, politeness.