UK: London to Glasgow Central, via Edinburgh

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Sealink

Sealink

Service Attendant
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
149
Location
Crystal Palace, London
So, with four months until my next holiday year commenced I decided to squeeze a short break in at the end of January.

I had pals in Glasgow that I hadn't seen for a year so decided to put that right.

Air fares on the route to Glasgow remained stubbingly untempting, and then East Coast Trains came through with an amazing January sale.

First Class to Edinburgh for £30. Bingo!

My journey started from the new Kings Cross Station, which is simply stunning. For years it was the poor relation to the revived St. Pancras, but that has changed and the whole area is looking amazing, and it's not finished yet...

King's Cross at 7.45am
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I picked the 0800hrs departure as it had fewest stops, including a non stop run to York.

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East Coast are owned by the government, who stepped in after the two previous incumbents, GNER and National Express, couldn't make it work.

The cleanliness of the trains has been transformed since East Coast took over, and they've also introduced enhanced at-seat dining, even at weekends.

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This was breakfast today. During the week, a cooked breakfast would be offered.

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I had been out the night before until 3am so slept most of the journey. It's a route I have travelled on a lot, but the scenery is still lovely.

Then around 11am a second run from the trolley, with sandwiches and crisps and cake offered.

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The sandwich was alright if a tad dry.
 
An uneventful journey and arrival in Edinburgh exactly on time.

Edinburgh has has some work done and is looking well.

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There is a plethera of trains from Edinburgh to both Glasgow Queen Street and Glasgow Central.

I discovered that Cross Country Trains have a reasonably fast service and their first class fare is the same as ScotRail's standard class version.

There are only a few services a day, however I only had to wait 30 minute for mine.

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These trains still have issues with pervasive smells which is a shame.

With an hour journey time, they were still offering hot food which was unusual, but I wasn't feeling hungry...

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Last edited by a moderator:
Arrival in Glasgow was on time, and I stayed in a little hotel called Grasshopper, on the sixth floor of Central Station.

It was nice but I wasn't happy with the price I paid, although the view was excellent. If you like glass...

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So, London to Glasgow Central, in the relative comfort of First Class, for £42.30. Result!
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What route do the Cross Country trains take from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central? Via Motherwell? Or something else? One hours seems like a pretty long time for a trip from Edinburgh to Glasgow, no?
 
Sealink said:
So, with four months until my next holiday year commenced I decided to squeeze a short break in at the end of January.

I had pals in Glasgow that I hadn't seen for a year so decided to put that right.

Air fares on the route to Glasgow remained stubbingly untempting, and then East Coast Trains came through with an amazing January sale.

First Class to Edinburgh for £30. Bingo!

My journey started from the new Kings Cross Station, which is simply stunning. For years it was the poor relation to the revived St. Pancras, but that has changed and the whole area is looking amazing, and it's not finished yet...

King's Cross at 7.45am

12394353893_1fda103c66.jpg


I picked the 0800hrs departure as it had fewest stops, including a non stop run to York.

12394216265_0fafdf44cb.jpg


East Coast are owned by the government, who stepped in after the two previous incumbents, GNER and National Express, couldn't make it work.

The cleanliness of the trains has been transformed since East Coast took over, and they've also introduced enhanced at-seat dining, even at weekends.

12394673784_51032fe259.jpg


This was breakfast today. During the week, a cooked breakfast would be offered.

12394877924_33bfa675d7.jpg


I had been out the night before until 3am so slept most of the journey. It's a route I have travelled on a lot, but the scenery is still lovely.

Then around 11am a second run from the trolley, with sandwiches and crisps and cake offered.

12394879494_9f3142832a.jpg


The sandwich was alright if a tad dry.
Click to expand...
Great picture of the new roof looks incredible! :D
 
Cross Country route was via Motherwell, so took one hour compared to 49 minutes with First ScotRail.
 
Once or twice a month, on average, I'm on shorter runs out of London (Brighton, Winchester, Bristol, Cambridge, Northampton, Ipswitch, etc) but they seem so routine that I rarely comment on them.
 
Shortly, in May and June this year, I will be making a similar trip! I will be travel Southampton, England to Gourock, Scotland, via London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. I won't be getting those type of deals on my trip, but I do have a British Rail pass. Thanks for posting all those great photos!
 
Actually the Glasgow - Edinburgh runs have become so routine for me during my annual (almost) visit to Edinburgh, that I don;t think much about them either. The big new news there is of course that a completely new route has been opened up between Glasgow and Edinburgh, now connecting the two cities over four distinct routes. The one discussed in this thread is the southernmost one that is followed by most (if not all) intercity express trains.

The four routes are:

1. via Falkirk (Glasgow Queen Street Upper) - very frequent First Scotrail Service (every 15 mins last time I looked - DMU

2. via Bathgate (Glasgow Queen Street Lower) - somewhat less frequent First Scotrail EMU (and some Strathclyde service too AFAIR) (new route opened within the last two years

3. via Shotts (Glasgow Central - hourly Strathclyde EMU(?) don't quite recall, but seem to remember it to be excruciatingly slow

4. via Motherwell (Glasgow Central) - Virgin, GNER, CrossCountry not so frequent

A similar setup between say New York and Philadelphia would have service on the NEC, the West Trenton Line and the RiverLINE. Well we are slowly getting there I suppose. Maybe some day.

But the impressive thing is the service every 15 mins on the Falkirk line. We can get there on the NEC if NJ and PA would cooperate to run half hourly service as a starter. But two states cooperating? One can hope.
 
Thanks for posting this......it brought back memories of my first trip across the pond.

I almost had to pinch myself.......There I was on a Strathclyde commuter train heading into Glasgow at 6:30am after having just crossed the Atlantic on an Air Canada L-1011 in 4 1\2 hours (that’s wheels-up in Halifax to wheels-down in Prestwick)

I spent the day touring around the city, planning to find a hotel later that afternoon when I realized I could get an “InterCity Sleeper” for a very reasonable supplement to my BritRail FirstClass Pass and at a fraction of what a hotel would cost me. I was aware of the sleepers but not of the extensive network that was still available.

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That first evening I boarded the “Night Limited” and headed for London and the start of my 14 nights of riding sleepers. You could usually get on awhile before departure then remain aboard long after arrival in the morning.......and there was always a wake-up call with tea and biscuits.

I criss-crossed the UK on that trip and certainly got the value out of my Pass. I would visit an area for a day or hop on a fast IC125 and return by Sleeper that evening. I rode the “Night Riviera” to Penzance and was there only long enough to cross the platform and head back to London.

Scan10008.JPG


One particularly memorable evening: After a day of riding out to Mallaig and back.....I boarded a London bound sleeper in Fort William at 1730.....Then the long climb up to Corrour and looking out onto the snow swept Rannoch Moor under a bright moon (while enjoying the Glenfiddich the Attendant had just brought me!)

Image%2520%25285%2529.jpg
 
NS VIA Fan said:
Thanks for posting this......it brought back memories of my first trip across the pond.

I almost had to pinch myself.......There I was on a Strathclyde commuter train heading into Glasgow at 6:30am after having just crossed the Atlantic on an Air Canada L-1011 in 4 1\2 hours (that’s wheels-up in Halifax to wheels-down in Prestwick)

I spent the day touring around the city, planning to find a hotel later that afternoon when I realized I could get an “InterCity Sleeper” for a very reasonable supplement to my BritRail FirstClass Pass and at a fraction of what a hotel would cost me. I was aware of the sleepers but not of the extensive network that was still available.

Image%2520%25282%2529.jpg


Image%2520%25283%2529%2520-%2520Copy.jpg


That first evening I boarded the “Night Limited” and headed for London and the start of my 14 nights of riding sleepers. You could usually get on awhile before departure then remain aboard long after arrival in the morning.......and there was always a wake-up call with tea and biscuits.

I criss-crossed the UK on that trip and certainly got the value out of my Pass. I would visit an area for a day or hop on a fast IC125 and return by Sleeper that evening. I rode the “Night Riviera” to Penzance and was there only long enough to cross the platform and head back to London.

Scan10008.JPG


One particularly memorable evening: After a day of riding out to Mallaig and back.....I boarded a London bound sleeper in Fort William at 1730.....Then the long climb up to Corrour and looking out onto the snow swept Rannoch Moor under a bright moon (while enjoying the Glenfiddich the Attendant had just brought me!)

Image%2520%25285%2529.jpg
Click to expand...
That looks great! It's now marketed as the Caledonian Sleepers to Scotland and the Night Rivieira (still) to Penzance.

With the same carriages!

However, £50m has been put aside for new stock and a transformation of the service.

Price wise, you can still get bargains on the sleeper. Both are operated by First Group, but marketed seperately.

Pricing on both is different too.

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/caledoniansleeper/index.html

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Your-journey/Night-Riviera-Sleeper (Sadly suspended until further notice due to the sea wall collapse mentioned above)
 
KC Ghost Rider said:
Shortly, in May and June this year, I will be making a similar trip! I will be travel Southampton, England to Gourock, Scotland, via London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. I won't be getting those type of deals on my trip, but I do have a British Rail pass. Thanks for posting all those great photos!
Click to expand...
Why are you going to Gourock? I used to live in Dunoon - a ferry crossing away!
 
Sealink said:
KC Ghost Rider said:
Shortly, in May and June this year, I will be making a similar trip! I will be travel Southampton, England to Gourock, Scotland, via London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. I won't be getting those type of deals on my trip, but I do have a British Rail pass. Thanks for posting all those great photos!
Click to expand...
Why are you going to Gourock? I used to live in Dunoon - a ferry crossing away!
Click to expand...
My son lives in Dunoon...the new ferry service is very basic and can be unpleasant if one is prone to sea sickness. I will be going again in November 2016. Sorry for this late reply.
 

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