Buying Train Tickets

I have just checked your journey on the National Rail Website:>http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/EDB/LBO/250914/1000/dep

I see we have 3 options (& prices) for the 10am departure from Edinburgh with various changes to reach Loughborough. The cheapest option appears to stay on East Coast as far as Newark and then take a 28 minute walk to another Newark station for onward travel. (That is quite a walk with cases - see Google Maps/Earth). (Click 'Details' to see the route options).

If the Cross Country site is giving you the best price & not involving the 'walk' in the Newark option, I would go for that. Any one of the 3 companies involved should be able to sell you the tickets for the whole journey - including the 'other' train companies. It is possible that the East Coast site does not yet have the Advance 'cheap' fares on their system. I think that you can print your own 'tickets' with East Coast & Cross Country. Normally, it is the train company that most of the journey is made on that supplies the tickets though that is not always the case.

It does not matter which company you buy from.

Did you also see the £81.20 option? When tried it, that was the only Advance First Class route shown for the 10 am departure by the East Midlands site. It has you leave the train at Newark Northgate and walk to Newark Castle to catch a train to Loughborough. Interesting option but probably not a good one with luggage.

Cross Country showed both that and the regular £126.10 Advance fare. I would buy the ticket there.

Newark Castle to Loughborough would be on a local train with only standard class seating. That is why it is cheaper. The others are first class for the entire journey.

You may find it cheaper to book two advances, with each journey being on one rail company. If the first train is late you can travel on a later service for the connection.

Marco, if I buy one Advance ticket to cover all 3 trains, won't I still be able to board a later train if an earlier one is delayed?

Yes you are covered for a later service if you miss train 2 because train 1 had been delayed, although of course you don't have seat reservations on a later service and have to take pot luck on room etc.

Marco, if that happens, I'll probably be happy just to get on any train that will get me there - even if I have to sit on the floor :-)

Seriously, thanks to all of you for the information and advice. I'm leaning towards buying tickets for this particular trip from the Cross Country site. I have 4 other trips to get point-to-point tickets for when the advance fares become available, but they are pretty straight forward.

Mary

OK, I lied - one more question.

On a Sunday we will be taking the train around 12:00 from Loughborough to York. It looks like 1st class Advance Anytime tickets are £118.80 using a Two Together rail card, but if I split the trip and buy a 1st Class Anytime ticket from Loughborough to Derby, and a 1st Class Advance ticket from Derby to York the total fare would be £53.70. There is 28 minutes between trains.

I know that weekends are usually when service improvements are done. Is it crazy to book 12 weeks out and split the journey into two tickets, given that one of the tickets is an Advance and not an Anytime?

Also, is there any site that gives train car seating layouts to help with seat selection/reservations? I honestly can't remember from our past trips what seats at tables are closest to the luggage racks.

I'm glad you are getting the answers you need. On the return trip, if 'twere I, I'd go for the split. I probably would on your inward, too. It wouldn't be the first time the driver had had to cool his/her heels while a delayed train reached him/her.

I agree with Emma about the luggage.

Emma, I've never had a problem using the luggage racks either, but I just feel more comfortable being able to see it. As for exact seat selection; you're right, I've never seen on-line where you can select an exact seat. I just thought I had missed it somewhere. I'll do what I have done in the past - reserve our seats for all trains when we pick-up the tickets at Waverly station.

Nigel, thanks also for your input. If anyone knows trains, it's you!

I really do wonder if the East Midlands train that you will be on from Loughborough to Derby will have 1st class accommodation? I have just checked it for today (Sunday) & found that the walk on fare is £6.90 but they want £13.20 for 1st Class even though it might not exist! Try e-mailing East Midlands Trains to find out if that service does have 1st Class.

Anyway, the bulk of the journey will be on a Cross Country train which will definitely have 1st class. So, having perhaps paid on the day for the East Midlands Train to Derby, you then need to advance book the CC train from Derby to York. I would check whether this would be cheaper with a split ticket with Sheffield being the split - even though you stay on the same train. Find out here:> http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets/

Your CC train will be a Voyager. Click this link & then the link for the seating plan. The 1st class coach will either be at the front or the rear of the train. You really need to have no fear for your luggage. Unfortunately, the seating plan does not show the windows. I reckon that you would easily be able to move to another seat if you don't like the one you have on your reservation.http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/customer-service/our-trains#voyager

According to the National Rail site there is 1st Class seating on that East Midlands train, but I've emailed them to double check. I'm pretty sure there is though, because we rode an East Midlands train to Loughborough from Sheffield a few years ago.

I did look into splitting the Derby to York portion and it would save a little less than £6. Thanks for the suggestion, but not sure it's worth getting one more merchant involved and one more ticket to keep track of.

Just to follow-up, the East Midlands service from Loughborough to Derby does have 1st Class seating per their Customer Service Department.

I've purchased my tickets from the Cross Country website - Edinburgh to Loughborough on one ticket in case either of the 2 earlier trains are delayed; and then for the next trip Loughborough to York, I split it into 2 tickets at Derby (20 minutes between trains) as it was about £65 cheaper to split it.

Only 3 more point-to-point tickets to purchase when the tickets become available, but all those journeys are straight shots with no changes. Thank you one and all for your advise and guidance.

The Sunday 1219 from Loughborough to Derby is the 1030 Meridian service from London St Pancras International to Sheffield service, and most definitely those Meridians do have First Class seating, usually the London most end carriage or 2, but sometimes the other way around. The station staff will know - they are very competent if they are any of the staff I used to work with a few years ago before my train company was split up by the government and I no longer visited the Loughborough - Derby/Nottingham line are still there.

The trains are very similar to the Voyagers and Super Voyagers operated by Cross Country, but a little roomier and with much less rattling and squeaking. The windows line up better too, IMHO.

Good to see you have now managed to fix these journeys. Looks like you will now be an expert on British trains!