Hi everyone:
I am having trouble understanding the train interruptions and what our best options might be to get from London to Glasgow on May 5th. It looks like the schedule is out but still says it's not final? We'd like an early train. We are staying at St. Jame, A Taj Hotel near Buckingham palace. I saw an option for one train leaving at 10:03 (multiple operators) with 3 changes and taking 6 hrs. 95.00 GBP
Thoughts on flying? Which airport?
Thank you so much
Sharon
Looks like there's engineering between Glasgow and Carlisle on that day, which means no direct travel on that line. Avanti may put a replacement bus on but that probably won't go on sale until closer to departure.
In terms of rail your best option will likely be London Kings Cross to Edinburgh on LNER or Lumo, change at Edinburgh and then ScotRail to Glasgow Queen Street. I'm seeing a ticket at 11:00 that day for just £59.00
In terms of flying, it's personal preference. Timing tends to work out similar due to transferring to/from airports plus waiting around in terminals, but it can sometimes be cheaper. London City Airport is close to central London and has flights to Glasgow, but it's British Airways so may be more expensive. Easyjet is a budget airline and flies from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, but all three of those are outside central London. Gatwick may be the best option as your hotel is close to Victoria station, which has a direct train to Gatwick Airport.
There are engineering works on the west coast mainline between Carlisle and Glasgow that weekend necessitating an alternative route.
The simplest alternative is to take the east coast line from King's Cross and make a simple change at Edinburgh. The earliest train is at 10am arriving in Edinburgh at 14.20, departing at 14.30 and arriving at Glasgow Queen St at 15.15. Current fare £84pp.
The 11am train is currently £59 and will arrive at Queen St at 16.20.
You might think that 10 minutes to change trains at Edinburgh is tight. It's perfectly normal but if the first train is late you can just take the next train - the service is frequent.
You can fly from LGW or LTN with EasyJet at a basic price of £26pp on the morning of 5/5. There will be charges for baggage and selecting seats which are likely to bring the price up beyond the train fares once you add in the cost of getting to the airport and into Glasgow from GLA. Timing won't be significantly quicker and there's all the hassle of transiting through airports which you don't have with trains.
But if you want to to Glasgow earlier in the day this is the best choice. There is a 7.10am from LTN and a 8.20am from LGW. But both of those need a very early start from central London or a night at the airport before.
There is no 'may' about it. Avanti will run a replacement bus. It leaves at the same time as each scheduled train departure and takes 2 hours, which is one hour longer than the train.
However Euston is also closed. Buses will run from Bedford to Milton Keynes where trains will start. Use East Midlands or Thameslink from St Pancras for Bedford.
There also seems to be engineering work between Preston and Carlisle. Rail replacements on that sector also take 2 hours. So pax for North Cumbria are being routed on an all train route through Newcastle and Hexham. That and Leeds are the only routes open into Carlisle.
Anyone from the South on the West coast changes buses at Carlisle.
Thus the East Coast line will be extremely busy.
There are also buses from Carlisle that day to Dumfries and Maryport. A marshalled queing system will be in place inside the station. That is a well rehearsed system.
With all the changes and interruptions, IMHO you'd be better off taking an LNER or Lumo train to Edinburgh then switching to a Scotrail train to Glasgow.
Flying will not save you any time when you consider travel time to and from airports, as well as check in, security, etc.
It looks, from the Avanti website, as if the bus times are being added in to the system on or about 13 March. For the late May holiday it looks like 3 April ish for timetable release.
It seems as if all this also applies on the Saturday and Monday of that weekend as well.
Looking at the National Rail website for engineering work LNER and Lumo are also affected by morning engineering work that day, which is not yet in the journey planners, apparently.
The line is closed between Doncaster and Darlington via York, with bus replacements until 1045 am, if the work is completed on time.
So don't leave too Kings Cross too early that morning.
The motto seems to be that you are too early to book yet, by a week or two at least. £95 should be comfortably beatable as a fare when the dust settles on all these revised timetables. That is a bit rare for both routes to have closures on the same day.
Thank you everyone for all the great information. I will wait a week or so and check in with the train lines again. I looked at a bunch of flights and they seem a bit involved, or very early, or quite expensive. I'd gladly pay the 95.00 fee if I was sure what the plan was.
Looking forward to our trip!!!!
Thanks again
Sharon
