Trains London to Lake District

When are planning to travel? It may well be that the cheaper Advance tickets have not yet been released.

The trains are run by Avanti West Coast -https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk.

Thanks for your quick reply. Dates are 7-10 June.

Tickets are supposed to have been released, but you should be seeing better fares than the ones I am seeing. I can only see advance fares of £42 each way on the 0616 Euston to Carlisle on 7 June and the 1312 on 10 June (and on the equivalent trains to/from Penrith and Oxenholme). Those fares would normally be available on almost every train.

That date is at the limit of available issued dates, so suggests that not all advance fares are yet in the system.

Shorter distance advance fares are in- like Crewe or Preston to Carlisle or Penrith.

I can see a lot of the cheapest fares out of London Euston missing for those dates, so check back in a week or two for their release. When they are issued they won't just sell out like that.

Look at, 16 May, as a random example, of the normal spread of fares.

Thank you. The train scheduling tool looks very confusing, and I understand from you that not all rates are posted in the system yet, but I can see that the "Advance" tickets are the most economical.

You don't actually say where you are going in the Lake District. If it is Windermere the other issue is that those fares are controlled by Northern Trains. So although only the last 10 miles are on Northern those fares are only released 8 weeks before travel (that is Northern's deadline unlike 12 weeks before on Avanti.)

As a guide I have a railcard, so get 1/3rd off, but I go from West Cumbria (so 90 miles beyond Oxenholme by rail) for £24 normally each way. I usually get those fares 2 weeks before travel, and they are are on almost any train- even the peak evening trains out of London.

@ Lost in Space- Some answers for you.

You have run into the Taylor Swift effect- that weekend is her concerts in Edinburgh and all London to Scotland tickets are expected to be very busy, so Avanti have withdrawn advance fares.

So the solution is to book Advance Fares on Avanti London to Manchester Piccadilly and back- starting at £32 each way.

Then, assuming you are going to Penrith for Keswick, book advance fares on Transpennine Express from Manchester to Penrith- currently £10.10 each way.

That will save you around £50 each and also remove you largely from the crowding on the direct trains. Yes it will take a bit longer.

It is for you to weigh up cost against convenience/speed.

Who thought the Taylor Swift effect would stretch as far south as the Lake District?

isn31c,

Thanks for the information regarding Taylor Swift and the expected train congestion. I appreciate your thoroughness in checking the details so regularly.

We had planned to take Avanti Euston to Oxenholme and get a hire car from Enterprise (in Kendal). We've made lodging reservations in Bowness-on-Windermere. So, it sounds like we need to change the train route or stick with the original plan and just pay higher rail prices.

If we were to change the train route to go to Manchester Picadilly (Avanti?) and then on the TransPennine Express, what are the odds of missing the connecting train? Would it be smarter to get a hire car in Manchester and drive to Bowness?

Trains run from Manchester to Oxenholme at 21 minutes past each hour.

So if you book the train leaving Euston at 33 minutes past each hour arriving Manchester 2 hours later at 44 minutes past each hour you have a comfortable connection. There is never any certainty but it's a good margin. The 53 past from Euston arriving at 5 minutes past is still a good connection, but a bit tighter.
The 13 past would give you a 1 hour connection.

Although this is what is known as "split ticketing" your onward ticket will be valid on the next train an hour later if you miss it, but that would impact on Enterprise.

I had forgotten about your previous post and your car rental arrangements.

That makes the choice as to what to do all the harder if Enterprise are meeting you at the station. You may feel you just have to take the financial hit.

By the way at Oxenholme the main entrance- where I imagine they would meet you- is on the Southbound side- just go down the station subway, turn left and up the other side. To get to the bus stops you turn right in the subway. They may meet you in that layby, so do be clear as to the meeting point.

There is a Hertz office apparently at Manchester Pic- and at least you are very soon out onto the Mancunian Way (the city ring road which links into the motorway system), so not too bad an idea. And Enterprise are about 4 minutes walk away from Pic Station towards Piccadilly Gardens. So again straight onto Mancunian Way.

A lot to think about.

Thanks, isn31c!