We will be traveling by train from Edinburgh airport to Carlisle (after dropping rental car).
Also Corbridge to Newcastle.
When is the best time to buy cheapest train tickets? Or when do advance tickets open up? Or does it matter for these two legs?
Best app to purchase train tickets?
EDIT: Not traveling until September.
Taking bus from Carisle to Brampton, then 4 day Hadrians wall hike to Corbridge. Train from Corbridge to Newcastle.
What date are you travelling, given the impending closures and part closures of the line between Edinburgh and Carlisle for the next three months?
But that leg is certainly much cheaper on an advance ticket.
The closure dates are complex, so a date of travel would be useful.
Depending on that it may be more advantageous to route to Corbridge via Newcastle.
Newcastle or Carlisle to Corbridge has no advance tickets, so no benefit to booking ahead. If you aren't stopping over in Carlisle on the way, then depending on what is happening that day a through advance ticket may be more suitable.
Normally general advice could be given, but currently it needs to be day specific.
Route planners are not updating timeously due to the engineering work, so that kind of answer to you will not be helpful.
PS- from the airport to Edinburgh Waverley is by bus or tram, Depending on preference.
Nationalrail.co.uk
BUY AS EARLY AS YOU CAN!
Rail in Great Britain is, on a per mile basis, the highest cost in Europe when booked a la minute. Booking early can save you massively.
national rail.co,uk is NOT showing up to date information for the next few months, as was stated. The timetable is extremely fluid. That is why specific help is being offered, not generalistic statements.
In fact national rail and other planners are showing times and selling tickets for trains they admit may not exist when you look at the small print.
There is currently no uniformity on when advance tickets are opening on the west coast.
The usual sweeping statement of 10 to 12 weeks is simply not true for the next few months, by a wide measure and is unlikely to be so before summer time. At times it is as short as 11 days.
Let's see when the OP is travelling.
Looking at it a through ticket to Corbridge from Edinburgh is cheapest.
if you didn't see the OP edit, September for the trips
Good,
Surely all the mess on the WCML will be over by then.
Corbridge to Newcastle just turn up at the station and buy from the automatic machine. There are no advance discounts and no reserved seats so no point to buying in advance. It's £7.10.
Once (if) the engineering work ends on 4 June start looking at the Avanti West Coast website and try to establish what is happening then.
https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/
This web page is the most up to date data on Avanti.
If you are still struggling in late June come back here, and we'll see what is happening then.
Who knows, Avanti are on warning, they may not have the contract by then, it may have become an essentially nationalised company, like LNER on the east coast.
At weekends new engineering work keeps being added at 2 weeks or less notice, presently.
Check that web page each week and see what is being released, but the maximum release date is about 6 weeks beforehand, currently. One big tip is that Avanti are not being honest on this web page and haven't been for months. Once tickets are released for dates about 2 weeks before your travel date, click on the 'Buy Tickets' button on that page. Very often advance tickets are being slipped out quietly before Avanti admit on their own web page that they are out. You should get an Edinburgh to Carlisle advance ticket for £9.
Transpennine Express operate alternate trains on the route, but their fares will also appear on the Avanti website and are usually being released on the same kind of time frame, slightly more expensive.
By the way at Carlisle you will need to walk round to the Bus Station from the train station. Come out of the Railway Station, straight on past the Station hotel. Cross the road at the traffic lights and walk round the Crescent in front of you bearing left. Cross straight over the next road at the traffic lights. Pass the Congregational Church, then take the next right at the job centre, the bus station is just down that road on your left. (if you pass the Halston aparthotel you've taken the wrong turn, go back to the lights!).
It takes almost as long to write that as it does to walk the route! Its a 5 minute walk, if that.
In Brampton get off in the town centre where there are several shops for you to stock up at, and cafes.
When you pass the Church on your right your stop is the next one. In fact that Church is worth looking into, especially for it's stained glass.
As the bus leaves the stop it turns left. The town restrooms are round that corner, then take the next left.
Isn31c
Thanks for the detailed instructions on finding the bus station!
Avanti are now back to 11 to 12 weeks ahead, at least on weekdays, for tickets release. Weekends are still a problem, but that is due to Network Rail being unable to sort out their engineering programme.
Today I picked up a ticket for Edinburgh to south of Carlisle (in Cumbria) for just 11 days time for just £8.15 railcard fare, But Carlisle that day is only £10.50 (£6.90 with railcard) so you don't have to buy ages in advance or stress about setting an alarm for release date.
That kind of timescale availability for lowest price tickets is not uncommon.
Corbridge to Newcastle advance fares you can pick up for as low as £2.20 (£1.55 railcard) with as little as 2 days notice- these are new advance fares which have appeared since February.
