York to Cotswolds by train

York to MiM is a two change journey York > Birmingham New St on Cross Country. Then BNS > Worcester Pkwy again on Cross Country and finally Worcester Pkwy > MiM.

If I can I always try and avoid BNS Station, even though it been rehabbed, it still find it a dark and dingy place. But in this instance the alternative is at least 4 changes and it is the lesser of two evils. Also, Cross Country trains are always rammed as they are short trains and years of commuting between Leeds and Swansea still sends shivers up my spine at the mere thought of that journey.

The easiest way Penrith > York: is TPE to Preston and Northern from Preston >York. TPE and Northern don't have stellar records at the moment, but at least the journey across the Peninnes is picturesque.

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Penrith to York can be done in several ways - but consider going the short (like 15 minutes) by bus or taxi from Penrith to the next village east = Lanwathby (if on a bus - tell the driver you want the rail station). This puts you on a scenic line over the Pennines (Settle to Carlisle Line) with direct trains to Leeds - where you change for another train that will take you to York. So, check out the following website for Lanwathby (LGW) > York (YRK) and note the times of the trains - especially when you arrive/depart Leeds. Now see how you can reduce the fares by splitting at Leeds as follows - LGW > LDS (pay on the day should be about £14). LDS > YRK should be £6.40 if you buy in Advance for that specific train. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ (You won’t find it cheaper than that)!

For York to The Cotswolds it can be expensive unless you purchase advance tickets for specific trains and use splits rather than a through ticket. This site will tell you how to do this so try it out for a date say 8 weeks from now:>https://trainsplit.com
If you via London, you have the hassle of getting from Kings Cross to Paddington. I would favour going via Birmingham (new Street).

There are a number of other routes from Penrith to York.
You can stay on the Trans Pennine train from Penrith at Preston, continuing on to Manchester Piccadilly, changing there to another Trans Pennine train to York.
That route is almost as fast as what is locally called the Copy Pit route on Northern (ex Preston) through Burnley, Hebden Bridge and Bradford.
Also you can take a train from Penrith to Carlisle, then take the famous Settle Carlisle scenic railway to Leeds, changing there for York by either of two routes.
Depending on the day of the week it is actually possible to take a bus from Penrith to connect with the Settle Carlisle railway at the small market towns of Appleby and Kirkby Stephen- both of which are interesting towns in their own right.
As far as I know Rick doesn't mention that part of Cumbria, which is a shame.
PS- Langwathby is only served on certain days of the week, like Kirkby Stephen, on a little volunteer run bus called the Fellrunner. It used to call at Langwathby Railway Station but now uses the stop at the Village Green. Fyi, the village name is LANGWATHBY with a G.
On certain days of the week (see the timetable) you can also use that volunteer run bus to stations at Armathwaite and Lazonby as well.
http://www.fellrunnerbus.co.uk/
I live here so know the routes and the area like the back of my hand, and how to actually spell local place names.
The fellrunner is mainly designed for shoppers from the "East Fellside" villages to do shopping trips to Penrith.
On some days of the week at Langwathby Village Green look out for the converted horse box which is a little cafe. The Brief Encounter cafe and restaurant at the station was a casualty of Covid.

From Moreton on Marsh to York the way of avoiding Birmingham is to go into London Paddington, cross London, and train from Kings Cross to York. It can actually work out cheaper.
The platforms at Birmingham may be dingy, but the main waiting area certainly isn't. And you are in a huge shopping mall with a food court which has loads of food and beverage options.
But it is a confusing place to change at.
At Worcestershire Parkway you change from the High Level platform (singular) onto the Low Level platforms.
I am told that a huge far bigger than life sized sculpture of a bull is now in the waiting area at New Street- very new.

By the way, the £14 fare from Langwathby to Leeds is not available on the train. It is an advance fare which you have to buy before boarding the train on your phone or at the machine on the opposite (northbound platform), and has limited availability.
IF (a big if) it has not sold out you have to buy at least 5 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. In Summer it will sell out.
If it sells out you pay much more than that. So book ahead to get the £14 fare, which can actually be as low as £11, a few weeks ahead of time.
You can never actually buy tickets on any northern train now, even from an unstaffed station, as all stations are penalty fare zones. You must buy either ahead of time or at the station machines which all but the quietest station now has.
This is the regular bus from Penrith to Appleby (alight at The Sands Church for the station- 563

And this is the supplementary service to Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, also to Garsdale Station and Dent Station (the highest station in Britain)- those being served from Kendal-
Western Dales Bus

Many ways to either do the Penrith to York journey as a functional fastest possible route, or as a scenic spectacular adventure.

"That route is almost as fast as what is locally called the Copy Pit route on Northern (ex Preston) through Burnley, Hebden Bridge and Bradford."

Living in the area and using that line frequently for 30+ years, I have never heard it called the Copy Pit route, Calder Valley or the Caldervale route perhaps, but Copy Pit no! Its appears you are far to reliant on Google than real life experiance. Now that TPE have fallen as low as Northern quite why you would advise any one to change at Picc as opposed to Preston on this route is beyond me.

Living in the area and using that line frequently for 30+ years, I
have never heard it called the Copy Pit route, Calder Valley or the
Caldervale route perhaps, but Copy Pit no! Its appears you are far to
reliant on Google than real life experiance. Now that TPE have fallen
as low as Northern quite why you would advise any one to change at
Picc as opposed to Preston on this route is beyond me.

It's only the bit between Blackburn and Todmorden/Hall Royd Jn that is known as the Copy Pit route - thereafter it joins the Calder Valley line as you say. Copy Pit is quite correct for the former section; it's both a name which is accurate (Copy Pit is the name of the summit of the line at 749ft) and still in use, notably by railway staff.

Its appears you are far to reliant on Google than real life experiance

That does seem a bit harsh Laughing Spam Fritter.

In answer to Laughing Spam Fritter the Copy pit route is a term used. It's a shame I am accused of 'googling'. We have different experiences, different histories and different knowledge sets. Any time I go that way it's what I write in my travel diary.
If Manchester is a valid route, which it is, it is there for the OP's information, for completeness to give him all the information.
Purely personally in many but not all cases I would rather route via Manchester, partly because the Preston connection works better for me, and partly down to rolling stock preference. Depends on the day.
I was actually on the re-opening train on the Rose Grove to Hall Royd via Burnley section. It was then called something else, which I can't remember and isn't important, but was a name to do with the building society the line was reopened for. A long disused title anyway. My memory may be defective, and it's irrelevant, but I don't think Wikipedia is correct in that bit of the line's history.

Another route from Penrith to York has now re-opened.
On a Saturday Stagecoach are now running the 563 bus from Penrith to Kirkby Stephen rail station where it connects with the train to Leeds and York on the Settle to Carlisle railway line. This route has been closed since 2006 and is being subsidised by all the village and town councils on the route.
In answer to a previous malicious comment I didn't find this route by googling, but by actually being in Kirkby Stephen on the 2nd day of operation, and taking the chance to actually use the route.

By the way another thread has been looking at look alike names.
While at Burnley earlier this week, on an intentional 9 hour bus journey from Manchester to Preston via Burnley, Keighley and Skipton, I was reminded that on the Copy Pit rail route there is a village called Portsmouth. It's very much an inland place, and a small moorland Yorkshire village so very different from it's well known name sake on the south coast of England, or namesakes in New Hampshire or Virginia in the United States.

That line was re-opened when Burnley Building Society was swallowed up into the Bradford & Bingley BS. They closed the offices in Burnley and the train was used to get workers to Bradford.

By the way I didn't HAVE to do a 9 hour bus ride for what is a 45 minute train journey. I had made an error. I was meant to go from Manchester to Settle then a complimentary train home, but had accidentally booked a train from Preston instead heading north.

So I made a virtue out of the mistake and used the current £2 maximum bus fares to cover a succession of routes I have been trying to get to for years.
In that part of the world the buses are run by a company called Transdev, who are very good. They still have inspectors at the bus stations, and clean the vehicles between most trips (not a Covid matter, just a quality matter). And very high quality buses. Big, soft leather seats, two of the buses I was on had glass roofs, and the option of round table seating- on an ordinary city bus. Frequent service.
I am in Manchester again on Monday, and am now planning a revised route back home to use another of these interesting scenic routes in East Lancashire or even a cross border service from Yorkshire, in place of the train for part of the journey back.
A case of travelling the interesting way, not the fastest route or even the cheapest route.
Not the sort of route I would ever suggest to a time conscious overseas traveller, unless they asked. I don't even think anyone on the forum ever even asks about the former industrial towns of East Lancashire.