Scotland train/bus

Q2- It's the 1218- As the old saying has it from the colonial shipping route to India travel POSH- Port (Left) side out, Starboard (Right) side back.

To India this was all about which side of the ship the sun was on.

But just as the train leaves Banavie in one direction or the other try to be on the other side as you clatter over the almost unique swing bridge to look up the canal towards Neptunes Staircase (the famous lock flight) which ultimately goes to Inverness. Banavie is the first station, 6 minutes out of Fort William.

Q3- Bus info from Shiel Buses. However this is a Saturday so there is one bus in each direction (#534). Therefore get off the train at Glenfinnan at 1249, take the bus at 1355, arrives Mallaig at 1500, train back at 1605.- https://www.shielbuses.co.uk/timetables-and-fares. Pay your £2 fare to the driver.
Don't mess about with FW- Glenfinnan/Mallaig to Fort William tickets, cheapest and utterly legal is to buy FW- Mallaig return.

If it's a nice day, you might like to get Shiels Buses 46/47 town bus earlier in the morning, get off at the B8004 junction in Banavie, stroll up to Neptunes staircase, then board the train at Banavie- again, totally legal and above board.

Q4- The 0856/1211- Yes and no, you can use either train. They travel on the same route, but the Glasgow to Edinburgh train has different stopping patterns.

However the split it is giving me for both trains is at Croy- Oban to Croy Anytime Day Single £22.20, Croy to Edinburgh ADS £10.25-. Total of £32.45
Trains are Oban 0856 GQS 1156/1215 Waverley 1304, or Oban 1211 GQS 1534/1545 Waverley 1636.

If you want then reserve a seat on the other train to the one you have booked on the Trans Pennine Express website.

If you miss the connection at GQS the Croy stoppers are the xx15 and xx45. The peak hour xx00 and xx30 omit Croy- https://www.scotrail.co.uk/media/86908/download?inline

However given that I might be leaving Glasgow at the start of the evening peak I would travel 1st class from Glasgow to Edinburgh- that split is Oban to GQS ADS £22.20, GQS to Edinburgh Off Peak Single 1st Class £14.35- so an extra £4.10 for a bit more space and less crowded.

That split also allows you to use all trains- the xx45, xx00, xx15 and xx30

To be honest, the Croy split is saving you 90p, even in standard you might as well split across Glasgow, not Croy- then you can use ALL trains, also if the Falkirk High route is having problems you can pivot to the Bathgate route from QS Low Level (no 1st class on that route).

Q5- No, buy on the day.

No, no need to buy on 10 July, prices in October are not going to rise. If it was me I wouldn't even be thinking of buying tickets until mid September, and I know I am not going to be paying any more, even if these were dynamic Advance) fares, which they aren't.

Jules,

Another thought, I've lost track of how you are getting from Fort William to Oban- train, bus, or taxi.

However Scotrail have something called the Highland Rover for £65.30 for 4 days in 8 travel with a railcard- https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/combined-tickets-travel-passes/highland-rover

It includes the Citylink/WCM bus between FW and Oban.

Glasgow to Fort William is £25.80, Oban to Glasgow is £22.20, Fort William to Mallaig is £12.65 day return- Total £60.65
The bus FW to Oban is £2- so £62.65, so very close.

If you are taking the train FW to Oban then the rover will be the cheapest option.

Book all seats on TPE, if you do use the rover.

Then just buy Edinburgh to Glasgow return tickets on top- an Anytime Return valid for one month is £14.95- Standard Class, no 1st class equivalent.

I am no expert, but my son has lived in Scotland now for four years and we just got back from a visit to several places you mention. We exclusively took buses - Citylink to connect us from Stirling to EDI and Ember to connect us from Edinburgh to Oban. Really easy and not expensive.

@Emily thanks for the suggestion of the bus. Always good to have options. For sure, I'll consider it for Stirling.
@Stuart, I will need to look at this more when I'm home. We are going to take a taxi from Fort William to Oban with stops in Glencoe. I'm glad I can wait to buy the train tickets. I think I'm understanding our day Fort William to Mallaig and back. Essentially, train to Glenfinnan, bus to Mallaig, train to Fort William. (Possible morning bus ride Neptune's staircase). I have to really look at Oban to Edinburgh, to understand it. Travel day would be Wednesday, October 14. Not completely sure the difference between pence and pound. is 90 pence roughly $1.20 (USD)? if so, definitely not worth any effort.

What I really don't understand is why are there different prices for the different times of day, when it seems all the tickets are "anytime" tickets? Why wouldn't I just pay for the cheapest tickets and then travel when I want?

Also, for the leg Glasgow to Edinburgh, 1st class was suggested due to the time of day probably being rush hour. Does this give me a seat assignment?

In terms of when to buy my tickets, it looks like the prices don't change and the anytime price ticket is always available? (Just to get an idea, I was looking at buying tickets for tomorrow) Could I buy my tickets day of travel?

Yes, 90p is around US$1.20. Sometimes fare splitting does go to absurd lengths.

On Glasgow to Edinburgh trains there are no seat assignments in either class.

Yes, for all these journeys the lack of Advance Fares means you can just buy day of- the only caveat being seat reservations.

I have vanished deeply into the weeds with this question because I was really unhappy with a split on Croy. The reason being that if the Falkirk line is closed for any reason I'm then stuck with whatever alternative transport Scotrail provide on that route as I have to pass through Croy. If I split on Glasgow then, if push comes to shove I can use any of the other routes- Bathgate, Shotts, Carstairs. So I keep full flexibility.

There are some pricing errors- so for instance in the Fare Manual (dated 5 July) an Anytime Day Single Croy to Edinburgh (before railcard discount) is £18 in 1st class, but an Off Peak Single is £19.70. (no such pricing error in Standard) so yes any sane person would buy the cheaper £18 fare, the Off Peak fare is meaningless. From Glasgow both Off Peak and Anytime Single remain but both are the same price!!

So for seat reservations you can do what I have done for a trip next Tuesday. I booked seats on Avanti using the TPE website 5 weeks ago, but will only be buying the tickets to go with the reservations on Monday.
In that case I am travelling on a Rover Ticket so get a fully flexible fare for less than Advance fares would have been and am effectively paying £11.50 for a 300 mile round trip journey where the fully flexible price is £52.25. I don't know what time the meeting will end, so couldn't have booked Advance Tickets.

So to cut to the chase, per person, buy Period Anytime Standard Class Returns Edinburgh to Glasgow for £14.75, a Glasgow to Fort William Anytime Day Single for £25.80, an Oban to Glasgow Anytime Day Single for £22.20, and Fort William to Mallaig Off Peak Day Return £12.65.

If you wanted to do 1st class on the way back to Edinburgh you would have to buy an Anytime Standard Class Single on the way out for £11.15, and an Anytime Day 1st Class single on the way back for £14.35.

Jules,

News today that there will be a new Scotrail app and website from 30 July. Anyone with an existing website account will have to reset their password.

Fingers crossed that resolves the technical problems. After the GWR fiasco I can't say my confidence is high, but time will tell.

You will need to download the new app when that happens. Existing tickets will remain on the legacy app.

Good to know, thanks Stuart.

I did figure out that if I logged into my account and went into edit mode, it then worked to look at ticket times/prices. I just hope the new website and apps make things better and not worse. ;)