Train Questions

Posted by Peggy (West Linn, OR, USA) on 07/12/23 08:50 PM

Hello! The planning of our UK trip in late Aug/early Sept continues. It will be in September that we take a train from Inverness to Edinburgh. (I know some of you may be getting tired of all my questions regarding this trip but I do so appreciate the help!) My questions are:

Is the train we'd want called Scotrail? It looks like tickets can be booked ahead now.

Are these the correct train station abbreviations: INV - EDI?

Our tour can drop us off at 1200-1230. How much time will we need if we buy tickets ahead of time between getting dropped off and our train departure? The times I see aren't ideal since we'd like to get into EDI before dark. Maybe we will need to take a taxi or Uber earlier in the day for an earlier train that arrives in the afternoon and we are willing to do that.

Can we pay more for good seats with a view or even first class?

Would the trains be affected by the strike I am reading about?

Thank you all again for your willingness to help!

Posted by isn31c

Lake District, England

07/12/23 09:23 PM

8505 posts

Peggy,

Yes it's a Scotrail train.
I am assuming that you are travelling on a weekday, not a Sunday.

If so there is a 1248 train which arrives at Edinburgh Waverley at 1633. The next train at 1450 you change at Perth for Edinburgh.

You can book tickets ahead now for well into September BUT these are full price tickets and won't have assigned seats.
If you wait tickets are released for advance tickets (which are much cheaper) 8 weeks in advance- so are currently only available until the end of August. At that stage all ticket types get assigned seating.

During the booking process you can choose to have a window or aisle seat- window seats cost no more than aisle seats.

Yes all trains on that route are scheduled to convey a 1st class section (depending on the train type on your service that can be a whole car, or about 1/3 of a car). You pay extra, but there are also advance (cheaper) 1st class fares when booking opens. On checking I see that the 1248 is scheduled to have an entire first class car- easily identified by external and internal signage.

At Inverness, which is a fairly small station, it will not take more than 5 minutes to get from taxi etc to your seat on the train. You cannot possibly get lost in the station.
I'm not sure which entrance a taxi would drop you at- so can't give detailed directions. But all routes are simple and well signed. But 1230 is more than adequate for the 1248 train. Have your tickets ready for the automatic gates at the platform entrance and look for the wide gate (for baby strollers/buggies and wheelchairs as you will have luggage.

Scotrail are not affected in any way by the current wave of strikes- they have settled with their unions.

Posted by auchterless

Delaware

07/12/23 10:35 PM

1536 posts

Hi, Peggy,

Just to add to Stuart's response, the taxi dropoff is directly in front of the main entrance to the train station. There are departure boards which will let you know which platform your train will be departing from. As Stuart said, it's a small station, so you can't get lost.

Each of the platforms (I think that there are six or seven) has its own departure board, in addition to the main ones, so you should have no trouble at all finding the correct departure gate.

Safe travels!

Mike (Auchterless)

Posted by Peggy OP

West Linn, OR, USA

07/12/23 10:52 PM

160 posts

Hi isn31c !!! I was hoping you'd see my question :) And THANK YOU for answering with exactly what I needed to know! I had marked my calendar at the 8 week prior mark (which is coming up and probably because you had advised that in other posts) so was surprised to see today that I could book but now I will definitely wait so I can get the assigned seating and better price. I didn't know this was the case, so many, many thanks. And Mike, thank you as well - it seems like you two know each other and I appreciate the double help. Good to hear that the station is small AND that the 12:48 train will work if we arrive at 1230 because that is EXACTLY the train I wanted to take!

As always, it doesn't get much better than the RS forum for excellent travel advice and reassurance. Really excited about visiting the UK for the first time. If everyone is as nice as you guys, it will be wonderful (Okay, I know I can get a bit carried away...)

Cheers!