My husband and I want to take the train to Edinburgh and I need to find out where to start. We are staying with friends who live in Pulloxhill (Beds)and I want to know what station to leave from that will be direct to Edinburgh. I know that Peterborough is a direct trip but I'm not sure how far that would be for our host to drive us. Does anyone know if there is a train station closer to Pulloxhill that we could catch a direct train? I don't want to impose on our friends to have to drive us a long distance to catch a train and I don't want to have to change trains so any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
According to www.viamichelin.com, it's 83km from Pulloxhill to Peterborough. According to the timetables at www.nationalrail.co.uk, for most departure times Peterborough is the first stop on the London-Edinburgh route. However, some London-Edinburgh trains stop in Stevenage and then Peterborough. Departure times from Stevenage are 10:49, 13:19, 15:19, and 18:50. Stevenage is 30km from Pulloxhill.
Posted by
OP
Tijeras, New Mexico, USA
25 posts
Thanks for the information. I did visit the michelin site and saw the mileage to Peterborough but I didn't know about Stevenage so thanks for that tip. Does anyone know if Sunday morning train travel has less travelers than other times of the week? Also, is it worth it to go first class or just take our chances in second class? I love trains so it won't matter if I have to sit on top of the train, just so I get to go!!
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
My husband and I indulge ourselves with first class BritRail passes. The ride to Edinburgh is particulaly plesant that way. You have a large table and there is a "quiet" car where cell phones can not be used. The seats are larger, too. The scenery is lovely. I take a sketch book and am able to work on my drawings. Hubby uses earphones and listens to his music or plays games on his phone(he is a techno geek and his phone can do more than our first computer- lol). By the way Peterboro is a nice town. Maybe your friends could take you over the day before and you could book a room near the station and have a stroll, etc. There is a restored steam train that does round trips and a train museum (small). It's the train the Queen used to flim their "Breakthrough" video (again- hubby is a BIG Queen fan).
Posted by
Yorkshire, UK
264 posts
Starla
From my experience where I live people are definitely less on the trains during the weekends. People are with their families. Because of the costs of trains you don't see family units getting together to ride long distances. It's cheaper for that many people just to drive.
My advice would be not to worry about 1st class. 2nd class gets you there just as fast, has a fair amount of space, and should be sufficient for most needs. I think you get a complimentary paper and drink in 1st class though.
Again on a weekend I wouldn't be suprised if you had a little room to spread out for a good part of your trip