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Brighton to Edinburgh advice please!

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Morpethcurve

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Pleased to discover this forum after registering on RailUKForums recently. I could spend ages trying split ticket options, but I suspect its all been done before by the experts herein.

So, I wondered if anyone might be able to advise on the following trip.

Leaving Brighton (actually Portslade or Hove would be better) for Edinburgh on Tues 03rd in the morning.

One way.

No specific train in mind, realising that missing the morning peak will probably be beneficial.

One 49 year old traveller.

All advice greatly appreciated.

Regards - Morpethcurve
 
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cuccir

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If you're happy to book an Advance ticket, tying you to your booked trains, then there are fares avaialble at East Coast for £65.10 on the 09:04, 10:04, 11:04 and 12:04 from Hove. These all connect you onto trains which leave Brighton at :19 minutes past the hour.

The cost is the same from Hove as it is from Brighton.
These tickets are also all available from Portslade, at the same price, where the trains leave at :59 minutes pas the hour.
 

calc7

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For one-way trips, East Coast provide half-price Super Off-Peak Singles if bought on their website up to 23:59 the day before travel. These are only between London and stations they serve up the ECML, so you'll have to split tickets at London. This is £60.20

You then just need some way to get to London - there are Advances available to London from Hove for Tuesday morning starting from £7.

Alternatively, you could just book a through Advance ticket from Brighton or Hove to Edinburgh for £65.10 on many of the morning trains. This is very good value at such short notice, and splitting Advances is unlikely to get this down much.
 

All Line Rover

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Until a few weeks ago the cheapest fare for this journey would have been:

£10.00: Brighton [19:19] to Clapham Junction [20:03] [20:39] to Leighton Buzzard [21:50] [22:18] to Birmingham New Street [00:04] ("Southern&LM" Advance fare)

or £12.00: Brighton [21:49] to London Victoria [22:41] TUBE London Euston [22:30] to Birmingham New Street [01:41] ("VT&Connections" Advance Fare)

£01.00: Birmingham New Street [06:19] to Edinburgh [10:21] (VT Megatrain fare)

Total price: £11.50 (or £13.50 if you take the slightly more sane Virgin option). Unfortunately, Virgin Megatrain tickets seem to have been withdrawn over the summer. :(

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

However, a very cheap option is still available, which is:

£17.00: Brighton [23:37] to London St Pancras [01:07] TUBE/WALK London Euston [05:27] to Crewe [07:22] ("VT&Connections" Advance fare)

£12.50: Crewe [07:32] to Glasgow Central [10:36] BUS/WALK Glasgow Queen Street [11:15] to Edinburgh [12:07] ("VT&Connections" Advance fare)

Total price: £29.50 (you could also go First Class for the entire journey - with two breakfasts on Virgin! (:lol:) for just £84, seeing as the First Class fares are just £46 and £38 for the above two tickets).

If you left Brighton slightly earlier, for the same price you could stay in Crewe overnight instead of London overnight. An added bonus, if you held a First Class ticket on at least the latter portion of the journey, would be that the friendly staff at Crewe would probably allow you to stay in the First Class lounge overnight. They do this for sleeper customers (both Standard and First Class), so there's no reason I can think of for why they wouldn't do the same for First Class customers who have a long overnight connection.
 
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yorkie

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Pleased to discover this forum after registering on RailUKForums recently. I could spend ages trying split ticket options, but I suspect its all been done before by the experts herein.
Welcome, glad you like the forum :)

I don't think Brighton to Edinburgh has been requested before (doesn't come up on a search) however the experts here can't really find split tickets quicker than anyone else. It is a time consuming process for us all!

However, there are some site you may wish to try that can help!

MSEs Tickety Split will offer one "split" (ie, a combination of 2 tickets) for a walk-on single. But even better is trainscanbecheaper.info which, for future reference, will also do returns and will offer more than one split. However, neither will suggest Advance fares as these are quota controlled.

There's also a site for looking up a specific fare, that can be quicker than going through a booking engine, that is brfares.com, though again it's not particularly useful for Advance fares (you can see what fares exist but not which are actually available) but it is very useful for walk-up fares.
 

rail-britain

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Leaving Brighton (actually Portslade or Hove would be better) for Edinburgh on Tues 03rd in the morning
One way
No specific train in mind, realising that missing the morning peak will probably be beneficial
What was the cheapest fare you could find?
For an extra amount would you travel First Class? (saved money over the direct fare, but adds snacks and drinks between London and Edinburgh)

What I tend to do is use the direct fare as my baseline cost, anything else is a saving and beneficial
If the First Class fare is cheaper, then I pay for that instead

As above, you can either travel via London (which I try to avoid) or via Birmingham

For 03 July, travelling after 09:15
£68.50 is the direct fare (Hove - Brighton / London Victoria / London Kings Cross) and at the moment appears to be the cheapest option

I have been unable to find any other suitable advance fares, via Crewe (there is one, but it means waiting at Crewe for 5 hours), or via York
 

Squaddie

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However, a very cheap option is still available, which is:

£17.00: Brighton [23:37] to London St Pancras [01:07] TUBE/WALK London Euston [05:27] to Crewe [07:22] ("VT&Connections" Advance fare)

£12.50: Crewe [07:32] to Glasgow Central [10:36] BUS/WALK Glasgow Queen Street [11:15] to Edinburgh [12:07] ("VT&Connections" Advance fare)

Total price: £29.50...

If you left Brighton slightly earlier, for the same price you could stay in Crewe overnight instead of London overnight. An added bonus, if you held a First Class ticket on at least the latter portion of the journey, would be that the friendly staff at Crewe would probably allow you to stay in the First Class lounge overnight.
I doubt that any sane person would choose to spend a night on a railway station just to get a lower fare, even for the "added bonus" of staying in the first class lounge. :lol:
 

All Line Rover

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I doubt that any sane person would choose to spend a night on a railway station just to get a lower fare, even for the "added bonus" of staying in the first class lounge. :lol:

Depends... When making such long-distance journeys, it's rather hard to find very cheap Advance fares without making an overnight stay - in this instance, a little over 4 hours.
 

rail-britain

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I doubt that any sane person would choose to spend a night on a railway station just to get a lower fare, even for the "added bonus" of staying in the first class lounge
Equally, that is a long time with the OP looking for a morning departure on 03 July, as the peak demand ends
 

34D

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I doubt that any sane person would choose to spend a night on a railway station just to get a lower fare, even for the "added bonus" of staying in the first class lounge. :lol:

I could imagine that a young lad might be okay sleeping on crewe station, but not a gentleman in his 40s (nor a lady of any age).

Can anyone find a suitable sleeper option?
 

rail-britain

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I could imagine that a young lad might be okay sleeping on crewe station, but not a gentleman in his 40s

Can anyone find a suitable sleeper option?
Many people sleep overnight at some stations
I tend to agree not many ordinary passengers well, and equally some older people will but young people will not

I could quite easily spend the night at Crewe, but I would be well prepared and it be for rail interests, not a travel connection
The worst was arriving on a Friday southbound sleeper and having to wait for the first service to Derby

Why would the OP need a sleeper option, when leaving Hove in the morning?
They should be in Edinburgh by late evening
 

Morpethcurve

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Thoroughly impressed with those responses, I appreciate the time/effort expended. I've split ticketed in the past, but had no idea there was so much scope.

Thanks Yorkie, I've noted those sites.

Many thanks All!

Morpethcurve
 

telstarbox

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Another option you could consider - EasyJet have a flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh on the 3rd, currently £72 inc tax/charges. 08:25 LGW – 09:50 EDI.

Add £8 for Brighton-Gatwick FCC only single and £3.50 for express bus into Edinburgh if required (depending on your final destination) and the total is £83.50. More expensive than the train but it is also a lot quicker, and would get you there earlier in the day. Depends whether you want the cheapest or the quickest journey.
 
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34D

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Why would the OP need a sleeper option, when leaving Hove in the morning?
They should be in Edinburgh by late evening

Indeed. 'Need' is a subjective word, however going north the night (to arrive the morning) before may in fact suit him. We do not know.
 
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