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Routed to change at Edinburgh, although both legs call at Haymarket

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trainophile

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I have an Advance ticket for Carlisle to Kirkcaldy. It gives me an arrival time of 1018 at Waverley and a departure of 1028, which seems a bit tight given the complicated layout of EDB station.

My inbound train arrives in Haymarket at 1012, and my onward one departs Haymarket at 1033, so it seems far more reasonable to change there rather than have a panic dash at EDB, especially if the inbound is running a bit late.

Would there be any issues with this? Trains are Virgin West Coast and LNER.
 
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trainophile

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Well if I'm prepared to take a chance on that, I was really wondering whether it would be permitted. I have already decided that if the VT is running at all late as we approach HYM I will jump off and take a chance. RTT is showing arriving on platform 8 at EDB and departing from 1, so if those gates and the bridge are involved I would be getting in a muddle and probably panicking.
 

Bletchleyite

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Well if I'm prepared to take a chance on that, I was really wondering whether it would be permitted.

Tickets will not be done between Haymarket and Edinburgh, so this aspect won't be a problem. While there is no "Edinburgh Stns" (Goodness only knows why not), they are and long have been locally considered to be fully interchangeable.

FWIW Waverley I find to be quite quick and easy to get around, and neither platform is barriered. A LNER service from Platform 1 is surprising, though, they are more likely to use 9 which is the same island as 8. If the inbound train is on time, a 10 minute connection will not be difficult. Up onto the bridge, all the way along, down onto 1.
 

Silverdale

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Should you need to do the trip again, and want to avoid the possibility of losing that reserved seat to Kirkcaldy, by requesting additional connection time, booking sites will sell you the same advance fare, for the same booked trains, but changing at Haymarket.
 

yorkie

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I have an Advance ticket for Carlisle to Kirkcaldy. It gives me an arrival time of 1018 at Waverley and a departure of 1028, which seems a bit tight given the complicated layout of EDB station.

My inbound train arrives in Haymarket at 1012, and my onward one departs Haymarket at 1033, so it seems far more reasonable to change there rather than have a panic dash at EDB, especially if the inbound is running a bit late.

Would there be any issues with this? Trains are Virgin West Coast and LNER.
For future reference, there are booking sites that give you more control over your itinerary, so you can get the exact itinerary you want.

Booking sites are compelled to offer the change at Edinburgh, if the minimum interchange time is satisfied, unless it is either cheaper to avoid Edinburgh, or you have specified in your search a relevant preference that results in a change at Haymarket being favoured (e.g. changing at: Haymarket / avoiding: Edinburgh; or requesting additional interchange time)

From Carlisle to Kirkcaldy it is a cross-platform interchange at Haymarket.

I do not agree there is ever a need to "panic dash"; the train companies would not want to encourage you to rush your connection in a manner that is unsafe or causes stress. If you were to miss a connection due to late running you are entitled to board the next available train, and if you arrive at your destination sufficiently late, you can also claim Delay Repay compensation.
 

trainophile

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Thanks one and all. I booked on the VT website so I could choose my seat on the first train as that's the longer distance. As regards getting a later one if I miss the connection due to delay, in this instance I am only planning on having three hours in Kirkcaldy before my return (again Advance tickets), so would prefer to stick to my scheduled timings.

Booking sites are compelled to offer the change at Edinburgh, if the minimum interchange time is satisfied...
. I find that very strange, given you are in effect doubling back on yourself for the EDB-HYM part of the journey. I wonder what the reason for it is.
 

yorkie

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. I find that very strange, given you are in effect doubling back on yourself for the EDB-HYM part of the journey. I wonder what the reason for it is.
Because Edinburgh Waverley has a higher priority status, being a major station with better facilities.

Where journey planners are perhaps missing a trick, is by not offering a mode for people who are perhaps of reduced mobility, have excess luggage, or any other factor which means they require additional interchange time and/or easier interchanges. But there are journey planners out there that will do these things if you put the required settings in yourself.

If you can plan a journey using the 'advanced options' on www.fastjp.com and find an itinerary that suits you, then you can buy a ticket for it from trainsplit.com, also using the same advanced settings, as it uses the same journey planner.
 

trainophile

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Yes thanks for that, and I do use trainsplit.com where possible, but unfortunately only VT's website lets you choose your seats on their trains. I doubt that can ever be remedied as they control their own seat allocations.
 

Bletchleyite

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Yes thanks for that, and I do use trainsplit.com where possible, but unfortunately only VT's website lets you choose your seats on their trains. I doubt that can ever be remedied as they control their own seat allocations.

I'm sure it could if some sort of standard was introduced (i.e. a punchout to the seating plan), but they want people to buy from them so they will be unenthusiastic to change this.
 

yorkie

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Yes thanks for that, and I do use trainsplit.com where possible, but unfortunately only VT's website lets you choose your seats on their trains.
You can get round this by asking Virgin for a specific seat; if they won't do it then ask Raileasy and they will ask Virgin, and if that all fails, we do know people who work in ticket offices who can help.

I doubt that can ever be remedied as they control their own seat allocations.
Nick has stated that a seat selector is planned for Trainsplit, but this will take time.
 

Bletchleyite

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Nick has stated that a seat selector is planned for Trainsplit, but this will take time.

An all-TOC seat selector would be a total "killer app" and would almost certainly convert me to Trainsplit as a default online sales site. Particularly if the seating plans used showed things like window positions.
 

trainophile

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Update - we were running about 6 late, so would only have had 4 minutes to change at Waverley. I had already decided to get off at Haymarket, and as we approached the TM announced that anyone wanting the Aberdeen train should change at Haymarket, so it wasn’t an issue in the end.

The coach I was in on the LNER only had about five other people - choice of tables to myself!
 
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