• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Urgent: Need to travel from London to Edinburgh tomorrow

Status
Not open for further replies.

Samuel88

On Moderation
Joined
20 Jan 2017
Messages
385
Due to a close family bereavement me, my Mother and my younger Brother need to be in Edinburgh by tomorrow afternoon, however looking up the fares shows that it would cost northwards of £350. I was looking at hiring a car as the quote on a one way rental is £110, however I've never driven that kind of distance before, and I haven't got behind the wheel in over three years, so this would be the option of last resort.
Is there any way I can get the rail fare to below £150, maybe with splitting?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

matt

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
30 Jun 2005
Messages
7,812
Location
Rugby
Where are you travelling from?
 

NoMorePacers

Established Member
Joined
18 Feb 2016
Messages
1,391
Location
Humberside
If you're doing a return journey it's probably cheaper to buy 2 single tickets, which is what I found on my journey there.
 

sonic2009

Established Member
Joined
19 Jan 2010
Messages
4,915
Location
Crewe
How old is your younger brother? And when do you think you will return?
 
Last edited:

tony_mac

Established Member
Joined
25 Feb 2009
Messages
3,626
Location
Liverpool
Advance singles on the 0700 from King's Cross are £138.60 (1st); £139.90 in standard (standard same price for 06:15)
Sorry - that's just for two people - I misread the original post; add ~£100 for the third person (or £66 with a railcard discount)
 
Last edited:

Darandio

Established Member
Joined
24 Feb 2007
Messages
10,674
Location
Redcar
I think you'll be hard pressed to find anything reasonable at such short notice, especially as one of you has no railcard. I'd be tempted to either take the hire car option or even jump on a Megabus tonight for £100 or so. Not ideal admittedly.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,540
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Well I have a disabled Railcard, my brother has a 16-26 card and my mum doesn't qualify for any Railcard!

Remember that with the Disabled Railcard you can take a companion (carer) whether you medically require one or not[1], so provided your Mum is making the identical journey the discount can be had for her too (but obviously only a single based on your plans - so it'd have to be an Advance).

If you can take your time getting up there, also look at Megabus?

They aren't exactly reliable at the moment, but does a split using Hull Trains or GC for part of the journey save anything? You could have a go on trainsplit.com to see?

[1] My Dad has one for being partially deaf in one ear and clearly doesn't require a carer, but I guess the railway doesn't want to get into means-testing and the likes so just sets a standard rule for everyone.
 

3rd rail land

Member
Joined
30 Jan 2019
Messages
623
Location
Where the 3rd rail powers the trains
The best you can do with Megabus or National Express is to take a coach tomorrow and arrive between 6-7pm at the earliest. There is nothing available with either operator for 3 people today, the best I could see was availability for 2 people travelling today.

The train will be a lot more expensive at such short notice but you will be able to get to Edinburgh for tomorrow afternoon.
 

ForTheLoveOf

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2017
Messages
6,416
The cheapest I can get it down to is £191.10 return for all three of you, though no doubt cheaper options will exist. That'd be taking London Northwestern to Crewe and Virgin Trains from there to Edinburgh, with split Advances on both services in each direction.

That's ignoring any options that might be cheaper if you got a Two Together Railcard for your mother and brother.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,540
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
You could potentially split up? There is one seat available on each of the overnight Glasgow and Edinburgh Megabuses, then there's just one of you needing to buy a walk up train fare?
 

3rd rail land

Member
Joined
30 Jan 2019
Messages
623
Location
Where the 3rd rail powers the trains
You could potentially split up? There is one seat available on each of the overnight Glasgow and Edinburgh Megabuses, then there's just one of you needing to buy a walk up train fare?
There's 2 seats on an overnight National Express coach to Edinburgh so at least 2 people could travel together. It says the price is from £82.

Then only 1 person has to use the train tomorrow, preferably someone with a railcard!
 

Samuel88

On Moderation
Joined
20 Jan 2017
Messages
385
I've decided to bite the bullet and hire a car. Even with the waivers and one way drop off fee it's a good £200 cheaper than the train. I considered going by coach while my Mother and Brother travel by train but in the end it would still work out cheaper (and far less hassle) to just drive!
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,540
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
I've decided to bite the bullet and hire a car. Even with the waivers and one way drop off fee it's a good £200 cheaper than the train. I considered going by coach while my Mother and Brother travel by train but in the end it would still work out cheaper (and far less hassle) to just drive!

OK, I hope your journey isn't too bad in the circumstances. Be sure to take it easy and take plenty of breaks.
 

Samuel88

On Moderation
Joined
20 Jan 2017
Messages
385
OK, I hope your journey isn't too bad in the circumstances. Be sure to take it easy and take plenty of breaks.
Don't worry, my mum also has health issues so we'll be stopping off often. Now I just have to decide whether to go up the A1 or take the M6.
 

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
easyjet is more expensive than the train

It usually is if you book at the last minute. A lot of people are convinced you can always travel on them for pennies, and that the train always costs a fortune, but the last seats on both the train and the plane will cost hundreds.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,540
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
It usually is if you book at the last minute. A lot of people are convinced you can always travel on them for pennies, and that the train always costs a fortune, but the last seats on both the train and the plane will cost hundreds.

And on the train you're at least capped at the Anytime/Off Peak/Super Off Peak Single/Return as appropriate (much as RDG would prefer you weren't) - Sleasy can (and do) go as high as they reckon they can get.

I was slightly surprised that the overnight coaches were only after about 50 quid a pop.
 

Samuel88

On Moderation
Joined
20 Jan 2017
Messages
385
And on the train you're at least capped at the Anytime/Off Peak/Super Off Peak Single/Return as appropriate (much as RDG would prefer you weren't) - Sleasy can (and do) go as high as they reckon they can get.
I was tempted to fly, but I find flying to be extremely stressful, so decided against it!
 

Mag_seven

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
1 Sep 2014
Messages
9,994
Location
here to eternity
I've decided to bite the bullet and hire a car. Even with the waivers and one way drop off fee it's a good £200 cheaper than the train. I considered going by coach while my Mother and Brother travel by train but in the end it would still work out cheaper (and far less hassle) to just drive!

And there we have it - the fact that the cheapest option is to drive sums up everything thing that is wrong with transport policy in this country. :(
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top