trip from York to Glasgow with a stop off in Edinburgh

I am planning a trip to Scotland on May 10th and 11th and am trying to get an idea of tickets fares.

I am ideally wanting to travel from York to Glasgow but stopping off in Edinburgh on the way there and back for a couple of hours each day. I intend to stay in Glasgow overnight and buy a Runaround ticket to chalk off a few lines in the Glasgow area returning later to Edinburgh on the Thursday.

Virgin east Coast offers me Advances 07.37 York to Glasgow for £17.20 changing at Edinburgh.

Return is Glasgow to York approx £27.50 again changing at Edinburgh.

Obviously I want the best price for the Virgin legs York to Edinburgh and reverse the next day. My question is do I have to get the next connecting train offered by the Planner (ie) the 10.30 Edinburgh to Glasgow or could I hang around Edinburgh for a while and get any train to Glasgow later on and again on return the next day could I get any train from Glasgow to Edinburgh to pick up my Advance ticket from Edinburgh to York.

The reason I ask is that Advances from York to Glasgow and return are practically the same price as York to Edinburgh.

If I cannot do the above on Advances is the only other option York to Edinburgh and return on Virgin Advances and then book a return ticket from Edinburgh to Glasgow and back the next day.

Incidentally if I do have to do this, what ticket do I purchase, is it an Open return (as coming back the next day), as the Planner only seems to offer me anytime single at nearly £12.50 a pop each way, which totals £25, more than the Advance from York to Glasgow !!

There is no option to buy a return travelling back the next day unless I am missing something. I am a bit naive when it comes to tickets as I always
buy Advances directly usually without wanting to stop off along the way.

Any advice/info would be greatly received.

Razor1967 said:

Obviously I want the best price for the Virgin legs York to Edinburgh and reverse the next day. My question is do I have to get the next connecting train offered by the Planner (ie) the 10.30 Edinburgh to Glasgow or could I hang around Edinburgh for a while and get any train to Glasgow later on and again on return the next day could I get any train from Glasgow to Edinburgh to pick up my Advance ticket from Edinburgh to York.

Click to expand...

You may take "appropriate" connecting trains. You may not break your journey. Visiting the first class lounge (on a 1st class ticket) or the pub within the station for a reasonable length of time, would be OK as that would not constitute a break of journey.

Razor1967 said:

Incidentally if I do have to do this, what ticket do I purchase, is it an Open return (as coming back the next day), as the Planner only seems to offer me anytime single at nearly £12.50 a pop each way, which totals £25, more than the Advance from York to Glasgow !!

There is no option to buy a return travelling back the next day unless I am missing something. I am a bit naive when it comes to tickets as I always
buy Advances directly usually without wanting to stop off along the way.

Any advice/info would be greatly received.

Click to expand...

The only return fares are Day returns. These are not "Open" by the old definition of the former ticket type of that name and commonly used by many people familiar with the old names for tickets, but are considered "open" by booking engines.

So if I got off at Edinburgh on the way to change, I would not be able to "hang around " on the Station for a couple of hours ?

The second option does seem very expensive having to buy the two Advances and then two singles at £12.50 for each day when the York to Glasgow Advance is the same price as the York to Edinburgh Advance apart from abut £0.10p.

Is there any other options for me or will have to forego any stopover in Edinburgh.

Razor1967 said:

So if I got off at Edinburgh on the way to change, I would not be able to "hang around " on the Station for a couple of hours ?

Click to expand...

Hanging around within station premises does not constitute a break of journey, so that's fine.

Thanks for the replies, I was also looking to view the Edinburgh Trams as well. Do you think I could "get away" with getting a Glasgow train as far as Haymarket and staying on the station for an hour or two to view the Trams from the north end of the platform and all incoming trains to Edinburgh from the north.

I would then pick up another Glasgow train after a couple of hours, or do you think I am pushing it then !!

Razor1967 said:

I would then pick up another Glasgow train after a couple of hours, or do you think I am pushing it then !!

Click to expand...

If you don't leave the station it's not a BOJ, but I don't think you'll get that good a view of the trams from Haymarket station.

I was looking at Google Street View and it appears if you stand at the far west end of the northerly platform you could see the Trams from there.

Perhaps somebody with more local knowledge could advise. If I can't I will just stay on Waverley Station instead.

I was on Haymarket station the other week, you can see the trams in the distance, but may need binoculars to beable to read any numbers on them?
I-

Razor1967 said:

Perhaps somebody with more local knowledge could advise. If I can't I will just stay on Waverley Station instead.

Click to expand...

I've never got a particularly good view from the platform, but I haven't gone all the way to the end. If I wanted to do Edinburgh and Glasgow plus the trams I would get a York-Glasgow return, an Edinburgh Park- Glasgow single and ride the tram from Waverley to Edinburgh Park for a pound.

Many thanks for the replies, I think I will buy the through Advance tickets to Glasgow (as it appears to be the same price as to Edinburgh !) and stay on the platforms at Waverley and possibly Haymarket therefore not breaking my journey.

Slightly off topic I am mostly chasing the 380/0 and 380/1 series units. I know they operate the North Berwick route and into Waverley from the west and also Glasgow Central. Is there any other "hotspots" I need to know about as I need the whole class and I want to get as many as possible as I don't get up to Scotland very often.

Many thanks !

Razor1967 said:

Many thanks for the replies, I think I will buy the through Advance tickets to Glasgow (as it appears to be the same price as to Edinburgh !) and stay on the platforms at Waverley and possibly Haymarket therefore not breaking my journey.

Slightly off topic I am mostly chasing the 380/0 and 380/1 series units. I know they operate the North Berwick route and into Waverley from the west and also Glasgow Central. Is there any other "hotspots" I need to know about as I need the whole class and I want to get as many as possible as I don't get up to Scotland very often.

Many thanks !

Click to expand...

Regarding the Class 380s, you will see quite a lot of them at Paisley Gilmour Street, also some Class 314s (built 1979 and will be retired around December 2019) on the Glasgow - Gourock limited stop services as well. You may see some Class 380s stabled at Shields Depot when on the way to Paisley GS.

Another route to look out for Class 380s is the Glasgow Central - Lanark via Bellshill services, as they sometimes appear on those workings alongside class 318s and 320s. It is noted that there are 4 standard pattern diagrams on the Lanark services, meaning that whatever the first train you see will be the same one 2 hours later.

I would hardly worry about it if you only intended to stop off for a couple of hours, rather than going shopping for the whole afternoon.

Perhaps strictly speaking not allowed, but I doubt you will get into any bother.