Skipton to Southport in less than 3 hours (Northern Connect?)

t52192 · 27 Apr 2019

We have been wanting to go to Southport in ages with the family, but it takes over 3 hours from Skipton. The Northern Connect may be able to shorten that time in 2020 but unsure what new routes or methods this may open up.

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/northern-connect
https://d2cf7kiw5xizhy.cloudfront.net/images/maps/2017-12/Network-map-DR-update-24317.pdf

Has anyone any good route tips for a good Southport day out or a route that will involve less than 6 hours of total train travel?

Perhaps a bit of the journey on Virgin West Coast or Northern Connect to Liverpool then up on Merseyrail? Perhaps a bus to Colne to Clitheroe to start the journey??

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bobbyrail · 27 Apr 2019

My advise is to forget Southport and go to Morecambe instead, similar set up to Southport and you can go Skipton to Morecambe with no changes in 90 mins on a weekday.

Glenn1969 · 27 Apr 2019

Skipton to Southport is one change at Leeds. The Leeds to Southport train is a Brighouse , Calder Valley and Atherton line stopper which no doubt makes the journey time longer.

You have a direct train from Skipton to Morecambe if you want a quicker route to the seaside

ForTheLoveOf · 27 Apr 2019

t52192 said:
I have been looking to go to Southport in ages with the family, but it takes over 3 hours from Skipton. The Northern Connect may be able to shorten that in 2020 but unsure what routes or methods this may open up.

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/northern-connect
https://d2cf7kiw5xizhy.cloudfront.net/images/maps/2017-12/Network-map-DR-update-24317.pdf

Has anyone any good route tips for a good day out and something that will involve less than 6 hours of train travel?

Perhaps a bit of the journey on Virgin West Coast or Northern Connect to Liverpool then up on Merseyrail? Perhaps drive to Colne to Clitheroe to start the journey??

Southport simply isn't a fast place to get to. It's at the end of two commuter stopper lines. Other places are far quicker to get to as they have fast services.

Bertie the bus · 27 Apr 2019

Just drive. Via Colne and the M65 Skipton to Southport is probably 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours and if it's multiple people driving will almost certainly be cheaper.

faltskog36abba · 27 Apr 2019

bobbyrail said:
My advise is to forget Southport and go to Morecambe instead, similar set up to Southport and you can go Skipton to Morecambe with no changes in 90 mins on a weekday.

Southport is a busy seaside town with lots to do-Where Morecambe however is sadly dead.

JohnB57 · 27 Apr 2019

faltskog36abba said:
Southport is a busy seaside town with lots to do-Where Morecambe however is sadly dead.

Southport is “seaside” only if the tide’s in and Morecambe was far from dead the last couple of times we were there. Both have their individual charms - and problems - but I’d have a day in either without hesitation.

30907 · 27 Apr 2019

Skipton Lancaster Preston then X2 bus? Traveline offers that, also bus via Preston , or bus to Burnley Manchester Rd, train to Preston, bus.
It's never going to be much quicker than 3 hours, even with a convenient Manchester-Southport "express," because every rail route is so indirect.

alastair · 27 Apr 2019

Bertie the bus said:
Just drive. Via Colne and the M65 Skipton to Southport is probably 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours and if it's multiple people driving will almost certainly be cheaper.

Indeed. 1hr 26m on AA routeplanner.

Mathew S · 27 Apr 2019

t52192 said:
We have been wanting to go to Southport in ages with the family, but it takes over 3 hours from Skipton. The Northern Connect may be able to shorten that time in 2020 but unsure what new routes or methods this may open up.

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/northern-connect
https://d2cf7kiw5xizhy.cloudfront.net/images/maps/2017-12/Network-map-DR-update-24317.pdf

Has anyone any good route tips for a good Southport day out or a route that will involve less than 6 hours of total train travel?

Perhaps a bit of the journey on Virgin West Coast or Northern Connect to Liverpool then up on Merseyrail? Perhaps a bus to Colne to Clitheroe to start the journey??

Genuinely, the best advice I would give anyone wanting to visit Southport, and I say this as someone who lives ~40 minutes away, is that it's not worth the effort.

That said, if your heart is set on it, it's a toss up whether you're better going:
1) Skipton - Lancaster - Wigan NW - Wigan Wallgate - Southport; or
2) Skipton - Leeds - Manchester Victoria - Southport.

There is no way to do the journey in under 3 hours each way. However, you can make it less painful by not using the through Northern service from Leeds to Wigan; it is faster (and more comfortable) to use the TPE services from Leeds to Manchester Victoria and change onto Northern there. The fastest Northern service from Manchester to Southport is the xx55 from Victoria via Atherton. The fastest service the other way is the Southport - Leeds, though again you should change at Victoria onto a faster TPE service to get you into Leeds earlier.

Edit: or, as others have said, there are much faster bus services.

yorksrob · 27 Apr 2019

I can't think of any quick routres unfortunately, so I would suggest getting in provisions for the long haul.

Both Skipton - Lancaster and Wigan - Southport are beautiful routes in terms of scenery, so if you can combine them in daylight hours, you're doing fine.

DynamicSpirit · 27 Apr 2019

I can't really add much to what others have said. It's unfortunate that there's no easy way to make the Skipton-Southport journey by rail, but there you go. Possibly in the very long term, NPR might make that journey a little quicker (since it'd presumably shorten the Leeds-Manchester leg) but that's currently so far in the future as to be irrelevant to someone planning a journey in the next year or so. Certainly, there's nothing that Northern Connect is going to offer in respect of that particular journey.

If Skipton-Colne ever gets re-opened, that would almost certainly help the OP, but that's currently just an aspiration by some campaigning groups, not a serious official proposal. Slightly more plausibly, the Burscough curves could help, but again, that's not something that's going to happen anytime soon

Gathursty · 27 Apr 2019

I agree that Skipton to Southport is awful solely by train. A third option could be:

Skipton - Clitheroe (bus or your car)
Clitheroe - Bolton
Bolton - Southport

Is that a reasonable option?

(I'm unfamiliar with public transport for Skipton to Clitheroe)

DynamicSpirit · 27 Apr 2019

Gathursty said:
I agree that Skipton to Southport is awful solely by train. A third option could be:

Skipton - Clitheroe (bus or your car)
Clitheroe - Bolton
Bolton - Southport

I don't think there are direct Bolton-Southport trains, are there?

Mathew S · 27 Apr 2019

DynamicSpirit said:
I don't think there are direct Bolton-Southport trains, are there?

There are four services daily, the 1640, 1740, 1840 and 2147 which are Alderley Edge - Wigan services diverted to Southport as a sop to the ridiculous hyperbole of local troublemakers in Southport who objected to only having trains to Victoria rather than Piccadilly.
There are also some matching services the opposite way in the mornings. The Alderley services usually terminate at Wigan NW, with Leeds services running through to Southport.

Gathursty · 27 Apr 2019

I was unaware that Bolton has had so many Southport services removed.

A couple of years ago I was familiar with most Bolton to Wigan trains going on to Southport. What happens now then?

Mathew S · 27 Apr 2019

Gathursty said:
I was unaware that Bolton has had so many Southport services removed.

A couple of years ago I was familiar with most Bolton to Wigan trains going on to Southport. What happens now then?

They run via Atherton. It's the logical way to do it since it means that they run on diesel almost the entire length of the services (to Leeds via Rochdale, and Blackburn via Rochdale). It allows the Wigan NW - Stalybridge and Wigan NW - Alderley Edge services which run largely under the wires to use the new bi-modes.
Because a handful of selfish NIMBYs from Southport thought they were more important than the rest of NW England, this plan was screwed up when a few services had to be 'swapped' so that precious Southport commuters were still able to get their train to Piccadilly... apparently changing at Salford Crescent, let alone walking 10 mins into the city centre, is far too taxing for such sensitive souls.

lyndhurst25 · 28 Apr 2019

I used to regularly make a similar journey (Steeton to Waterloo) and yes, it's incredibly slow using public transport compared to driving.

Looking at the train fares involved, I used to get the bus to Clone or Clitheroe(280) and then use the train from there, using the reasonably (£20ish) priced Anytime Short Returns available to Southport/Liverpool line stations. If using Virgin WCML services between Preston/Wigan/Warrington then I believe that you can still get a free upgrade to 1st class at weekends with these Anytime tickets: I used to. In contrast the fares from Skipton to Southport, priced by TPE, are very expensive.

Ken H · 28 Apr 2019

I'd use the witchway bus to Burnley, then train to Manc, then on to Southport.
Of course you could bus all the way to manc, but I guess you want the train really.

or maybe Skipton -Lancaster - Preston -Burcough (Change stations and walk) - Southport.

Killingworth · 28 Apr 2019

Sounds like the Irish answer given to the question asked by a lost traveller "which way should I go to Ballywhatever?"

If I were going to Ballywhatever I wouldn't start from here.

I've a desire to go to Southport to see what an old relative used to get so excited about. In the 1920/30s it was a place to go. Having looked at timetables by train the journey has been postponed many times.

Bletchleyite · 28 Apr 2019

In the 20s/30s it was the place for a day out. It got very unpleasant and run-down in the late 80s and 90s. It's now seeing somewhat of a resurgence and is mostly quite pleasant, give or take the rather grim shopping area and the number of scallies, though more as a day-trip destination than a holiday destination.

Ken H · 28 Apr 2019

Killingworth said:
Sounds like the Irish answer given to the question asked by a lost traveller "which way should I go to Ballywhatever?"

If I were going to Ballywhatever I wouldn't start from here.

I've a desire to go to Southport to see what an old relative used to get so excited about. In the 1920/30s it was a place to go. Having looked at timetables by train the journey has been postponed many times.

At least we didnt say 'turn right where the black bull pub used to be before they demolished it'

urbophile · 28 Apr 2019

Bletchleyite said:
In the 20s/30s it was the place for a day out. It got very unpleasant and run-down in the late 80s and 90s. It's now seeing somewhat of a resurgence and is mostly quite pleasant, give or take the rather grim shopping area and the number of scallies, though more as a day-trip destination than a holiday destination.

Lord Street was the inspiration for the Champs-Élysées. Seriously. The town is well-laid out and spacious, though like all seaside towns (except Brighton?) it has a run-down feel about it. Posh suburbs though. Getting there (or indeed anywhere in the Northwest south of Lancaster) by train from Skipton will always be a slow and circuitous journey unless the link via Colne is re-opened.

Statto · 28 Apr 2019

David Emmott said:
Lord Street was the inspiration for the Champs-Élysées. Seriously. The town is well-laid out and spacious, though like all seaside towns (except Brighton?) it has a run-down feel about it. Posh suburbs though. Getting there (or indeed anywhere in the Northwest south of Lancaster) by train from Skipton will always be a slow and circuitous journey unless the link via Colne is re-opened.

Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte[Napoleon III] lived in exile in Southport for a few years, was impressed by the tree lined street layout, & used that as inspiration to rebuild Paris as we know it today.

t52192 · 28 Apr 2019

Hopefully Northern Connect may open up some faster options maybe via some stops at Preston/Warrington or Wigan and add some nice trains along the journey

Lampshade · 28 Apr 2019

I wouldn’t do this journey by train - 280 bus to Preston then X2 bus to Southport.

Bevan Price · 28 Apr 2019

Not by train unfortunately, but the easiest way is by bus 280 Skipton - Preston. Every 2 hours on weekdays, typical journey time 1hr. 46mins.
https://bustimes.org/services/280-preston-skipton

then bus X2 Preston - Southport - Liverpool. Every 30 mins. on weekdays, typical journey time 49 mins.
Connection time at Preston about 10-15 minutes in each direction.
https://bustimes.org/services/x2-preston-liverpool

Bertie the bus · 29 Apr 2019

Those bus times would give a maximum of 2 hours in Southport with an almost 6 hour total journey time. I have no idea how anybdy can describe that as the easiest way when driving would be a maximum of 3 hour total journey time and as much time in Southport as they liked.

The OP obviously has access to a car as they originally questioned whether driving to Clitheroe or Colne might be better and after I replied they should drive all the way they quickly amended it to bus to Clitheroe or Colne.

Bletchleyite · 29 Apr 2019

For the record car parking in Southport is both easy and cheap, particularly off-season. There are even a few car parks where you can park free for a few hours (e.g. the one by the bowling alley/Premier Inn unless it's changed since I last went). And a park and ride.

If it's busy, pick a Merseyrail station a few stops up and park there (Merseyrail station parking is free, and permit schemes on residential streets near Merseyrail stations non-existent).

Statto · 29 Apr 2019

Bertie the bus said:
Those bus times would give a maximum of 2 hours in Southport with an almost 6 hour total journey time. I have no idea how anybdy can describe that as the easiest way when driving would be a maximum of 3 hour total journey time and as much time in Southport as they liked.

The OP obviously has access to a car as they originally questioned whether driving to Clitheroe or Colne might be better and after I replied they should drive all the way they quickly amended it to bus to Clitheroe or Colne.

Plus last through bus to Skipton is 15.15 from Preston, you'd have to leave Southport around half 1 [2pm might be pushing it especially if the X2 is running late]. Southport is one of those annoyingly awkward places to get to, most trains seem to be stoppers now, even the X2 bus takes a good 50 minutes to/from Preston

Skipton to Southport in less than 3 hours (Northern Connect?)

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