Carlisle to Glasgow or Edinburgh

[cls]

Managed to wangle a day off and will be in Carlisle. So can jump on a train and go to Glasgow or Edinburgh, which of these would be better for a days spotting as I haven't been Scotland for a good while. Or is there a better location

Thanks Mark

 

[Huntergreed]

Hi there

As for spotting, generally there would be more traction to see at Edinburghs Waverley Station than Glasgow Central, due to more open platforms. It really depends what you are looking for. If you want to collect units then Glasgow would be good as Central and Partick stations would allow you to do this very quickly! If you are looking to see anything in particular (freight, HST's etc...) then it entirely depends on what you want to see.

If you are looking for WCML traffic, I would recommend heading south (if possible), to somewhere like Crewe, as this is a very busy station serving most of the core WCML routes (Scotland, Wales, Liverpool and Manchester)

If you want to go more for shopping, then I'd recommend Glasgow, as there are large shopping centres, as well as Buchanan Street and the Merchant City.

If you can give us an idea of what you are looking for, we would be able to point out specific places to visit

 

[cls]

Thanks for the response, it's just a day north of the border spotting so really looking for good location for numbers

Thanks Mark

 

[GaryMcEwan]

If you were coming to Glasgow, I would actually get an SPT Roundabout ticket for £6.80 depending how much time you have.

The old SPT lines have all manor of stuff running on them varying from 318s, 320s, 334s and the refurbished ex London Midland 321s which are now 320s.

 

[Huntergreed]

Thanks for the response, it's just a day north of the border spotting so really looking for good location for numbers

Thanks Mark

In that case, I would recommend Glasgow. If you travel to Partick station, you'll be able to catch a lot of units rather quickly, especially at peak times. You may also catch a lot of numbers at some stations close to the city (Cambuslang for example). Another benefit of going to Glasgow is the more regular services, with at least one Pendolino an hour. I did a similar trip last month, I travelled from Carlisle first class (breakfast on the way there, tea on the way back!) and it was brilliant!

If you do choose to go to Edinburgh, there are still plenty of options. You have VTEC and XC working out of Waverley, as well as plenty of Scotrail. You could also go to some nearby stations such as Haymarket and Musselburgh (for fast ECML services). Let us know if you need any more help with the planning