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Dumfries to Glasgow - better to start at Lockerbie?

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Pumperkin

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Hi,

I will be in Dumfries for a week at the start of April - have decided we'd (me, wife and under 5 with 2T railcard) would like to go to Glasgow for the day. We did try last year by driving in but couldn't park anywhere and ended up abandoning and driving to Kilmarnock... not quite the day we imagined!

Anyway, I have looked at rail times and it seems to take ages from Dumfries... seems to be a milk train stopping at every little place. I have looked from Lockerbie and looks a lot quicker... but only 12 spaces in car park (we'd probably drive to the station).

Does anyone have tips for if there's a better way of doing it? We have car so can drive to local environs but don't want to drive all the way into Glasgow...
 
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totally

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Hi,

I will be in Dumfries for a week at the start of April - have decided we'd (me, wife and under 5 with 2T railcard) would like to go to Glasgow for the day. We did try last year by driving in but couldn't park anywhere and ended up abandoning and driving to Kilmarnock... not quite the day we imagined!

Anyway, I have looked at rail times and it seems to take ages from Dumfries... seems to be a milk train stopping at every little place. I have looked from Lockerbie and looks a lot quicker... but only 12 spaces in car park (we'd probably drive to the station).

Does anyone have tips for if there's a better way of doing it? We have car so can drive to local environs but don't want to drive all the way into Glasgow...
The Lockerbie route is indeed much quicker even when you add in the drive from Dumfries. The car parking is not very practical at the station car park, unless you are going very early on. There is however plenty of parking within other car parks a few minutes away, and when I was last there it was both unrestricted and free. It is worth arriving some time beforehand to allow time to park. Also beware there is no ticket machine at Lockerbie Station so people queue up to collect tickets ordered on line and the clerk also does the train dispatching, so if you can buy in advance!
 

_toommm_

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Given the poor service from Dumfries you would hope there's two tickets available - one routed not via Carlisle and one routed Any Permitted, but there isn't! I was curious and you cantc go via Carlisle on the ticket either!
 

Pumperkin

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No ticket machine?! Is this the norm north of the border? Every station I go to locally has a TVM (some seemingly in place of an office). Didn't realise there'd be places where the reverse is true...

Yes I think drive to Lockerbie (aiming to be in Glasgow mid morning... will aim for first Off Peak train available at 10:30). I guess there's no restriction for off peak on the way back (probably leaving around half 3 / 4).

P.S. if anyone has suggestions for things to do in Glasgow with a 3 year old please let me know :)
 

47271

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So long as your parking behaviour isn't too antisocial then there are plenty of opportunities to leave your car in the street in Lockerbie.

It isn't that unusual for staffed Scotrail stations to have no TVM.

Lockerbie is an oddity in that it's run by Scotrail but no Scotrail trains call there, not that this fact is in any way relevant to the parking or ticketing arrangements.
 

ForTheLoveOf

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Lockerbie is an oddity in that it's run by Scotrail but no Scotrail trains call there
There are a number of similar such stations. Broadly speaking, the rule for who manages a station tends to be that it's the most 'prestigious' operator who calls there, but if it's a smaller station then it may be managed by the local regional-train TOC.
 

Starmill

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There are a number of similar such stations. Broadly speaking, the rule for who manages a station tends to be that it's the most 'prestigious' operator who calls there, but if it's a smaller station then it may be managed by the local regional-train TOC.
If the station were in England, I am sure it could be managed by TransPennine Express. For political reasons, the railway in Scotland is viewed as best controlled by Transport Scotland, so the station has to be managed by ScotRail. This is also why Dunbar was transferred from East Coast to ScotRail.

It is also worthy of note that at the moment all TransPennine Express services from Lockerbie will be formed of 4 coaches which makes getting a seat quite unlikely in the morning. You could reserve seats still, but it's not a journey I'd enjoy making given the risk of having to ask people to move, or the seats not, in fact, being reserved.
 
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totally

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No ticket machine?! Is this the norm north of the border? Every station I go to locally has a TVM (some seemingly in place of an office). Didn't realise there'd be places where the reverse is true...

Yes I think drive to Lockerbie (aiming to be in Glasgow mid morning... will aim for first Off Peak train available at 10:30). I guess there's no restriction for off peak on the way back (probably leaving around half 3 / 4).

P.S. if anyone has suggestions for things to do in Glasgow with a 3 year old please let me know :)
Just an observation, the 10:30 from Lockerbie goes to Edinburgh not Glasgow. The TPE services which call there alternate, so it's 09:30 and 11:37 to Glasgow. A couple of the Virgin services call on the way back in the evening the 1740 and the 2010 so giving you a good choice for return when added to the TPE services at 1710 and 1908
 

Highlandspring

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For political reasons, the railway in Scotland is viewed as best controlled by Transport Scotland, so the station has to be managed by ScotRail. This is also why Dunbar was transferred from East Coast to ScotRail.
Lockerbie has been managed by ScotRail since privatisation in 1997, long before Transport Scotland existed.
 

bb21

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Glasgow Science Centre always seems to be a good option to youngsters from what I can see.
 

gray1404

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Once the booking office person leaves the ticket office to despatch the train then customers would become entitled to buy on board as it would be their first opportunity to purchase. Can you prebook the tickets online and collect them from another station before travel if you are near another station already? That way you can reserve seats. I would not worry about asking people to move. Any problems then ask the guard to sort it. If your seats are not reserved and you have to stand then TPE will have to compensate you
 

_toommm_

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Note that at least one diagram a day is being swapped with a 185 due to a 350 shortage - today it was the 0710 Airport to Glasgow service. Reservations aren't applied for this and you lose roughly 25% of the capacity too.
 

paddington

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No problem parking in Lockerbie, just depends on how far you are willing to walk. I don't like parking right outside someone else's house, so I use Google Street View to investigate potential parking spots before I drive somewhere. You can drop the wife and child at the station first if you need to park a bit further away...

In Glasgow itself I've parked for free near to West Street/Bridge Street subway stations many times then walked to Central to get a train. But my car looks like crap and I don't care if it gets scratched or dented or dirty.
 

Pumperkin

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Just an observation, the 10:30 from Lockerbie goes to Edinburgh not Glasgow. The TPE services which call there alternate, so it's 09:30 and 11:37 to Glasgow. A couple of the Virgin services call on the way back in the evening the 1740 and the 2010 so giving you a good choice for return when added to the TPE services at 1710 and 1908

Thanks - I knew it was 9:30 but for some reason wrote 10:30 :s
 

route101

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I think few commuters use the service to Glasgow and Edinburgh .
 

Blinkbonny

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The Riverside is a great museum but I found it difficult to get to using public transport. There's a tour bus that stops there, but it's a dear do unless you fancy the tour as well.
 

scotrail158713

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The Riverside is a great museum but I found it difficult to get to using public transport. There's a tour bus that stops there, but it's a dear do unless you fancy the tour as well.
I don’t really like tour buses but the Glasgow tour bus is probably the best tour bus I’ve been on. (York was alright as well)
 

route101

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The Riverside is a great museum but I found it difficult to get to using public transport. There's a tour bus that stops there, but it's a dear do unless you fancy the tour as well.

Bus 100 goes there , dont see many people using it otherwise train to Partick .
Only been to Science centre once , thought of it as a white elephant , the tower has had problems
 

MDB1images

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Riverside is excellent, will occupy all the family.
We walked from Patrick which was nearby station
As for getting a seat from Lockerbie to Glasgow I'd say 99% guaranteed on the 09:30 departure(walk through the train if where you board seems busy).
 

Pumperkin

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Hi,

Thanks for above replies.

Am I better to do a PlusBus for transport around Glasgow, or just buy the fares ad hoc? We'll be going to the Science Centre and the Botanic Gardens - it's 2 adults with 2 Together railcard (plus one 3 year old - she's free north of the border same as England right?).

Thanks in advance
 

Bennski

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For parking in Lockerbie you can park at the medical centre or you can park at the Tesco car park as these are free all day. Just means you have to walk 5mins to the station. And yes in the mornings queueing for tickets is awful so try to collect before the day, you can collect from any station such as Dumfries. Staff at Lockerbie are dispatchers mainly for the Virgin services and to help people on and off. So ticket office is empty sometimes.
 

Pumperkin

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Just thought I'd drop by with an update on how it went.

Got to Lockerbie station in plenty of time (about 9am) to find all bays taken with some parking on double yellows. Went round the back to find numerous bays all taken up (and difficult to reverse out of card park once entered). Eventually managed to park locally bumped up a kerb.

Train to Glasgow was fairly uneventful (1 minute late hey ho) - TPE train clean and fairly busy but managed to find our two reserved seats with a free one behind (couldn't book seat for daughter as no ticket for her - under 5). Ticket inspection came and went without request for 2 Together Railcard.

Went out of Glasgow Central station to find the bus (about 10 came before the one we needed). Used our Plus Bus to get to Science Museum but jumped off one early so had a bit of a walk :/

Science Museum really good - thanks all for the suggestion.

Came out to see we could get (I think) a 23, 26 or X26 to city centre (all departing from same stop). Saw 23 and 26 at stop - ran ahead as people getting off the rear one just to see it pulling ahead. Did try banging the side but to no avail. After 10 mins an X26 came along - tried to get on and driver said Plus Bus was First only - he was Stagecoach. He then said in broad Scots that there was no First bus coming so just to hop on.. not sure if this was allowed? Very thankful anyway.

Got train back after a wee bit o' shopping in Sauchiehall Street - car found safely where it had been left.
 

gnolife

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Just thought I'd drop by with an update on how it went.

Got to Lockerbie station in plenty of time (about 9am) to find all bays taken with some parking on double yellows. Went round the back to find numerous bays all taken up (and difficult to reverse out of card park once entered). Eventually managed to park locally bumped up a kerb.

Train to Glasgow was fairly uneventful (1 minute late hey ho) - TPE train clean and fairly busy but managed to find our two reserved seats with a free one behind (couldn't book seat for daughter as no ticket for her - under 5). Ticket inspection came and went without request for 2 Together Railcard.

Went out of Glasgow Central station to find the bus (about 10 came before the one we needed). Used our Plus Bus to get to Science Museum but jumped off one early so had a bit of a walk :/

Science Museum really good - thanks all for the suggestion.

Came out to see we could get (I think) a 23, 26 or X26 to city centre (all departing from same stop). Saw 23 and 26 at stop - ran ahead as people getting off the rear one just to see it pulling ahead. Did try banging the side but to no avail. After 10 mins an X26 came along - tried to get on and driver said Plus Bus was First only - he was Stagecoach. He then said in broad Scots that there was no First bus coming so just to hop on.. not sure if this was allowed? Very thankful anyway.

Got train back after a wee bit o' shopping in Sauchiehall Street - car found safely where it had been left.
The Stagecoach driver was talking complete rubbish - Stagecoach do take Plusbus
 

Pumperkin

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The Stagecoach driver was talking complete rubbish - Stagecoach do take Plusbus

Hmm maybe I misunderstood then... he was Glaswegian so a bit difficult for me to understand. Ah well, at least we got on it and didn't have to pay extra. Are there any buses that don't take it, or is it fine as long as they are in that area?
 
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