Glasgow - Newcastle via Carlisle

[me123]

Hi, y'all. I plan to do a little line bash this summer to finally do a railway in England! So my plan is GLC-CAR-NCL-GLC. I may change at EDB and go back to GLC via Shotts (another line I need covering). All this is covered by the routering guide and searches on both thetrainline and NXEC allow this journey on my chosen ticket.

The ticket I'm choosing is the GLC-NCL SVR which is priced at about £35 with a 16-25 card. This appears to have an 8A restriction on it (based on the trains available on the NXEC site) and is perfectly valid via the Tyne Valley Line. And my planned NXEC return is obviously also covered, and does allow travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk, Shotts or Carstairs.

I have a couple of questions about this...

1) Any cheaper ticketing combo? I know that cheap day returns to Carlisle are fairly reasonable with the railcard and there might be a way for cheap travel with that or a similar ticket. Or, of course, splitting at one of the stations along the line may prove cheaper. I've had a look but can't really find anything.

2) On the Tyne Valley Line, how certain can I be to avoid a Pacer? I would like a trip on one to see what all the hype is about, but travelling such a long distance on one is not exactly what I have in mind...

Please note that I would like to stick to this basic plan as much as possible to get the northern parts of the East and West Coast Mainlines covered. This must also be done in a single day as I am unlikely to get two consecutive days off at my work. Also, I do not want to rely on Advance fares whatsoever. Although I would not necessarily reject GLC-CAR Advance.

Also, if anyone has any ideas for lines I can do when I'm in the area, I'll happily take suggestions to extend my day

Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[yorkie]

1) Any cheaper ticketing combo? I know that cheap day returns to Carlisle are fairly reasonable with the railcard and there might be a way for cheap travel with that or a similar ticket. Or, of course, splitting at one of the stations along the line may prove cheaper. I've had a look but can't really find anything.

No, because you are going one way and back another!

GLC-NCL via CAR is approx £17 with a railcard if you go via Carlisle both ways. Going via EDB it may be cheaper to split at Berwick but then your train has to call there! and it doesn't save much.

2) On the Tyne Valley Line, how certain can I be to avoid a Pacer? I would like a trip on one to see what all the hype is about, but travelling such a long distance on one is not exactly what I have in mind...

Go in the Autumn and get a HST If you do this both ways it will cost you half what you are planning to spend! You can then save your £17 for advance purchase on the ECML for a trip to somewhere like York on another day.

Actually, I've not seen a Pacer on Carlisle to Newcastle services for years, although I bet it does happen occasionally! one way to be sure of a 156 is to get a unit that has come from Stranraer. Pacers are (or at least were) common on Hexham-Newcastle services.

Please note that I would like to stick to this basic plan as much as possible to get the northern parts of the East and West Coast Mainlines covered. This must also be done in a single day as I am unlikely to get two consecutive days off at my work. Also, I do not want to rely on Advance fares whatsoever. Although I would not necessarily reject GLC-CAR Advance.

Why not get an advance and combine tickets at some point on the Tyne Valley line? that way there is no arguments if you miss your train. Also why not plan to spend a bit of time doing the Metro in Newcastle that way if you are delayed you can just spend less time there?

Also, if anyone has any ideas for lines I can do when I'm in the area, I'll happily take suggestions to extend my day

Thanks in advance everyone.

Well the Carlisle-Newcastle ticket is valid via Leeds

Alternatively do the metro, or if you can get to Sunderland for 1230 you could take GC to Northallerton/Thirsk and GC back up.

 

[me123]

Thanks for the advice Yorkie Unfortunately, APs aren't really possible considering that my shifts can change at the last minute. I can't exactly rely on that in advance unfortunately

Seeing as I need the flexibility, the £35.20 fare may be my best bet (I've tried splitting at random points such as Hexham, but to no avail...) It's still quite reasonable, but the £17 would be better if I can guarantee it. I'll need to see how my shift pattern unfolds...

I am likely to be going for a trip to York anyway this Summer so that should get the Northern ECML done and the CDR to Carlisle from Glasgow is priced at a reasonable £11 or so. And I'm sure I could get Tyne Valley and something else done in that time... That may be worth investigating...

Anyhoo, I think going in a big circle may still be the option I personally want to go for. Thanks for the GC idea though; I didn't even think of that! Might be worth a look to see if it is possible... And, of course, North TPE operates to Thirsk/Northallerton as well which might be a quicker option to get to or from the GC HST.

Considering that there's more to do in NCL when I get there, I think I shall in fact go for the £35.20 and make a plan up nearer the time to get some of the lines around there done. Thanks again for the advice Yorkie!

 

[Mintona]

I always get pacers on the Tyne Valley when I do it!

 

[yorkie]

just had a thought...

leeds to glasgow route appleby is about 25 quid, excess the rtn portion to route any permitted, last time I did this the excess was about 10 quid IIRC. No cheaper but a LOT more mileage is posible!!!

 

[andylloyd]

The dreaded pacers have come out of storage at Heaton and are back with avengence!
Stranraer trains are 156's, however the 158's have now dissapeared.
Have had a look on NXEC website for the annual ECML shutdown but nothing is showing up just yet on the diverted HST's via Carlisle as i'd like to ride the beasts through the valley.
If you can break the journey then make a stop at Wylam and head for the boathouse public house, litterally 30 sec walk form both platforms.....

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Andy

 

[adambro]

When I did the Tyne Valley it was a 158, very nice route it is too. Spent a long time on Nothern trains on that day. If I recall I did Dinsdale to Thornaby, then up the Durham Coast Line, changed at Newcastle to go across to Carlisle, then down the S&C to Leeds then back up to Darlington with Virgin.

 

[djw1981]

Yeah the Stranraer or Glasgow Central to Newcastle FSR trains are always an FSR/SPT pool 156 (of which me123 will be very familiar). It also makes for a different routing - Glasgow-Carlisle via Kilmarnock is cheaper, but longer (in terms of time) but also gets different coverage.

 

[me123]

I had actually thought about going via Killie, but decided against it; I want to go down the WCML you see so I may as well go both ways and get the cheaper "via Dumfries" ticket on another trip.

As I now have a couple of provisional dates, I may be going for:

       arr     dep
GLC   xxxx ¦ 0939
CAR   1047 ¦ 1134
NCL   1257 ¦ 1324
CAR   1445 ¦ 1530
MTH   1627 ¦ 1637
CBC   1650 ¦ xxxx

The Pendos can both be backed up by Voyager services to/from BHM. If the NB train doesn't stop at MTH, I can easily go from GLC as well. I'll be making Pendo reservations as well. And I'll be using CDRs GLC-CAR and CAR-NCL.

Based on old Northern 156 diagrams, I should be on a 156. Then again, should I have said that? (Based on those diagrams, most other trains are 142 operated). Ta for the help everyone; I'll let you know how everything works out.

 

[Zamracene749]

Well the Carlisle-Newcastle ticket is valid via Leeds

Thought that this was no longer a valid route?

I know a saver even used to be valid via Manchester but these options stopped appearing on the journey planners a while ago.

Could anyone with an up to date routeing guide confirm or deny this please

 

[John @ home]

Thought that this was no longer a valid route?

I know a saver even used to be valid via Manchester but these options stopped appearing on the journey planners a while ago.

Could anyone with an up to date routeing guide confirm or deny this please

Unlike the current Fares Manual, the current Routeing Guide is available on the web at: http://www.atoc.org/rsp/_downloads/Routeing_Guide/enrg.htm

Using Internet Explorer (I can't get it to work properly with Firefox) the permitted routes between Carlisle and Newcastle are on maps:
GN
MM+TP
MM+WY+LY+NE
NC+MH+TP or
NE+LY+WY+GM+NW

Map GN allows only Carlisle - Hexham - Newcastle.

MM+TP gives Carlisle - Settle - Leeds - York - Newcastle, with optional deviations via Bradford, Hudderfield, Wakefield, Barnsley, Sheffield, Pontefract, Doncaster, Selby or Middlesbrough.

MM+WY+LY+NE adds the opportunity to visit Harrogate, Hartlepool or Sunderland.

NC+MH+TP introduces the chance to visit Oxenholme, Workington, Lancaster, Preston, Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan, Earlsfield, Warrington, Runcorn, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent, Stockport, Manchester or Stalybridge but not all the combinations are allowed.

Finally, NE+LY+WY+GM+NW permits some of the combinations excluded in the fourth set of maps. It's a bit difficult to find because map NW does not appear if one downloads all the maps from the ATOC site. It is, however, available separately.

Altogether, a very extensive choice of routes between Carlisle and Newcastle.

John

 

[Zamracene749]

Thanks John, wasn't sure if this had been stopped. Feel a trip out coming on

PS sorry for the thread drift me123!

If you have time in the north east why not do a CDR Newcastle- Thornaby/Middlesbrough? Can give you a round trip via Sunderland, Stockton and Darlington thus covering a nice ride along the coast, a trip along most of the worlds first passenger railway (on a pacer-my how things have progressed since open wagons lol) and a bit more east coast mileage.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Thought that this was no longer a valid route?.......

.......Could anyone with an up to date routeing guide confirm or deny this please

Depends on what you define as upto date!!!!

This has been mentioned on another thread so I won't go into it.................

 

[yorkie]

A few points:

1) the only authoritative source is the Routeing Guide. Not online journey planners (which are supposed to use the routeing guide but they do not always do so)
2) when you enter a contract with the TOCs you agree to the routeings in the RG and we are always told that we have to use the "online" version, so surely what is online has to be current?
3) paper copies have not been produced for ages

For the record, the current version was last updated in November 2007.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Still not going into it.........

 

[yorkie]

Still not going into it.........

Well, let's just agree that ATOC are a shambles and that they should provide stations with up-to-date copies?

 

[me123]

Because of financial restrictions this month, I think I'll only be going To Newcastle via Carlisle and RTN, but maybe before the Summer's over I'll have a look at going back via the ECML later on in the summer when I have another month's pay in the bank. I might also do the "loop" suggested by "beermaddavep" or something similar in the area to get some of teh NE done . The additional benefit about purchasing the SVR is the 8A restriction applied to it which would allow me more time in the future as well; I can travel on an early SB train and catch an earlier Tyne Valley service allowing me to reach NCL in the morning.

So, now to think about that trip... Think I'd better get this one over with first

 

[yorkie]

There will be a forum meet on the diverted HSTs in the Autumn if you want to consider that.

 

[eezypeazy]

me123,

I recently discovered that there are half price evening returns available between stations on the Tyne Valley on trains after 6.30pm. So doing the Tyne Valley late in the day might save you money....

Regards

eezypeazy

 

[andylloyd]

There will be a forum meet on the diverted HSTs in the Autumn if you want to consider that.

Are they running then?
Cant see anything on the NXEC website saying that the ECML is closed and that diversions are operating...

Cheers

Andy

 

[yorkie]

It's early yet.

I was told, several months ago, that there was a fear that they could be using buses instead however more recently I heard it should be on again. I've only heard rumours though, nothing official. It's been on every year for the past 4 (?) years, IIRC.

 

[me123]

Of course, NXEC's first Tyne Valley year...

If they're on I'd certainly be up for them as long as I've not been shipped up to The Granite City by that point...

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Well, let's just agree that ATOC are a shambles.............

Got that right.....

........... and that they should provide stations with up-to-date copies?

......Goes without saying!