London to York

[HSTChris]

Hello!

I am looking for all you ticket genious's help again!

What I want is quite specific, so bare with me...

I want to travel from London Kings Cross to York on the 15th of April to visit the National Railway Museum for my birthday. I'll be staying in London overnight beforehand, so I do not need a ticket from down here in Sussex to London, that has already been bought.

What I need is a nice cheap ticket, I'd imagen a pair of singles (One for each way) Which will get me to the NRM nice and early in the morning (But still mean I can get to Kings Cross from Clapham Junction first), and leave with enough time to get all the way home from Kings Cross to Bexhill.

I don't need the ticket for the Bexhill bit.

What cheap tickets can I get?

 

[royaloak]

Where are you staying in London?

Clapham Jn?

 

[HSTChris]

Where are you staying in London?

Clapham Jn?

Yea, theres a Travelodge near there which seems to be the cheapest available, and I shall use my Oyster Card to get to Kings Cross.

 

[Lampshade]

Grand Central? 08:04 from Kings Cross gets into York for 10:15, £61 off peak return without railcard, obv less if you have one (£36.20 return online with a railcard hock.

 

[HSTChris]

I do have a 16-25 Railcard.

Sounds quite expensive =/

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Eh? 400 miles for £36 is not expensive

 

[HSTChris]

I found I can do it on 2 singles for £29.10 - Am I likley to beat that, or is that as cheap as it gets?

 

[Lampshade]

I found I can do it on 2 singles for £29.10 - Am I likley to beat that, or is that as cheap as it gets?

Price wise it's probably as cheap as you'll get it but the GC ticket has the added flexibility that you don't get with advance tickets, more chance of getting a seat, arguably much better service and Valentas - well worth the extra £6/7.

 

[HSTChris]

more chance of getting a seat

Shouldn't matter should it? I get a seat reservation with both anyway.

 

[Lampshade]

Shouldn't matter should it? I get a seat reservation with both anyway.

Never thought of that

 

[142094]

Don't count on those Valentas, could be all 180s as like the other day!

@ 91107, that £61.00 Off Peak Return is GC only - so not much flexibility really, either you go for one GC or have to wait a few hours for the other.

 

[yorkie]

Best splits:

Weekends:
London - Peterborough £17.15 off peak day return
Peterborough - York £20.15 off peak day return (Weekends only)

Weekdays:
London - Grantham £19.80 off peak day return
Grantham - York £20.15 off peak day return

(If the timetable favours Newark splits then the cost is only a quid or so more than splitting at Grantham)

Depart on the 1000 or later on weekdays.

At a weekend, then splitting is better as it is cheaper and more convenient.

But for a weekday, if you want an early train, I suggest Grand Central as an Off Peak return is valid on the 0804 service. That's a lot less than what East Coast charge for a through ticket on the 0800 (£147.20 return).

I'd go for GC as you at least have a chance of Valentas, and a guaranteed seat as the trains are not too busy due to no AP fares being available. The 0804 and 1908 return will have plenty of seats, and are booked HST. Not guaranteed but anyone with HST in their name I'd expect to make the gamble!

 

[GodAtum]

Are Grand Central any good? How about there 1st class offering?

 

[Solent&Wessex]

I found I can do it on 2 singles for £29.10 - Am I likley to beat that, or is that as cheap as it gets?

The cheapest Advance singles between London and York are normally via Leeds. Go onto the East Coast website and put in London to York via Leeds, it will normally be a lot cheaper. I booked some tickets for a friend the other week from York. He was complaining that the fares from York were so high. I looked and the cheapest Sgl was about £35, but leaving York slightly earlier and changing at Leeds took it down to £13!
-

 

[Techniquest]

GC are, in my experiences, very good.

First Class looks stunning, I've not heard anything negative about that.

Agreed with yorkie, the Grand Central fare (around £41 with railcard on the day, dunno if they're doing online discounts still) is probably the best bet for some level of flexibility. Especially if you rate HSTs!

142094: It was all 180s on Saturday due to 43084 failing with oil issues early Saturday morning. Hopefully she'll be back out in use again soon, I still need 43084!

For the mileage (around 188 miles Kings Cross to York and obviously the same back), a massive 396 miles, that £41 is very reasonable.

Hope you enjoy the trip to the NRM

 

[Capybara]

I'm a fan of GC (in as much as one can be a fan of a private railway company) even though they have let me down on a couple of occasions. Presumably those train cancellations are less likely to happen now they have the 180s. Two points. While you won't have a problem getting a seat on the day specified, it is not always the case. I believe that on Good Friday last year they left people on the platform at King's Cross on one train, it was that crowded. And on Saturday when I was travelling north they were at pains to point out that if you hadn't booked for the evening train from Sunderland on Sunday then you shouldn't travel as it was completely booked. This was the only train on Sunday travelling all the way to London because of the engineering work. They can also be quite crowded if Sunderland are playing at home and I arrived in King's Cross on a Sunday about a month ago and the afternoon departure looked quite full.

Secondly, I have travelled in first on the HST as quite often they have a first class coach for use of second class passengers. To be honest, the seats are too big(!) and, apart from the extra room, I still don't see the point of travelling first class when all you get is a bit of carpet, a light and a bit of rag for a curtain. That's a general comment on first class; I really don't see why it is worth paying so much extra most of the time.

 

[142094]

They recently had a declassified 1st class coach, but weren't advertising it much. The person who told me was the cleaner. By the time I found out it wasn't worth moving anyway. Compared to some other TOCs, GC's standard class is more like 1st class anyway.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Compared to some other TOCs, GC's standard class is more like 1st class anyway.

On the HSTs, I fully agree. On the 180's, well, not so much, though the table seats are fine - but the engine noise is tiresome; there's usually one or two frequencies that really resonate through the structure and become very loud. Also, if you mistakenly sit in the leading car of a 180 then the horn is exceptionally loud too. Some enthusiasts seem to like horns but I never have and find it very, very, very annoying.

But on a Kings Cross - York trip I can't see any reason to choose another operator. You get a table, sockets, wi-fi, catering, spare capacity, friendly staff, non-stop high speed travel, afordable tickets. Everything that EC tries to achieve, but they struggle to provide all of them at the same time!

 

[142094]

Ah yes, forgot to mention the scurge of the 180s! Totally agree, if I was buying on the day or even a few days beforehand I certainly would go with GC every time. Even better that you get a free cup of tea as well. Problem is I have an advance ticket 95% of the time so EC gets most of my money.

I haven't checked recently but I remember that the food in 1st class with GC is something like a salad or light lunch. I also remember reading that they were supposed to be starting to do hot meals. Any idea what has happened to this?

 

[DaveNewcastle]

. . . the food . . . with GC . . . . I also remember reading that they were supposed to be starting to do hot meals. Any idea what has happened to this?

Yes! They are starting to do hot meals. Its on their web site, and its everywhere else you look!
Great!
Its on the NR summary of the operators so it must be true!
Great!
They've been saying that since they started!
Geez, even some NXEC catering staff left to join GC so that they could provide, er, "hot meals".
. . . they are starting to do hot meals !

But in the meantime, and while we're waiting, and because I like to actually eat sometimes, I'll still be returning return north on EC who do actually provide, er, hot meals. With freshly prepared ingredients, properly cooked, hot meals, and with proper table service.

And as soon as GC actually do "do hot meals", I'll travel north with them.
In the meantime -
we're waiting!

 

[HSTChris]

I sharnt be travelling first class - Allthough it'd be nice, I dont think its worth that much extra.

 

[142094]

Thanks for the update Dave, hopefully they will have a good menu with a variety of stuff. Wonder if the Bradford services will have hot food as well. Might try and get their first day if I have the time.

 

[transportphoto]

Yes - back in Mid Feb (15th?) I traveled from York to Sunderland in a Declassified 1st Coach.

We saw it sitting in the platform attached to the HST and we thought that it was the wrong way round (simple) so we boarded the next door and I looked through and their was a tatty piece of A4 saying (along the lines) "THIS COACH IS AVAILABLE TO STANDARD TICKET HOLDERS". It was forming coach B (Std) - only prob is the wifi didn't seem to work!

 

[Techniquest]

Unless the buffet car is in the formation, which is where the wi-fi equipment is, the Wi-Fi won't work.