Planning a XC HST trip

[LudwigTails]

So what route does the XC hst usually run on?

 

[Class172]

Plymouth to Glasgow (via Leeds)

Here’s an example: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G59478/2023-07-27/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[LudwigTails]

anymore other routes? i would like to know some routes that doesnt go further into scotland

 

[DarloRich]

anymore other routes? i would like to know some routes that doesnt go further into scotland

They run to/from Plymouth to/from one of Leeds, Edinburgh or Glasgow. They all run the same route as noted above

 

[LudwigTails]

They run to/from Plymouth to/from one of Leeds, Edinburgh or Glasgow. They all run the same route as noted above

so there are XC HST services that ends and start from Leeds to Plymouth?

 

[LudwigTails]

so if i want to ride on one of xc's hst. which route is more recommend? i am living in brighton atm so.
(im trying to ride a full route on it)

 

[alexf380]

It's all one route. The train from Edinburgh travels via Leeds to get to Plymouth. In the afternoon, because of the length of journey, the return only makes it to Leeds before it's time to wind down for the night. The same is true in reverse; train starts it's day in Leeds and travels to Plymouth, then returns via Leeds to Edinburgh.

If you're based on the south coast then it may be easier to do a trip from Plymouth, and Devon can be really nice.

Hope this helps

 

[irish_rail]

It's all one route. The train from Edinburgh travels via Leeds to get to Plymouth. In the afternoon, because of the length of journey, the return only makes it to Leeds before it's time to wind down for the night. The same is true in reverse; train starts it's day in Leeds and travels to Plymouth, then returns via Leeds to Edinburgh.

If you're based on the south coast then it may be easier to do a trip from Plymouth, and Devon can be really nice.

Hope this helps

Brighton to Plymouth is about 5 hours! The two cities are not at all close. Probably just as easy to head to Birmingham. I think you'll struggle to do a full route in a day and still get back to Brighton. Maybe an overnight stay is a good idea if practicable.

 

[Falcon1200]

If doing a full route is impractical for @Ludwig Tails, I would suggest maybe heading to Bristol, where the XC HSTs can be taken for a decent run, eg to Exeter or Birmingham (up the Lickey Incline!), or a short trip between Parkway and Temple Meads, with the added attraction at the latter of GWR's short HSTs.

 

[alexf380]

Brighton to Plymouth is about 5 hours! The two cities are not at all close.

I admit my knowledge of that part of the country is somewhat lacking!

 

[Sussex Ben]

Living near Brighton myself, I am planning an HST trip shortly and will probably do 1V50 between Derby and Taunton as a preferred option as it means not starting too early but also getting home before the evening peak has really kicked in. Depending on time constraints it would be possible to get all the way to Plymouth on 1V50 and still get back to Sussex at a reasonable time, however as @irish_rail has said, an overnight stay would be worthwhile if wanting to do the full route.

 

[Class172]

I can’t find the link right now but there is also the charity railtour that may be of interest. I believe the main run has sold out but there is a Swanage-Bournemouth return journey available that is potentially a little easier to get to (though I’m aware travelling along the south coast is never quick!).

 

[route101]

I have done Birmingham to Glasgow on XC HST but not South of there. I am hopefully going to do HST to Glasgow Central soon, last HST service into Central

 

[yorkie]

Living near Brighton myself, I am planning an HST trip shortly and will probably do 1V50 between Derby and Taunton as a preferred option as it means not starting too early but also getting home before the evening peak has really kicked in. Depending on time constraints it would be possible to get all the way to Plymouth on 1V50 and still get back to Sussex at a reasonable time, however as @irish_rail has said, an overnight stay would be worthwhile if wanting to do the full route.

When I get that train on a Friday it is busy into Birmingham and there tends to be a big crowd waiting for it at Brum too, so don't expect it to be quiet! It may be different on other days of the week.

 

[LudwigTails]

They run to/from Plymouth to/from one of Leeds, Edinburgh or Glasgow. They all run the same route as noted above

I think i might pick Leeds to Plymouth. Unless there are other full routes, please tell.
From brighton to either Edinburgh or Glasglow its just impossible. Both of which cost more than 200 pounds to get to. Glasglow is nearly 300 pounds. and i cant eat up the cost at hotels at edinbrugh either. I checked RTT and the only run that STARTS from Leeds to plymouth is a 6am train. which i might struggle with. so i would just have to do half way. Again unless if i am missing out other routes that the XC HSts runs on. please do tell

 

[JonathanH]

From brighton to either Edinburgh or Glasglow its just impossible. Both of which cost more than 200 pounds to get to. Glasglow is nearly 300 pounds. and i cant eat up the cost at hotels at edinbrugh either. I checked RTT and the only run that STARTS from Leeds to plymouth is a 6am train. which i might struggle with. so i would just have to do half way

You can get to Leeds for 6am using an overnight coach from London for next to nothing.

 

[Sussex Ben]

When I get that train on a Friday it is busy into Birmingham and there tends to be a big crowd waiting for it at Brum too, so don't expect it to be quiet! It may be different on other days of the week.

Duly noted, thanks. My current intention is to do the trip midweek (probably on a Tuesday) to avoid the crowds that can form on long distance services on Fridays, so hopefully it won't be too bad!

 

[LudwigTails]

does anybody know how much does it cost for a physical ticket for first class on XC from Leeds to Plymouth? (I was hoping to get my probably only XC HST ride something to remember as a souvenir). according to the xc website it cost around 250-285 pounds but i dunno is it the same for physical) .

 

[D6130]

You can get to Leeds for 6am using an overnight coach from London for next to nothing.

....or you can catch the second train (1V50, 06 06 Edinburgh-Plymouth), which departs Leeds at 09 11.

 

[LudwigTails]

does anybody know how much does it cost for a physical ticket for first class on XC from Leeds to Plymouth? (I was hoping to get my probably only XC HST ride something to remember as a souvenir). according to the xc website it cost around 250-285 pounds but i dunno is it the same for physical) .

Could some one answer me this one?

 

[JonathanH]

Could some one answer me this one?

You would probably want to do it using split tickets, but for your desire to have the souvenir of a through ticket.

Seems to be about £195 for single tickets first class on 16 August.

Leeds > Plymouth - Search Results | RailUK Tickets

The Split Ticketing Champions - Compare Fares and Get the Best Value For Money Through Split Tickets and Booking Cheap Train Tickets Online And On Our Mobile App, Etickets To Your Phone, No Booking Fee, Save Up To 90%

tickets.railforums.co.uk

As I noted upthread, it is straightforward to get from London to Leeds by coach for less than £20 single.

 

[LudwigTails]

You would probably want to do it using split tickets, but for your desire to have the souvenir of a through ticket.

Seems to be about £195 for single tickets first class on 16 August.

Leeds > Plymouth - Search Results | RailUK Tickets

The Split Ticketing Champions - Compare Fares and Get the Best Value For Money Through Split Tickets and Booking Cheap Train Tickets Online And On Our Mobile App, Etickets To Your Phone, No Booking Fee, Save Up To 90%

tickets.railforums.co.uk

As I noted upthread, it is straightforward to get from London to Leeds by coach for less than £20 single.

So how does split ticket work? Does that apply on the paper tickets that you buy from ticket machines? I can see the ticketrailfourm can actual buy the tickets? But I assume they would be e-tickets once you got them? So how does it work?

 

[Hadders]

So how does split ticket work? Does that apply on the paper tickets that you buy from ticket machines? I can see the ticketrailfourm can actual buy the tickets? But I assume they would be e-tickets once you got them? So how does it work?

Let's say you're making a journey from Plymouth to Birmingham. You might get sold a combination of tickets that is cheaper than the through fare, for example Plymouth to Exeter, Exeter to Cheltenham and Cheltenham to Birmingham. While e-ticketing the the preferred delivery method you can also select paper tickets.

Note that in this day and age, if you purchase tickets at a station they're highly likely to be printed on paper till roll, not credit card sized tickets.

 

[LudwigTails]

Let's say you're making a journey from Plymouth to Birmingham. You might get sold a combination of tickets that is cheaper than the through fare, for example Plymouth to Exeter, Exeter to Cheltenham and Cheltenham to Birmingham. While e-ticketing the the preferred delivery method you can also select paper tickets.

Note that in this day and age, if you purchase tickets at a station they're highly likely to be printed on paper till roll, not credit card sized tickets.

so instead of purchasing a direct ticket (from say) Leeds to Plymouth. Buying tickets that goes to a short distance from where you are. Or in another way of saying it, buying tickets in different sections of the route? which in some way is cheaper than buying the direct ticket. If i were to buy this at a ticket machine at a single station how is it gonna work? Do i buy mutiple tickets?

On the Southern Network (which is my local line). They still uses paper tickets that are credit card sized and i thought this was used throughout the entire UK railway? What did you meant by paper till roll? Like the ones found on receipts?

 

[150249]

They look like this.

Please note: not my photo, from someone else on the forums

 

[Hadders]

so instead of purchasing a direct ticket (from say) Leeds to Plymouth. Buying tickets that goes to a short distance from where you are. Or in another way of saying it, buying tickets in different sections of the route? which in some way is cheaper than buying the direct ticket. If i were to buy this at a ticket machine at a single station how is it gonna work? Do i buy mutiple tickets?

On the Southern Network (which is my local line). They still uses paper tickets that are credit card sized and i thought this was used throughout the entire UK railway? What did you meant by paper till roll? Like the ones found on receipts?

These prices are made up merely to illustrate the point.

Let's say the fare from Leeds to Plymouth is £300 but you are able to purchase a combination of tickets that is chealer. For example:
Leeds to Birmingham £100
Birmingham to Cheltenham £50
Cheltenham to Exteer £30
Exeter to Plymouth £25
Total £205 which is cheaper than the through fare from Leeds to Plymouth.

This is perfectly legal as long as the train calls at the station where you change from one ticket to another. You can either research the ticket proces yourself or use a split ticketing site to do the hard work for you. The forum's ticketing site will do this for you. Sometimes a saving isn't possible but the forum's site charges a 'share of savings' if it does identify a saving - you still make a big saving though.

There are many reasons why split ticketing is often (but not always) cheaper but we don't need to go into those reasons on this thread. Any station will sell you tickets starting from another station but you have to ask them - they are not required to suggest cheaper combinations. Many stations now issue tickets purchased on paper till roll, see photo in the post above this one.

If you purchase online then e-tickets is the preferred method of delivery but it is possible to collect them from a ticket machine (although these days that option isn't always prominent). Tickets can be collected from any ticket vending machine - the website might suggest a station but any ticket machine can be used. Again, there are a handful of exception but we don't need to worry about them for the purposes of this case.

 

[LudwigTails]

These prices are made up merely to illustrate the point.

Let's say the fare from Leeds to Plymouth is £300 but you are able to purchase a combination of tickets that is chealer. For example:
Leeds to Birmingham £100
Birmingham to Cheltenham £50
Cheltenham to Exteer £30
Exeter to Plymouth £25
Total £205 which is cheaper than the through fare from Leeds to Plymouth.

This is perfectly legal as long as the train calls at the station where you change from one ticket to another. You can either research the ticket proces yourself or use a split ticketing site to do the hard work for you. The forum's ticketing site will do this for you. Sometimes a saving isn't possible but the forum's site charges a 'share of savings' if it does identify a saving - you still make a big saving though.

There are many reasons why split ticketing is often (but not always) cheaper but we don't need to go into those reasons on this thread. Any station will sell you tickets starting from another station but you have to ask them - they are not required to suggest cheaper combinations. Many stations now issue tickets purchased on paper till roll, see photo in the post above this one.

If you purchase online then e-tickets is the preferred method of delivery but it is possible to collect them from a ticket machine (although these days that option isn't always prominent). Tickets can be collected from any ticket vending machine - the website might suggest a station but any ticket machine can be used. Again, there are a handful of exception but we don't need to worry about them for the purposes of this case.

Ah i see. I had a quick view of the payment page of trying to would buy advanced ticket (just a quick view of how the process is).
i used the railukfourm ticket site of buying split tickets. However i had a quick check and for some reason the seat reservation said 2 seats? first leg from leeds to bristol in carriage B and later carriage A from bristol to plymouth. If i were to try and avoid this from happening (it's my first time buying advance tickets). I will have to buy direct advanced ticket yea?

and i might consider try buying a advance ticket on another railway company first so i can learn the process of buying and getting the advance ticket before going for the xc hst from leeds to plymouth one, just to be sure.

 

[Hadders]

The webisite will try and book the same seat for each ticket but sometimes this isn't possible, due to how the reservations system operates. You might be able to use the seat selector to move the reservations to a seat that is available for the whole journey, or see if the support team can book a through reservation for you.

These are things you need to weigh up when considering the potential saving.

 

[LudwigTails]

The webisite will try and book the same seat for each ticket but sometimes this isn't possible, due to how the reservations system operates. You might be able to use the seat selector to move the reservations to a seat that is available for the whole journey, or see if the support team can book a through reservation for you.

These are things you need to weigh up when considering the potential saving.

i tried on both the ticket railukfourm and the cross country website too. But i dont seem to be able to see a option for specific seat selecting? apart from being able to pick what do u want for your seat.

 

[JonathanH]

i tried on both the ticket railukfourm and the cross country website too. But i dont seem to be able to see a option for specific seat selecting? apart from being able to pick what do u want for your seat.

On the forum booking engine, you need to add the ticket to your basket first, then there is a 'pencil' denoting the ability to edit the seats next to the numbers of the seats you get automatically given.

That is just the way it works - you get an automatic allocation, then need to change it.