Questions from a very anxious train traveller

[crj96]

Howdy! New to the forum and just wanted to ask some questions.

I haven't been anywhere by train in many, many years since I was a child. I have huge anxiety about travelling and just wanted some reassurance from knowledgable people.

I'm travelling from Bodmin Parkway to Blackpool North (via Birmingham New Street & Preston) in a few weeks. Has anyone travelled this route?

What I wanted to know is...

1. Are trains generally busier on weekends than on weekdays?
2. Are 'off peak' times less busy?
3. If I've purchased an off-peak return, can I take any service to get to my destination, or does it have to be the route and times specified?
4. How difficult is Birmingham New Street to navigate?

 

[30907]

Howdy! New to the forum and just wanted to ask some questions.

I haven't been anywhere by train in many, many years since I was a child. I have huge anxiety about travelling and just wanted some reassurance from knowledgable people.

I'm travelling from Bodmin Parkway to Blackpool North (via Birmingham New Street & Preston) in a few weeks. Has anyone travelled this route?

What I wanted to know is...

1. Are trains generally busier on weekends than on weekdays?
2. Are 'off peak' times less busy?
3. If I've purchased an off-peak return, can I take any service to get to my destination, or does it have to be the route and times specified?
4. How difficult is Birmingham New Street to navigate?

1. I assume you are talking about long-distance trains rather than commuter trains? TBH it varies a lot - half term Saturdays, big sports events, and Blackpool illuminations make for extra traffic.
2. Broadly speaking, yes - but your ticket allows you to travel a Friday and in the evening rush hour from Birmingham, both can be busy times. Once you've decided on your trains, get a reserved seat anyway. It's free.
3. An offpeak return can be used on any train in the permitted hours (after 0930 in this case, it varies a bit) and on the permitted routes. The route you are taking is the obvious one, though there are other slower ones (ask if you really want to know!)
4. Unfortunately, for this journey it isn't easy to avoid Birmingham New St. The platforms there have A and B ends - use the escalators at B end, then you can get to any platform relatively easily.
It is possible to change at Cheltenham and then at Wolverhampton, which are much easier stations to navigate, but it will add an hour to your journey.

I don't know how far that helps, other forum members may be able to add more.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum.

Bodmin to Blackpool is a long journey by train so there mightl be times when the trains are busy, especially around Birmingham, if you hit there during the weekday evening rush. Weekends can also be busy with leisure travellers. Some observations and thoughts:

- Given that it's a long journey you might want to break up the journey and allow a break in Birmingham to stretch your legs and/or get some refreshment. This also puts less pressure on you if you've anxious about changing there. There are lots of food and drink outlets at the station and with the station.
- I'd reserve seats on your intended trains. Online booking sites will do this for you as part of the transaction and the station ticket office will also do it for you if you ask.
- An Off Peak Return between Bodmin and Blackpool can be used on any train after 09:30 on weekdays and any train at weekends. The outward journey must be done on the day of validity but the return portion is valid for a month. You can reserve seats on your intended trains when you purchase the ticket but you're not obliged to travel on these trains, you can use any trains the ticket is valid on although you wouldn't have a reserved seat.
- An Off Peak Return can be purchased on the day of travel at the same price although I'd suggest buying a few days in ahead to obtain seat reservations.

The Off Peak Return between Bodmin and Blackpool costs £212.15 which is very expensive. We don't need to go into the reasons why it is so expensive but it is possible to make a significant saving by purchasing a combination of tickets such as:

Bodmin - Exeter St Davids Off Peak Return £30.50
Exeter St Davids - Bristol Parkway Off Peak Return £30.50
Bristol Parkway - Warrington Off Peak Return £82.55
Warrington - Blackpool North Anytime Short Return £18.60
Total £162.15

The only requirement is that the train must call where you change from one ticket to another (which they do). Such a combination can be booked through an accredited split ticketing site such as trainsplit. You can also purchase them at a station although you have to specifically ask for the specific tickets you want.

Finally it might be possible to purchase Advance tickets that are cheaper although these are restricted to the booked train only so you'd lose the flexibility of being able to travel on any train.

 

[MotCO]

The other thing to provide assurance to an anxious traveller is that if you miss your connections because your train is delayed, you can catch the next available train. It will usually need to be run by the same operator, and you should get your ticket endorsed by the guard on the late-running train.

The other proviso is that you need to abide by minimum connection times; if you have a printed itinary, then you would have met these requirements.

 

[Hadders]

The other thing to provide assurance to an anxious traveller is that if you miss your connections because your train is delayed, you can catch the next available train. It will usually need to be run by the same operator, and you should get your ticket endorsed by the guard on the late-running train.

The other proviso is that you need to abide by minimum connection times; if you have a printed itinary, then you would have met these requirements.

That applies if you use Advance tickets. There is no need to get tickets endorsed or worry about different train operators if using Off Peak tickets as these are flexible.

minimum connection times are irrelevant with flexible tickets as well unless claiming delay repay but let’s steer clear of that here as we risk confusing an anxious traveller.

 

[MotCO]

That applies if you use Advance tickets. There is no need to get tickets endorsed or worry about different train operators if using Off Peak tickets as these are flexible.

minimum connection times are irrelevant with flexible tickets as well unless claiming delay repay but let’s steer clear of that here as we risk confusing an anxious traveller.

Agreed. But an irregular traveller may be using the term 'off peak ticket' loosely.

 

[30907]

Agreed. But an irregular traveller may be using the term 'off peak ticket' loosely.

Indeed. But when the OP uses the term "Off peak return" it's unlikely IMO that they mean "Advance single." Especially as for random midweek dates in November they are just as expensive.

To the OP: please come back to us with more specific questions if you have them.
Also, you can use the nationalrail.co.uk website to give you times "excluding interchange at New Street" if you want to pursue that option.

 

[221129]

The train you get from Bodmin to Birmingham is likely to be very busy whenever you travel.

 

[crj96]

1. I assume you are talking about long-distance trains rather than commuter trains? TBH it varies a lot - half term Saturdays, big sports events, and Blackpool illuminations make for extra traffic.
2. Broadly speaking, yes - but your ticket allows you to travel a Friday and in the evening rush hour from Birmingham, both can be busy times. Once you've decided on your trains, get a reserved seat anyway. It's free.
3. An offpeak return can be used on any train in the permitted hours (after 0930 in this case, it varies a bit) and on the permitted routes. The route you are taking is the obvious one, though there are other slower ones (ask if you really want to know!)
4. Unfortunately, for this journey it isn't easy to avoid Birmingham New St. The platforms there have A and B ends - use the escalators at B end, then you can get to any platform relatively easily.
It is possible to change at Cheltenham and then at Wolverhampton, which are much easier stations to navigate, but it will add an hour to your journey.

I don't know how far that helps, other forum members may be able to add more.

Thanks for your input - I really appreciate it!

 

[crj96]

Welcome to the forum.

Bodmin to Blackpool is a long journey by train so there mightl be times when the trains are busy, especially around Birmingham, if you hit there during the weekday evening rush. Weekends can also be busy with leisure travellers. Some observations and thoughts:

- Given that it's a long journey you might want to break up the journey and allow a break in Birmingham to stretch your legs and/or get some refreshment. This also puts less pressure on you if you've anxious about changing there. There are lots of food and drink outlets at the station and with the station.
- I'd reserve seats on your intended trains. Online booking sites will do this for you as part of the transaction and the station ticket office will also do it for you if you ask.
- An Off Peak Return between Bodmin and Blackpool can be used on any train after 09:30 on weekdays and any train at weekends. The outward journey must be done on the day of validity but the return portion is valid for a month. You can reserve seats on your intended trains when you purchase the ticket but you're not obliged to travel on these trains, you can use any trains the ticket is valid on although you wouldn't have a reserved seat.
- An Off Peak Return can be purchased on the day of travel at the same price although I'd suggest buying a few days in ahead to obtain seat reservations.

The Off Peak Return between Bodmin and Blackpool costs £212.15 which is very expensive. We don't need to go into the reasons why it is so expensive but it is possible to make a significant saving by purchasing a combination of tickets such as:

Bodmin - Exeter St Davids Off Peak Return £30.50
Exeter St Davids - Bristol Parkway Off Peak Return £30.50
Bristol Parkway - Warrington Off Peak Return £82.55
Warrington - Blackpool North Anytime Short Return £18.60
Total £162.15

The only requirement is that the train must call where you change from one ticket to another (which they do). Such a combination can be booked through an accredited split ticketing site such as trainsplit. You can also purchase them at a station although you have to specifically ask for the specific tickets you want.

Finally it might be possible to purchase Advance tickets that are cheaper although these are restricted to the booked train only so you'd lose the flexibility of being able to travel on any train.

Thanks so much for your help. I'm probably getting the 09:46 service from Bodmin which arrives at Birmingham at 13:56, so hopefully it won't be too busy? I'll be breaking the journey up on the way back and having a few hours in Birmingham, but on the outward trip I just want to get there ASAP. With a railcard the off-peak return is only £140 which isn't too bad and I like the flexibility of being able to split my journey and decide which train to get. Is it possible to reserve seats AFTER you've bought the ticket? (I know CrossCountry allow you to reserve seats via Twitter, for example)

 

[crj96]

The other thing to provide assurance to an anxious traveller is that if you miss your connections because your train is delayed, you can catch the next available train. It will usually need to be run by the same operator, and you should get your ticket endorsed by the guard on the late-running train.

The other proviso is that you need to abide by minimum connection times; if you have a printed itinary, then you would have met these requirements.

Thanks. Luckily with an off-peak return if I miss my connection I should be able to get the next train anyway, regardless of the operator? I have 19 minutes in Birmingham New Street and 33 minutes in Preston so that should be alright!

 

[crj96]

The train you get from Bodmin to Birmingham is likely to be very busy whenever you travel.

Yeah that's what I thought, especially considering the train used for that route is a voyager with only 4-5 carriages! Plus that's the longest leg of the journey at 4hr10min which is a very long time to be stuck in a cramped and overcrowded train.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Howdy! New to the forum and just wanted to ask some questions.

Sorry, just seen this.
I haven't been anywhere by train in many, many years since I was a child. I have huge anxiety about travelling and just wanted some reassurance from knowledgable people.

I'm travelling from Bodmin Parkway to Blackpool North (via Birmingham New Street & Preston) in a few weeks. Has anyone travelled this route?

What I wanted to know is...

1. Are trains generally busier on weekends than on weekdays?
2. Are 'off peak' times less busy?
3. If I've purchased an off-peak return, can I take any service to get to my destination, or does it have to be the route and times specified?
4. How difficult is Birmingham New Street to navigate?

I've travelled from Plymouth to Blackpool North with Mum but way back in March 2005 - 17:25 from Plymouth to Preston then a very lightly loaded 2-car Class 156 on the 23:03 from there to Blackpool North. The Voyager was not full and standing!

Here's a tip - on a Thursday from Bodmin Parkway, get the following...

1. 10:44 Dundee train (CrossCountry service) to Birmingham New Street (arrives at 14:56). This is booked for an HST but can be substituted by a Voyager. So your best bet is to book the same seat type that exists on both sets (more on that in a bit)

2. 16:15 Edinburgh train (Virgin Trains) from Birmingham New Street to Preston (arrives at 17:53). Should be a 9, 10 or 11-car train (9's are Pendolino's, 10's are 5x2-formed Voyagers and 11's are Pendolino's.

3. 18:27 Blackpool North train from Preston to Blackpool North (arrives at 18:51).

Assuming you've no railcard, I've checked for say the 24/10/19 and if you bought the 1 through (Adticket) ticket online you'd have to get the 10:44 to Birmingham New Street then you'd have to get the 15:15 from New Street to Preston and the 17:27 from there to Blackpool North. This would cost around £145.

If you got the 10:44 (1 ticket) then the 16:15 and 18:27 (1 ticket altogether) then you'd be paying around £100.

If you want a good-value-for-money CrossCountry HST experience, then if you go Standard Class to for one of the window table seats in the Quiet Coach, G. On XC's website for their services, you can select your own seat from the online seating plan. Go for seat 3 or 5 in Coach G (I've not sat in '3' but this means hardly any passengers coming up from behind you - I've sat in '5' which if people stand in this coach, you don't feel so crowded!

Hope this all helps - apologies for any confusion though.

 

[VT 390]

Thanks so much for your help. I'm probably getting the 09:46 service from Bodmin which arrives at Birmingham at 13:56, so hopefully it won't be too busy? I'll be breaking the journey up on the way back and having a few hours in Birmingham, but on the outward trip I just want to get there ASAP. With a railcard the off-peak return is only £140 which isn't too bad and I like the flexibility of being able to split my journey and decide which train to get. Is it possible to reserve seats AFTER you've bought the ticket? (I know CrossCountry allow you to reserve seats via Twitter, for example)

I have got the 09:46 (from Penzance) and it was actually a very busy service (this was in the summer) so I would recommend booking a seat, especially as in Cross Country's own timetable it is one of the services with an R symbol which means seat reservations recommended.

 

[route101]

I've travelled from Plymouth to Blackpool North with Mum but way back in March 2005 - 17:25 from Plymouth to Preston then a very lightly loaded 2-car Class 156 on the 23:03 from there to Blackpool North. The Voyager was not full and standing!

Here's a tip - on a Thursday from Bodmin Parkway, get the following...

1. 10:44 Dundee train (CrossCountry service) to Birmingham New Street (arrives at 14:56). This is booked for an HST but can be substituted by a Voyager. So your best bet is to book the same seat type that exists on both sets (more on that in a bit)

2. 16:15 Edinburgh train (Virgin Trains) from Birmingham New Street to Preston (arrives at 17:53). Should be a 9, 10 or 11-car train (9's are Pendolino's, 10's are 5x2-formed Voyagers and 11's are Pendolino's.

3. 18:27 Blackpool North train from Preston to Blackpool North (arrives at 18:51).

Assuming you've no railcard, I've checked for say the 24/10/19 and if you bought the 1 through (Adticket) ticket online you'd have to get the 10:44 to Birmingham New Street then you'd have to get the 15:15 from New Street to Preston and the 17:27 from there to Blackpool North. This would cost around £145.

If you got the 10:44 (1 ticket) then the 16:15 and 18:27 (1 ticket altogether) then you'd be paying around £100.

If you want a good-value-for-money CrossCountry HST experience, then if you go Standard Class to for one of the window table seats in the Quiet Coach, G. On XC's website for their services, you can select your own seat from the online seating plan. Go for seat 3 or 5 in Coach G (I've not sat in '3' but this means hardly any passengers coming up from behind you - I've sat in '5' which if people stand in this coach, you don't feel so crowded!

Hope this all helps - apologies for any confusion though.

Man of detail ,Mr Hurd.

Didnt know Dundee got HST nb

 

[crj96]

I've travelled from Plymouth to Blackpool North with Mum but way back in March 2005 - 17:25 from Plymouth to Preston then a very lightly loaded 2-car Class 156 on the 23:03 from there to Blackpool North. The Voyager was not full and standing!

Here's a tip - on a Thursday from Bodmin Parkway, get the following...

1. 10:44 Dundee train (CrossCountry service) to Birmingham New Street (arrives at 14:56). This is booked for an HST but can be substituted by a Voyager. So your best bet is to book the same seat type that exists on both sets (more on that in a bit)

2. 16:15 Edinburgh train (Virgin Trains) from Birmingham New Street to Preston (arrives at 17:53). Should be a 9, 10 or 11-car train (9's are Pendolino's, 10's are 5x2-formed Voyagers and 11's are Pendolino's.

3. 18:27 Blackpool North train from Preston to Blackpool North (arrives at 18:51).

Assuming you've no railcard, I've checked for say the 24/10/19 and if you bought the 1 through (Adticket) ticket online you'd have to get the 10:44 to Birmingham New Street then you'd have to get the 15:15 from New Street to Preston and the 17:27 from there to Blackpool North. This would cost around £145.

If you got the 10:44 (1 ticket) then the 16:15 and 18:27 (1 ticket altogether) then you'd be paying around £100.

If you want a good-value-for-money CrossCountry HST experience, then if you go Standard Class to for one of the window table seats in the Quiet Coach, G. On XC's website for their services, you can select your own seat from the online seating plan. Go for seat 3 or 5 in Coach G (I've not sat in '3' but this means hardly any passengers coming up from behind you - I've sat in '5' which if people stand in this coach, you don't feel so crowded!

Hope this all helps - apologies for any confusion though.

Thanks for the help. I’m travelling on Monday, and the only way to get a HST would be to get a GWR service to Plymouth and from there get the 12:25 CrossCountry HST to Birmingham New Street.

 

[crj96]

I have got the 09:46 (from Penzance) and it was actually a very busy service (this was in the summer) so I would recommend booking a seat, especially as in Cross Country's own timetable it is one of the services with an R symbol which means seat reservations recommended.

Ah, OK, thanks. I’m not concerned about whether I have a seat or not, I just really don’t want to feel overcrowded, but I guess it’s inevitible with CrossCountry.

Hopefully it won’t be as busy in October as it was in Summer.