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Reliability of TPEX Glasgow-Man Aiport?

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farci

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On Thursday 12/7 I plan to take the 04:22 Transpennine Express service to Manchester Airport arriving 08:47. My flight from MAN closes check-in at 09:35 in Terminal 1.

If the train arrives on-time I will have no problems. Does anybody have information on the reliability of this service given the present timetable difficulties?

Thanks for any advice
 
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nedchester

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Darandio

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Scotrail84

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Get the sleeper on the Wednesday night from Dalmuir (dep23:52) to Preston (arr04:36) then get the 05:09 service from Preston to Man Airport (are 06:18).
 

route101

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On Thursday 12/7 I plan to take the 04:22 Transpennine Express service to Manchester Airport arriving 08:47. My flight from MAN closes check-in at 09:35 in Terminal 1.

If the train arrives on-time I will have no problems. Does anybody have information on the reliability of this service given the present timetable difficulties?

Thanks for any advice

Quite a risk , never taken this service as its too early for me to get to central without paying arm and leg for taxi . Id get the train the day before.
 

adrock1976

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What's it called? It's called Cumbernauld
Bearing in mind that between Glasgow Central and Lancaster, there is a lot of running time for this particular train.

An example being that it pulls over to one side at Carstairs to allow the 04:28 London Euston to overtake, and also has a 20 minute layover at Lockerbie and around 10 minutes or so at Carlisle, which departs around 06:25 or thereabouts. I believe this is to allow the flexibility of a rail replacement bus if there are engineering works, as the journey time by road between Glasgow and Carlisle is roughly 2 hours.

An alternative is to use the 04:28 London Euston to Preston (arrive 06:54), and change to the 07:07 ex Blackpool North which arrives at Manchester Airport at 08:23.
 

harz99

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When I stayed at Lockerbie, on the few occasions I tried to use this service about 50% of the time I ended up in a taxi to Manchester owing to non starts from Glasgow. I would do as adrock1976 suggests, unless your looking for a cheap TPex only fare of course?
 

185143

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I'd strongly advise going the night before.

Have you considered flying down to Manchester?
 

mmh

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Do what I suggested, sleeper the night before and change at Preston for service to MIA.

That sounds expensive? Perhaps to the point where a hotel overnight would be a similar price? Plus it gets you to the airport incredibly early.
 

Scotrail84

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I'd rather be 3 hours early than get there with 45 minutes to spare and still have to get through the security checks at this time of year with all the other holiday makers.
 

Bertie the bus

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If the train arrives on-time I will have no problems. Does anybody have information on the reliability of this service given the present timetable difficulties?
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of whether you will make it on time or not. Even without the current timetable difficulties the northern section of the WCML has fairly regular issues and when things do go wrong the whole job stops, sometimes for several hours.

My advice would be travel the previous day and stay somewhere localish. If hotels near Manchester Airport are expensive then look in the Wigan or Bolton areas. You should be able to find something reasonably priced and they have regular services to Manchester.
 

fishquinn

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Do what I suggested, sleeper the night before and change at Preston for service to MIA.
I don't believe the Lowland sleeper stops to pick up/set down at Preston so the OP would need to travel to at least Dalmuir to board the Highland if they were to do this (with a 23:52 departure from there).
 

Darandio

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I don't believe the Lowland sleeper stops to pick up/set down at Preston so the OP would need to travel to at least Dalmuir to board the Highland if they were to do this (with a 23:52 departure from there).

That is what they suggested.
 

Scotrail84

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I don't believe the Lowland sleeper stops to pick up/set down at Preston so the OP would need to travel to at least Dalmuir to board the Highland if they were to do this (with a 23:52 departure from there).


Yeah thats the suggestion. Sleeper reservation system is currently experiencing difficulties though.
 

Lytham Local

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Quite a risk , never taken this service as its too early for me to get to central without paying arm and leg for taxi . Id get the train the day before.
Hell of a risk. Could be 15 minutes getting from the station to the terminal and then the fun begins on getting checked in on time.

Best go the night before, get a hotel (there are loads at MAN) and save the stress of looking at your watch every 5 minutes wondering if you will make it in time.
 

Scotrail84

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Hell of a risk. Could be 15 minutes getting from the station to the terminal and then the fun begins on getting checked in on time.

Best go the night before, get a hotel (there are loads at MAN) and save the stress of looking at your watch every 5 minutes wondering if you will make it in time.


Agree, all it needs is a TCF, a failed freight or something to knock the service off its timed path then you're in hot water. I know its early morning but timings must be quite tight going through Man Pic with all the other services starting/terminating there and if you run late then you may not make it back up.
 

Scotrail84

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I would stay in a hotel in Manchester the night before


Premier inn right beside Heald Green station is decent but only if you get a good price, I stayed there before flying to Napoli last year and its really convenient.
 

68000

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I have stayed there before and is great for watching the planes going over. I prefer the Radisson at the Airport... very nice but can be pricey
 

Merseysider

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I certainly wouldn’t consider risking such a tight connection myself.

I’d definitely travel down the previous night.

For the budget conscious traveller there are a number of hostels available in Manchester for under £25.

Best Western hotels are also reasonably priced most of the time.
 

js1000

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I would travel down the night before. Services on the Manchester Airport line have been shambolic since the new timetable change.
 

Scotrail84

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Fixed advance seat on the Ft William from Dalmuir to Preston for £45 on the website if that’s any good. Even cheaper if you have a railcard.
 

londonboi198o5

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A friend of mine flys from Manchester all the time and travels down from Glasgow. He normally stays at the travel lodge or Premier inn in Altrincham the night before and says a taxi is really cheap from there. I would travel the night before just to put my mind at ease. For the sake of paying out for a hotel or risk loosing a holiday i know what i would choose.

Also iirc the tram goes to the Airport as well although i am not to familar if its a direct tram from Altrincham or not.
 

Journeyman

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On Thursday 12/7 I plan to take the 04:22 Transpennine Express service to Manchester Airport arriving 08:47. My flight from MAN closes check-in at 09:35 in Terminal 1.

If the train arrives on-time I will have no problems. Does anybody have information on the reliability of this service given the present timetable difficulties?

Thanks for any advice

I'll echo what others have said re: reliability and running the risk of missing your flight, but on top of all that, this train is notorious for being one of the most overcrowded in the country, so even if it's on time, you're likely to have a pretty lousy journey.
 
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