[SOLVED] [BritRail Pass] Couple of questions

[Winfried]

Hello

I'm located in continental Europe and am planning a two-week trip in the UK this summer.

I have a couple of questions related to the BritRail Pass:

1. It's highly recommended to make a reservation to ride the famous West Highland Line (and possibly the Kyle of Lochalsh - Inverness) between Glasgow and Mallaig.

It appears that the BritRail site allows booking a point-to-point ticket, but this involves a £4 charge. Is it possible to avoid this fee?

2. Likewise, there's a £7 fee to receive the BritRail Pass through regular mail at the customer's risk ("we cannot take responsibility for orders that are lost or stolen through this delivery service"), or receive it for free when ordering the €20 Rail Pass Safeguard Plan.

Is there a way to get the pass for free, or will I just have to shell out the €20 to be safe?

Thank you.

 

[Goatboy]

1. It's highly recommended to make a reservation to ride the famous West Highland Line (and possibly the Kyle of Lochalsh - Inverness) between Glasgow and Mallaig.

I can't imagine this particular line is standing room only!

 

[30907]

I presume the BritRail Euro FlexiPass is more expensive, or doesn't have the "extgra free day" offer? It should be obtainable from your national railway company or a specialist travel agent, which could avoid the 20 Euros...

The only train on the Mallaig line that requires a reservation is the "seats" coach attached to the London sleeper. The trains certainly can be busy in summer but I wouldn't bother reserving if travelling solo.

 

[Winfried]

Thanks for the input. I'll check if BritRail passes can also be bought through travel agents this side of the channel.

The reason I was thinking of making a reservation is that there are only three trains a day, and I must take the first one on a specific day to match my schedule. Besides, the train only seems to have two cars (jump to "7. Mallaig"):

www.seat61.com/WestHighlandLine.htm

BTW, since the breakup in the 80's of the national railroad company into 20+ companies, is a specific route (eg. London - Glasgow, etc.) managed by a specific company, or are some routes available from multiple companies?

 

[dave_wm]

Since railway privatisation, the majority of routes are run by a single operator, but in some cases there will be either different routes from one place to another (e.g. Birmingham to Edinburgh, you can travel by either Virgin Trains up the West Coast Main Line or Cross Country up the East Coast Main Line), different operators running faster and slower trains (e.g. London to Peterborough, East Coast operate expresses whilst First Capital Connect operate stopping services) or in some cases two operators running similar services (e.g. York to Edinburgh, either East Coast or Cross Country).

However, with a BritRail pass it will make little difference who actually operates the train, the ticket is valid on all domestic mainline trains.

 

[Oscar]

It appears that the BritRail site allows booking a point-to-point ticket, but this involves a £4 charge. Is it possible to avoid this fee?

Thank you.

As far as I have seen the BritRail point-to-point tickets are significantly more expensive than the normal equivalent single or return ticket so I would suggest buying the journey through the normal booking channels instead.

 

[Winfried]

Thanks for the infos.

After making the list of the different sections of my grand tour of the UK, it looks like it'll be cheaper to book point-to-point tickets through the National Rail site + coaches instead of buying a BritRail pass. Trading flexibility for cheaper rides.