Southampton to Penrith

[Oracle]

Yet again I have to go to Penrith...Thursday 2nd. I wanted to catch the first train out and get the last back. Via London this time! However Virgins are showing no reservations available. Excuse my ignorance yet again but are there any non-reserved seats available on trains, or is it compulsory? I am getting used to camping-out duly contorting in the vestibules, usually from Birmingham on XC!

Also if you order tickets online how fo actually get them? Posting is a bit late...can you print off?

 

[philjo]

Tickets - you can specify to pick up at the self-service machine at a specified station - check if any station near you is listed - it usually defaults to the ticket originating station if the facility is available.
I think you have to enter the booking number & your credit card into the machine & it will then print out the tickets.

there are usually non-reserved seats on the pendolinos, but you have to check the screen above each seat to see if it says "available"
I'm not sure which coach has most of unreserved seats in - e.g. on NXEC it is usually Coach C.

 

[dan_atki]

As philjo said - you'd need to use the Ticket on Departure facility to collect your tickets from a ticket machine. Closest station to you with that facility is Southampton Central.

You'd press the 'collect prepurchased tickets' button on the left hand side of the screen, and follow the instructions it gives. Put in the card used to make the online purchase and type in the booking reference. After looking things up on the system (this can take about a minute) the tickets will be printed.

If there's any problem for whatever reason, you can give the booking reference to the ticket office. I think they ask for the first line of your address or something to confirm they are your tickets and they can print them off for you as well if need be.

 

[Oracle]

Can you actually go to say S'oton Central and book tickets in advance these days or does it have to be online?

I suppose the other query is whether reservations are compulsory on Virgin or if you can squat in vestibules?

Cheers by the way!

PS Looks as though with my Disabled RC it's just under £70 as against over £200 Anytime. I assume that leaving at 05.05 or so from Southampton is 'Off Peak' as the journey extends through London?

 

[yorkie]

PS Looks as though with my Disabled RC it's just under £70 as against over £200 Anytime. I assume that leaving at 05.05 or so from Southampton is 'Off Peak' as the journey extends through London?

There are no peak restrictions between Southampton and London in either direction on a ticket for any station beyond the former NSE boundary (now known as the "Network Area"), so that's anywhere from Rugby, Peterborough, Ipswich and beyond.

Virgin do not have any peak restrictions on their services for Railcard holders, so no peak restrictions apply into/out of Euston. If no Railcard was held it would be valid for departures at 0905 or later.

So yes, you can use any train.

This ticket routed "+London" priced at £69.55 is only valid via London but can be excessed to avoid London for £2.65 one way. Although I don't recommend this option as it involves rattling Voyagers, overcrowding and the slow speed of the route can induce boredom.

The alternative "Not London" ticket is priced at £74.80 and is valid for departures at or after 0415 (restriction code 2T). This costs more than the "+ London", therefore it is also valid via London, but the people on the barriers on LU will argue against it as their training is insufficient to deal with the complexities of the NR ticket system. I doubt many of these tickets are sold as you are paying more to go an inferior route. XC wrongly think they have a premium product for some bizarre reason.
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Can you actually go to say S'oton Central and book tickets in advance these days or does it have to be online?

As far as I know you can buy tickets in advance at any staffed station, but some stations say you can't buy in advance at certain times of the day, e.g. GNER used to stop selling them at a certain time in the evening.

I suppose the other query is whether reservations are compulsory on Virgin or if you can squat in vestibules?

I'm not aware of any trains where reservations are compulsory except the Sleeper services between London and Scotland. That's not to say they can't refuse to take passengers in the event of extreme overcrowding.

 

[Oracle]

Cheers guys!

It seems that indeed you can have your tickets available from either of the two Southamptons using their machines.

 

[Oracle]

Am in theory off tomorrow! 0502 from Parkway, change Waterloo & Euston. Back 1622 via Wolverhampton ... what a horrible thought.... all that time on a Voyager! £72 or so 2 x singles with my Disabled R/C.

 

[yorkie]

Am in theory off tomorrow! 0502 from Parkway, change Waterloo & Euston. Back 1622 via Wolverhampton ... what a horrible thought.... all that time on a Voyager! £72 or so 2 x singles with my Disabled R/C.

You mean a +London return with an excess for the rtn to a "not London"? that's not 2 singles

 

[ChrisTheRef]

Virgin have 'unreserved' coaches on some services.

Coach B if it's a southbound service
Coach E if it's a northbound service

 

[bengolding]

Good luck with the return journey! I personally would have chosen to go via London. More often than not, the VT to Birmingham is delayed, and the 'advertised' 10 min connection at Wolverhampton for the xx41 Bournemouth service is lost. Just so long as you pass Stafford by 19:26, you should be fine, otherwise you'll face an hour's wait at Hell (New St).

 

[Oracle]

Wish I had read the last posting!!!!!!!!! Yes, you guessed it! Lineside problem meant a TSR of 20 mph, so the 1622 was delayed 16 minutes, expanding to 20. The Wolverhampton connection was lost, so I went on to New Street, where we were advised that there was a 19.33 to Reading. That went via a new route to me...via Small Heath and Tyseley (saw sempahores in the Depot) to Leamington Spa. That was some fast trip back to Reading! Is there a reciprocal routeing? We went down some lovely little lines to get to the main line to Leamington. However that service was late so I missed a Great Western DMU from Reading to Southampton and in the end caught what would have been the 1941 from Wolves. Next time, I would go via London as suggested.

I left on the 0502 Parkway to Waterloo, a 12-car 450 that had a stop order to stop at St Denys and Swaythling as the Eastleigh (158?) stopper had been cancelled. At Euston the 0730 Pendo, first stop Warrington, was a delight and bypassing Brum meant starting station-to-terminating station, 5 1/2 hours! Total including the Northern Line and waiting. Being lazy, is there an Up 'fast' service...E is it? from Glasgow that stops at Penrith on the Down journey?

All I can say is, never again with XC, unless it's to Brum International. I have done the trip many times, starting in Class 47-hauled days and even then it was like a cattle truck from brum down to Oxford, with that single-line section a pain if the services were (are always?) delayed.

 

[bengolding]

There is currently a fast return service from Penrith North Lakes to Euston, at 13:03. It stops at Preston only and scheduled into Euston just after 16:00. I guess you were unlucky on your day with the Voyager running late, but as you found out to your detriment, if it even runs a few mins late then it inevitably misses it path on the busy Stafford-Birmingham leg. Remember, if you were over an hour late, you can apply for compensation.

 

[ChrisTheRef]

There are no fast northbound services. The fastest you'll get will call at WBQ, WGN and PRE before Penrith.

There is a 1630 service for Preston and Glasgow Central only, but looking at the VT timetable, the next service to Penrith from Preston would be the 1914, arriving at 2002 (but this starts at Euston at 1657 anyway, and avoids the change in Preston.

 

[yorkie]

. Being lazy, is there an Up 'fast' service...E is it? from Glasgow that stops at Penrith on the Down journey?

An Up service on a Down journey? I'm confused!

Are you asking for fast Up trains from Penrith? If by 'fast' you mean non-stop from Warrington to Euston, then nearly all of them are (not that there are many anyway)! The fastest being the 1303 calling at Preston only.
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There are no fast northbound services. The fastest you'll get will call at WBQ, WGN and PRE before Penrith.

There is a 1630 service for Preston and Glasgow Central only, but looking at the VT timetable, the next service to Penrith from Preston would be the 1914, arriving at 2002 (but this starts at Euston at 1657 anyway, and avoids the change in Preston.

There is a 1900 from Preston operated by TPE, it doesn't save much time though.