Trivia: long distance direct trains by wildly different routes.

[plugwash]

In normal times (I think services may be suspended at the moment due to some combination of covid and TPEs rolling stock/training woes) one can get a direct train from Manchester picadilly/oxford road/airport to edinburgh by two wildly different routes. One can either go up the west coast via preston/carlisle or up the east coast via leeds/york. It seems the same is also true for Liverpool lime street to Edinburgh.

Are there any other places where you can take long distance direct trains between two stations by such radically different routes?

 

[mememachine175]

In normal times (I think services may be suspended at the moment due to some combination of covid and TPEs rolling stock/training woes) one can get a direct train from Manchester picadilly/oxford road/airport to edinburgh by two wildly different routes. One can either go up the west coast via preston/carlisle or up the east coast via leeds/york. It seems the same is also true for Liverpool lime street to Edinburgh.

Are there any other places where you can take long distance direct trains between two stations by such radically different routes?

Edinburgh - Birmingham New Street
Avanti West Coast via WCML
CrossCountry via ECML

 

[Djminisite06]

Glasgow Central to Newcastle
ScotRail and Northern via Carlisle
LNER / CrossCountry via Edinburgh

 

[43096]

London to Exeter by GWR or SWR

 

[SteveM70]

Lancaster to Carlisle - Avanti direct and Northern round the coast.

 

[Kilopylae]

Are there any other places where you can take long distance direct trains between two stations by such radically different routes?

Exeter St Davids to London Paddington via Bristol and Chippenham or via Westbury and Newbury are pretty different (plus the direct trains to Waterloo via Salisbury, though obviously the Waterloo and Paddington trains don't meet again east of Exeter).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not quite so long distance, but Carlisle to Glasgow Central via Dumfries/Kilmarnock (Scotrail) and via Lockerbie (Avanti and TPE).

And Swansea to Shrewsbury can normally done either via Hereford or via the Heart of Wales line. (Both TFW).

 

[norbitonflyer]

Depends how long distance you want, but Marylebone to Aylesbury has two different routes.
Doncaster to Peterborough has services via Grantham and via Lincoln.
Waterloo to Portsmouth via Eastleigh and via Petersfield
Waterloo to Weybridge via Surbiton and via Virginia Water
Cardiff to Bridgend via the main line and via the Vale of Glamorgan
Manchester to Leeds
Manchester to Liverpool
Manchester to Chester

Are there still any Cross Country services between Cardiff and Manchester via Birmingham? (TfW services go via Shrewsbury)

 

[AndyW33]

Stretching a point (but the two London stations are literally adjacent) Kings Cross to Leeds via ECML with LNER, St Pancras to Leeds via Derby and Sheffield with EMR

 

[yorkie]

Stretching a point (but the two London stations are literally adjacent) Kings Cross to Leeds via ECML with LNER, St Pancras to Leeds via Derby and Sheffield with EMR

I took the original post to disqualify this example, otherwise you'd have lots more; maybe one for a separate thread?

Back to the original question:

York to Leeds (church Fenton or Harrogate)
Leeds to Manchester Victoria (Rochdale or Huddersfield)
Leeds to Knottingley (Castleford or Wakefield)
Leeds to Sheffield (Barnsley or Swinton)
And many more...

 

[Kilopylae]

Portsmouth to Clapham Junction can be done on a Southern train via East Croydon or a South Western Railway train via Guildford. And this second one would only be more tenuously 'long-distance', but Canterbury West has Southeastern trains to Victoria via Chatham or via Maidstone East.

 

[Mag_seven]

Glasgow Queen St to Edinburgh via Falkirk High or via Cumbernauld/Falkirk Grahamston or via Bathgate.
Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Shotts or via Carstairs.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Could an argument be made for a station towards the top end of the Fife Circle (such as Lochgelly or Cardenden) depending on which Scotrail service you take out of Edinburgh Waverley (clockwise via Dunfermline or anti-clockwise via Kirkcaldy)?

Possibly not long distance, but can sometimes seem that way!

 

[norbitonflyer]

Stretching a point (but the two London stations are literally adjacent) Kings Cross to Leeds via ECML with LNER, St Pancras to Leeds via Derby and Sheffield with EMR

Lincoln also has services from both KX and StP

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

I normal times, pregrouping, one could choose Euston or Kings Cross for very different routes to the north of Scotland

 

[Stathern Jc]

I normal times, pregrouping, one could choose Euston or Kings Cross for very different routes to the north of Scotland

You still can but it depends on what time of day you need to travel.
The Highland Chieftain at 1200 from Kings Cross to Inverness, and the Caledonian Sleeper at 2100 from Euston.

Up to the 1990s (not sure when it finished), there was also the Clansman from Euston to Inverness.
That arrived in Inverness around 1830 and left in the morning around 1030. After Stirling it cut through Mossend to join the WCML. I sometimes think that something similar might still be useful, but I can't see anything being allowed that doesn't go to either Edinburgh or Glasgow.


Also on journeys to & from Inverness.

As well as the usual (and more sensible to most travellers) options on the HML there are a couple of one-offs via Aberdeen:
0456 Inverness - Waverley, arriving at 0928 (Overtaken by the 0536 direct service, arriving at 0922).
1439 Queen St - Inverness, arriving at 1937 (Overtaken by the 0508 direct service, arriving at 1826).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I normal times, pregrouping, one could choose Euston or Kings Cross for very different routes to the north of Scotland

But you're not then really travelling between the same two stations, are you?

 

[SteveyBee131]

Cleethorpes to Sheffield
TransPennine Express via Scunthorpe and Doncaster
Northern (Saturdays only) via Gainsborough Central and Retford Low Level

Hull to Doncaster
Northern via Goole
LNER (and Hull Trains in more normal times) via Selby

 

[peteb]

Unless its now gone from the timetable there used to be a Shrewsbury to Manchester via Chester late at night, a much more circuitous route than via Crewe and Wilmslow.

There also used to be a Peterborough to London Liverpool St via Bury St Edmund's but not strictly in accord with the op, of same dep and arr stations?

 

[transmanche]

Glasgow Central to Newcastle
ScotRail and Northern via Carlisle
LNER / CrossCountry via Edinburgh

But only in that direction! (There is no longer a through train from Newcastle to Glasgow via Carlisle and Dumfries.)

 

[ashkeba]

But you're not then really travelling between the same two stations, are you?

Did the op say stations before it was edited?

 

[LowLevel]

Nottingham to Peterborough via Grantham, Oakham or Lincoln. There is 3

 

[Springs Branch]

Birmingham to Chester/Holyhead by TfW - mostly via Shrewsbury, but I think there's one or more per day via Stafford & Crewe.

 

[MontyP]

Waterloo to Guildford via Woking, Cobham or Epsom - 3 different routes. There is also a service from London Bridge to Guildford.
Clapham Junction to Epsom via Wimbledon or via Sutton.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Are there any other places where you can take long distance direct trains between two stations by such radically different routes?

I normal times, pregrouping, one could choose Euston or Kings Cross for very different routes to the north of Scotland

But you're not then really travelling between the same two stations, are you?

Did the op say stations before it was edited?

Post #2 by mememachine175 which quotes the OP's post, (and which was last amended just seven minutes after first being posted) would seem to confirm this.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

SWR Waterloo to Portsmouth, either via Guildford or the long way round via Eastleigh.

 

[swt_passenger]

SWR Waterloo to Portsmouth, either via Guildford or the long way round via Eastleigh.

was mentioned in post #8

Waterloo to Guildford via Woking, Cobham or Epsom - 3 different routes. There is also a service from London Bridge to Guildford.
Clapham Junction to Epsom via Wimbledon or via Sutton.

But none are really “long distance” as per the OP’s title, they’re some of the numerous routes with alternatives within a typical London commuter network

 

[GlosRail]

Oxford to London, either by GWR via Reading, or Chiltern via High Wycombe.

If you count that as long distance.

 

[greyman42]

Lincoln also has services from both KX and StP

Which services go from St Pancras to Lincoln?

 

[NoMorePacers]

Scarborough - York, either on the direct TPE service that goes via Malton or the once-a-day Northern service that goes via Hull.
Middlesbrough - Newcastle either up the Durham Coast or on one of the few trains that goes via Darlington and the ECML.