• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Urgent: Need to travel from London to Edinburgh tomorrow

Status
Not open for further replies.

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
And there we have it - the fact that the cheapest option is to drive sums up everything thing that is wrong with transport policy in this country. :(

I don't think that's a fair comment, really. It affects just about every mode of transport available, and is a common feature internationally.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
And on the train you're at least capped at the Anytime/Off Peak/Super Off Peak Single/Return as appropriate (much as RDG would prefer you weren't) - Sleasy can (and do) go as high as they reckon they can get.

I was slightly surprised that the overnight coaches were only after about 50 quid a pop.

This is true. Ryanair often charge £300 or more for the final few seats on their busy flights - given that they treat you like dirt, there's no way I'd pay that, but obviously people do, or they wouldn't be able to charge it.
 

sonic2009

Established Member
Joined
19 Jan 2010
Messages
4,915
Location
Crewe
Okay well if you are returning on Monday, and you need to be in Edinburgh for the afternoon.

Then you can
I've decided to bite the bullet and hire a car. Even with the waivers and one way drop off fee it's a good £200 cheaper than the train. I considered going by coach while my Mother and Brother travel by train but in the end it would still work out cheaper (and far less hassle) to just drive!

If your coming back on your own on Monday, then hire a car for the way back. You would need to get yourself to Glasgow or Edinburgh Airport, but Hertz always need cars moving back between Airports, there's a few that need taking back to Luton Airport check the site here. £1.99 for the rental, then you just need to put the fuel back in to whatever the fuel was before.
 

Hadders

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
27 Apr 2011
Messages
12,980
Don’t under estimate how long it will take to drive the 400 miles from London to Edinburgh. An inexperienced driver, frequent stops, one way car hire costing £110 suggests it won’t be the most spacious or comfortable car. I estimate 10 hours to drive it (that’s an average of 40mph).

The train will get you there in around 4.5 hours....
 

sonic2009

Established Member
Joined
19 Jan 2010
Messages
4,915
Location
Crewe
Don't worry, my mum also has health issues so we'll be stopping off often. Now I just have to decide whether to go up the A1 or take the M6.

I would say the A1 is more scenic once you get to Berwick, bear in mind if you use the M6 and you want to use the toll you have to pay.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
And there we have it - the fact that the cheapest option is to drive sums up everything thing that is wrong with transport policy in this country. :(

Well, not really. A full (OK, not quite full), small, modern car is a very carbon and road-space efficient mode of transport. The emissions per passenger is probably well below the emissions per seat of something like a Voyager.

The cars that are a priority to get off the road are the ones containing one person.
 

Hadders

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
27 Apr 2011
Messages
12,980
The A1 is single carriageway above Newcastle.

Loads of roadworks on the M1 and M6 though.

The M6 Toll is £5.80 each way.
 

ForTheLoveOf

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2017
Messages
6,416
And there we have it - the fact that the cheapest option is to drive sums up everything thing that is wrong with transport policy in this country. :(
It's not the cheapest option for a one-way journey! I did point out that the OP could do the return journey for £190 odd without even getting an additional Railcard. However the car undoubtedly offers more flexibility as to travelling times for a similar kind of price bracket, albeit with a much slower journey time!
 

Samuel88

On Moderation
Joined
20 Jan 2017
Messages
385
It's not the cheapest option for a one-way journey! I did point out that the OP could do the return journey for £190 odd without even getting an additional Railcard. However the car undoubtedly offers more flexibility as to travelling times for a similar kind of price bracket, albeit with a much slower journey time!
I did consider the route you gave, but my Mother has mobility problems, and with all that's gone on she doesn't need the stress of worrying about whether we'll make connections etc.
 

kristiang85

Established Member
Joined
23 Jan 2018
Messages
2,650
And there we have it - the fact that the cheapest option is to drive sums up everything thing that is wrong with transport policy in this country. :(

Indeed. I just wish we had standard pricing for all routes (no advances), but with DB-style railcards priced at different levels for discounts. The predictability would help.

I'm a pretty organised person so advance tickets work out well for me, but it would be nice to have the flexibility to do last-minute journeys. And also not be ripped off when there's an emergency, as in this case.

Thoughts with you and your family @Samuel88
 

ForTheLoveOf

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2017
Messages
6,416
I did consider the route you gave, but my Mother has mobility problems, and with all that's gone on she doesn't need the stress of worrying about whether we'll make connections etc.
You can book assistance to help your mother, and the connections at Crewe were very reasonable.

Personally, if it were me, I'd be loath to rope myself - or indeed someone with mobility problems - into a 8-10 hour car journey when it's possible to do it by train for less money in less time, but I guess it's a thing of personal preferences.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
I'm a pretty organised person so advance tickets work out well for me, but it would be nice to have the flexibility to do last-minute journeys.

You do. There are no compulsory reservations, and (super) off peak walk-up fares are not that expensive.

And also not be ripped off when there's an emergency, as in this case.

Interestingly, some US "legacy" airlines offer last-minute, heavily discounted "bereavement fares" which can be obtained on providing proof of the bereavement. The airlines are the real public transport of the USA, given the longer distances involved than here.

Thoughts with you and your family @Samuel88

Indeed.
 

Samuel88

On Moderation
Joined
20 Jan 2017
Messages
385
Just a final note to say I've booked a car through Enterprise and to be honest, I'm surprised at the cost, £112 including one way drop off but excluding all the extras!
 

SeanG

Member
Joined
4 May 2013
Messages
1,175
Best route surely has to be A1 then go up the A697 - much quicker than the A1 through the borders
 

najaB

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Aug 2011
Messages
30,692
Location
Scotland
I was slightly surprised that the overnight coaches were only after about 50 quid a pop.
Coaches can be good value for money, but it does depend very much on the demand. I was able to get Dundee to Paris for £35 one way, booking the night before, though they wanted closer to £100 to come back (EasyJet was just £80).
 

najaB

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Aug 2011
Messages
30,692
Location
Scotland
The airlines are the real public transport of the USA, given the longer distances involved than here.
Off topic, I know, but since the OP has found a solution...

While the USA is a large country, the vast majority of air travel is sub-300 miles. Just look at the number of flights between city pairs like Boston-New York (over 80 direct flights each way every day) for a 220 mile drive. If the airline/car industry hadn't done such an effective job of killing passenger rail travel then easily 60 to 70% of current domestic US flying wouldn't exist.
 

paddington

Member
Joined
19 Feb 2013
Messages
964
Best route surely has to be A1 then go up the A697 - much quicker than the A1 through the borders

Personally I prefer A1 then A696+A68 but I have not been along the A697 before.

Too late now but one solution could have been fly to Newcastle then take a train (or even rent a car there).
Flying to Glasgow could also have been cheaper (or even Aberdeen).
For people who collect Avios, BA effectively caps the price of flying short flights as Avios tickets are frequently available last-minute for domestic flights, unless it is something like the first day of school holidays or bank holidays.
If train prices are in the £300s it might be cheaper to open a new BA account and purchase a small amount of Avios at a rate that one should normally never pay.

While the USA is a large country, the vast majority of air travel is sub-300 miles. Just look at the number of flights between city pairs like Boston-New York (over 80 direct flights each way every day) for a 220 mile drive. If the airline/car industry hadn't done such an effective job of killing passenger rail travel then easily 60 to 70% of current domestic US flying wouldn't exist.

Some of this will be connecting traffic, and I think that 60-70% figure is dubious, I would estimate that even if the US was covered with high-speed rail lines, domestic flights would only be 25-50% lower than today.
 

najaB

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Aug 2011
Messages
30,692
Location
Scotland
Some of this will be connecting traffic, and I think that 60-70% figure is dubious, I would estimate that even if the US was covered with high-speed rail lines, domestic flights would only be 25-50% lower than today.
Not much traffic between city pairs like Boston/New York is going to be connecting as there will be very few destinations served from one and not the other. There is a *lot* of purely domestic, short haul flying.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top