Where to change from Wolves to Glasgow?

[gord]

Hi everyone,

Going to the Isle of Arran on Thrusday morning. Getting the Virgin service from Wolverhampton at around 8:40am...but need to change onto the TPE service to Glasgow somewhere in the Northwest.

Would it best to change to the TPE service as early as possible at Preston...or wait until we are past the Lake District at Carlisle? I've heard that the TPE services to Scotland can suffer from terrible overcrowding. My wife recently had a knee operation so could really use a seat. (we do have reserved seats on a later train that goes direct from Wolves to Glasgow...but thanks to my stupidity when I booked it, it makes the change from train to ferry at Adrossan a little tight! We have an off-peak single, so we can only service as long as we go via Preston and it would be handy to get an earlier train)

Worse case scenario, we'll catch the train we reserved seats on and hope to catch the ferry...although there will be one later in the evening so not a disaster if we miss it!

Thanks in advance

Edit: sorry, just realised this may be in the wrong forum! Wasn't sure if it should go in the ticketing section then just realised it said routeing advice as well...sorry!

 

[Welshman]

Welcome to the forum.

Personally, if the Wolverhampton-Edinburgh train is on time at Lancaster, I'd change there, as that is the only common stopping-place which offers same-platform interchange, and should therefore be easier for your wife.

However, if you are late into Lancaster, there's a possibility your intended TPE train might have gone ahead of you, so I would then stay on until Carlisle, as I suspect you'd have a better chance of getting another train to Glasgow from Carlisle, as I think they all stop there [with the exception of one in the evening].

 

[gord]

Thank you! Great tip on changing at Lancaster with the same platform change. Is the TPE likely to crowded? I know they can leave Manchester rammed but I'm hopping they would have thinned out a bit that far north.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Welshman]

Unfortunately a 3-car TPE is more prone to overcrowding than a 5-car Virgin Voyager.
I have seen them crammed to the gunwales leaving Manchester Piccadilly, but I gather they usually empty considerably at Preston.
At least it shouldn't be full of passengers for the Lake District as it is non-stop from Lancaster to Carlisle.

 

[gord]

Thank you, should be OK. I see there's a pendolino from Euston following the TPE which still connects us to the Ardrossan train at Glasgow with plenty of time. The pendolino is running around 30 minutes behind the TPE so there's another option. I assume our tickets would be valid on a train from Euston as long as we're going through Preston?

Thank you so much...it's nice to be able to travel on a line with so many options. (I'm more used to travelling over to East Anglia which isn't as easy!) It's just that ferry from Ardrossan that makes it difficult!

Edit: and I figured out not to get the Scotrail from Carlisle to Glasgow!

 

[edwin_m]

I was on the 1715 from Piccadilly to Glasgow a couple of weeks back and it was standing as far as Lancaster. I've never used TPE on that route before but I think that train would be about the busiest one of the day.

 

[Darren R]

I can't give any info about these specific services, but in my experience the TPE trains are only packed to the gunwails northbound on the evening peak trains from Manchester - off-peak services are much more passenger friendly. If its the 0837 VT train from Wolverhampton you're catching this should connect quite nicely at Lancaster without having to change platform (probably!) - arriving there five minutes ahead of the TPE to Glasgow Central. This service sets off from Manchester Airport as a double unit, splitting at Preston. In my experience these morning TPE trains are relatively lightly-loaded between Manchester and Preston. And if something does go wrong and you miss this, there is a VT service from Euston to Glasgow Central about 40 minutes later.

 

[gord]

Thank you all for your help. Lancaster it is then.

The original plan was:

9:37 Wolverhampton to Glasgow arriving at 13:17 (have seats booked on this)

14:18 Glasgow to Ardrossan Harbour arriving at 15:02 to connect to:

15:15 sailing to Brodick.

However, with the CalMac booking office closing 10 minutes before departure, seemed a bit ambitious!
There is a train from Glasgow to Ardrossan that leaves at 13:18 arriving at 14:02, but as you'll see, it would give us 1 minute to get across Glasgow Central! The CalMac website shows the 14:18 train from Glasgow as a connecting train, but arriving 2 minutes before the ticket office closes for the ferry seemed a bit tight...hence wanting to get an earlier train up! Wish I had booked seats on the earlier one...but hey ho, will learn for next time.

Coming back on Saturday is a bit more relaxed. Gives us an afternoon in Glasgow..a city I've never properly visited before. Should be a pleasant trip anyway!

 

[sonic2009]

May i ask do you hold advance tickets? Edit : You hold an Off Peak Single

If not then you could always get a reservation for the services you wish to travel on, I believe you can pop to the station and get these or phone ScotRail Telesales, who from reading the forum are happy to book a reservation. This way you can book seats on the earlier train without having to worry about standing or not being able to get a seat.

 

[gord]

May i ask do you hold advance tickets?

If not then you could always get a reservation for the services you wish to travel on.

No, just off-peak singles to get there. I was thinking about giving the train companies a call and seeing if we could change our seat reservations onto the earlier train(s). But I think we'll take the chance. Trains heading north out of Wolverhampton usually have seats on them at that time of morning as I've done that a fair bit. Should get a seat from Lancaster onwards too going from people's responses here.

We should being going against the flow of people for that time of morning anyway.

Got advance tickets back for Saturday evening though. Like I said, thinking of getting a morning ferry back to Ardrossan and then having the day in Glasgow. As long as we're on the correct train from Glasgow to Wolverhampton on Saturday evening, I think I'm right in thinking that it doesn't matter which train we use to get from Ardrossan to Glasgow.

 

[maniacmartin]

As long as we're on the correct train from Glasgow to Wolverhampton on Saturday evening, I think I'm right in thinking that it doesn't matter which train we use to get from Ardrossan to Glasgow.

It has to be an "appropriate" connecting train. Whilst this does not tie you to a specific train, an unnecessary interchange time of more than a few hours is pushing it, and Break of Journey (leaving the station) isn't technically allowed.

 

[gord]

It has to be an "appropriate" connecting train. Whilst this does not tie you to a specific train, an unnecessary interchange time of more than a few hours is pushing it, and Break of Journey (leaving the station) isn't technically allowed.

Hmmm...we'll ask the guard on the train at Ardrossan harbour. If they say no, we'll just buy a single to Glasgow from there. Not a problem.

Update:
Got home last night. All went well. Changed at Carlisle in the end. Loads of seats on the Transpennine Express. Scotrail's new trains are good as well. Clean and fast. Scotrail staff were very friendly and there was no problem getting the earlier train back to Glasgow.

Everything ran on time, none of the trains were overcrowded and we had a very enjoyable couple of days on Arran.

Thank you everyone for your advice and help.