Sleeper trains London-Scotland, any good/worth doing?

[madzone]

17 hours to travel about 600 miles is positively third-world. If I travelled for that long I'd want to wake up on the other side of the planet.

If I were you I'd drive it in three 200 mile hits with an hour break for lunch and a one hour kip. Maybe share the drive with the other adult. It would take about 12/13 hours even with a few delays. You'd have a private compartment all the way there and back, great music/radio, and the benefit of having a motor whilst your in Scotchville.

The car isn't up to it

 

[Spymaster]

Hire one from Easycar or Europcar in Penzance . A nice little Golf will cost about 20/25 quid a day. Diesel will be about £200 there and back.

 

[madzone]

Hire one from Easycar or Europcar in Penzance . A nice little Golf will cost about 20/25 quid a day. Diesel will be about £200 there and back.

So how is that cheaper than the train?

 

[Spymaster]

It's roughly the same. Those prices are long (diesel for 1200 miles will actually cost about £120). And it's It's quicker and more convenient.

 

[madzone]

It's roughly the same. Those prices are long. And it's It's quicker and more convenient.

I'll give you the one about the convenience of having a car up there but the drive to Scotland from Cornwall is a killer. I'd much rather go on the train.

 

[Spymaster]

Do that then.

I'd rather boil my bollocks than spend 17 hours travelling by train.

 

[madzone]

Anyway, I was wrong about the train. Seems it can be done in just under 10 hrs.

 

[Spymaster]

Just trying to help.

 

[madzone]

As always

 

[Spymaster]

When are you going?

 

[madzone]

Dunno. I have a voucher for £150 that I won in a 'Worst Valentines present' competition and I can redeem it at a really nice B&B in the Cairngorms.

 

[Spymaster]

Getting to and from Cornwall is an arse though. I'm surprised that Easyjet and Ryanair haven't been able to make Newquay pay.

I'd have thought people would bite their hands off for fifty quid flights between Cornwall and London/Scotland.

I read a while back that Easyjet might try a few flights a week between Southend and Newquay which would be ace.

 

[5t3IIa]

Dunno. I have a voucher for £150 that I won in a 'Worst Valentines present' competition and I can redeem it at a really nice B&B in the Cairngorms.

Badum-tsssh!

 

[madzone]

Badum-tsssh!

 

[Frances Lengel]

Arriving in Scotland, unwashed, the day after I left, after spending the night sleeping in a cubicle with a stranger in the next bed, isn't my idea of a treat.

But whatever floats your boat I suppose ....

Arriving in Scotland unwashed means you'll fit right in, surely?

 

[5t3IIa]

Soz, was like a punch line to a ong convoluted gag And 'Cairngorms'! Made up name!!!

 

[madzone]

Soz, was like a punch line to a ong convoluted gag And 'Cairngorms'! Made up name!!!

It wasn't a joke I can redeem it anywhere in the world but it's a 'responsible travel' company so everywhere is pretty expensive. I haven' been back to Scotland for about 7 years and I fancy the Cairngorms.

 

[geminisnake]

There's no a lot of train stations in the Cairngorms madz, are you going to go to Aviemore??
And you're right about the drive, it's a PIG!!

Could you get cheaper train tickets by buying a family railcard and just paying for the wee one?? Might be worth checking. There's a lot of 'tricks' to get cheaper tickets but I don't know them for that kinda distance.

 

[BlueSquareThing]

Family card certainly worth looking at. Might be worth ringing up to see what prices you can get as well - sometimes it's oddly cheaper.

 

[Bungle73]

I've fancied going on a sleeper train for a while. I've never found an excuse though.

I'd rather fly. It seems you often get to share the sleeping compartment with some random stranger. No thanks.

You can pay for solo use of a cabin...or go First Class of course

and convenience of flying

The train is infinitely more convenient. You go to the station and get straight on. Compare that to the rigmarole that is air travel these days.

I like to have a shower before starting the day. If you can make do with a quick tosh-over in a shared sink, good luck to you.

There are showers at the station, at least at the London end; I don't know about the other.

The same's just not true of London-Scotland. London to Paris is about half the distance of London to Edinburgh, the train goes like a rocket and you don't need to sleep on it!

You don't need to sleep London to Edinburgh either; it's only about 4-5 hours.

The train goes "like a rocket" in France because a) it's a purpose-built high speed track, and the train doesn't have many places to stop.

The East Coast Main Line has a limit of 125mph. That's hardly a snail's pace.

I've just booked return tickets to Newcastle from London even travelling 1st class (special occasion) it worked out about £70 per ticket cheaper than flying with BA from Heathrow. There are some really good deals about on the trains as long as you don't travel at peak time.

EC I presume? Have you seen what you get in FC? Complementary food and drink.

I've booked to go there, in June, too - plus York, both FC.

It's the bit between London and Scotland that need to be traversed as efficiently as possible (i.e. flown over).

Um, rubbish.

 

[madzone]

I did the sleeper from Pz to London a few weeks ago. It was actually really good. You get access to the 1st class lounge at the station etc, I had a cabin to myself and it had (recorded) telly. The lounge was so nice I mistook it for first class. It's not always better to fly.

 

[Bungle73]

Beware with the booking I paid up 3 months in advance once and on the day of the race they said I'd not paid...had to buy a full price ticket, took about 3 months worth of moaning letters to get a refund.

Could you elaborate? Either you had a ticket or you didn't.

 

[silverfish]

I bought online with card. They say they'll get tickets to you closer to the date of travel.

They sent me a receipt saying I'd bought and paid for a ticket.

I rang them to ask where the ticket was, they said I hadn't actually paid three months earlier despite the receipts etc

I had to buy a ticket on the day at full price.

I asked for a refund of the difference and after 3 months of them telling me I was lying and that they had sent emails saying no payment was taken they eventually accepted they'd fucked up and I got the full refund

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

tbf train is one notch up from the bus, which is one notch up from travelling by thumb. London to Scotland, air is the civilised way to go.

 

[Bungle73]

I bought online with card. They say they'll get tickets to you closer to the date of travel.

They sent me a receipt saying I'd bought and paid for a ticket.

I rang them to ask where the ticket was, they said I hadn't actually paid three months earlier despite the receipts etc

I had to buy a ticket on the day at full price.

I asked for a refund of the difference and after 3 months of them telling me I was lying and that they had sent emails saying no payment was taken they eventually accepted they'd fucked up and I got the full refund

Who did you book with? You could have just picked up your tickets at the station.

Unless you have valid ticket you can't travel. An email confirmation is no good.

tbf train is one notch up from the bus, which is one notch up from travelling by thumb. London to Scotland, air is the civilised way to go.

Train is one of best ways to travel tbh. Much better than being crammed into a tiny plane cabin, along with the hassle of air travel these days.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Train is one of best ways to travel tbh. Much better than being crammed into a tiny plane cabin, along with the hassle of air travel these days.

So you need to go from London to Edinburgh for a 4 hour meeting, what you gonna do, 10+ hours on a train or nip down to London City, 15 minute check in and bosh, an hour later you've landed and are in a cab to your meeting, back home in time to tuck the kids in and have a bunk up with the wife. Better than beating yer meat in some smelly BR bog for sure.

 

[Spymaster]

I've fancied going on a sleeper train for a while. I've never found an excuse though.

If you wait for a rational reason for wasting so much time and money to present itself, you'll never go. If you want to do it, do so.

You can pay for solo use of a cabin...or go First Class of course

Brilliant! Let's really compound the expense of an already stratospherically priced ticket!

The train is infinitely more convenient. You go to the station and get straight on. Compare that to the rigmarole that is air travel these days.

Ah! It seems that your experience of air travel to Scotland is limited to reading about it on U75! Why do you people buy this "rigamarole" nonsense that the editor insists on banging on about?

There is no rigamarole other than security and you're normally through that in under 10 minutes. Otherwise there is very little difference time-wise to taking a train (especially if you need to piss about getting a ticket at the train station). You still just "turn up and go". No customs on domestic flights so you can get from your plane seat to a taxi seat at Glasgow Airport in about 5 minutes.

There are showers at the station, at least at the London end; I don't know about the other.

I know!

You don't need to sleep London to Edinburgh either; it's only about 4-5 hours.

But this thread specifies the Sleeper. There's a clue in the title.

The train goes "like a rocket" in France because a) it's a purpose-built high speed track, and the train doesn't have many places to stop.

Really? And there was me thinking that the French cheated by using teleportation.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Really? And there was me thinking that the French cheated by using teleportation.

They don't waste their time on showering though.

Ever.

 

[kittyP]

But this thread specifies the Sleeper. There's a clue in the title.

So why are people banging on about it being better to fly if the thread is about Sleeper Trains

 

[Spymaster]

tbf train is one notch up from the bus ...

At least the bus is cheap!