RAIL: London to Glasgow, via Edinburgh
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at 06:31 by LuganoPirate.
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ShearerParticipantSo, with four months until my next holiday year commenced I decided to squeeze a short break in at the end of January.
I had pals in Glasgow that I hadn’t seen for a year so decided to put that right.
Air fares on the route to Glasgow remained stubbingly untempting, and then East Coast Trains came through with an amazing January sale.
First Class to Edinburgh for £30. Bingo!
My journey started from the new Kings Cross Station, which is simply stunning. For years it was the poor relation to the revived St. Pancras, but that has changed and the whole area is looking amazing, and it’s not finished yet…
King’s Cross at 7.45am
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I picked the 0800hrs departure as it had fewest stops, including a non stop run to York.
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East Coast are owned by the government, who stepped in after the two previous incumbents, GNER and National Express, couldn’t make it work.
The cleanliness of the trains has been transformed since East Coast took over, and they’ve also introduced enhanced at-seat dining, even at weekends.
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This was breakfast today. During the week, a cooked breakfast would be offered.
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I had been out the night before until 3am so slept most of the journey. It’s a route I have travelled on a lot, but the scenery is still lovely.
Then around 11am a second run from the trolley, with sandwiches and crisps and cake offered.
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The sandwich was alright if a tad dry.
An uneventful journey and arrival in Edinburgh exactly on time.
Edinburgh has has some work done and is looking well.
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There is a plethera of trains from Edinburgh to both Glasgow Queen Street and Glasgow Central.
I discovered that Cross Country Trains have a reasonably fast service and their first class fare is the same as ScotRail’s standard class version.
There are only a few services a day, however I only had to wait 30 minute for mine.
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These trains still have issues with pervasive smells which is a shame.
With an hour journey time, they were still offering hot food which was unusual, but I wasn’t feeling hungry…
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Arrival in Glasgow was on time, and I stayed in a little hotel called Grasshopper, on the sixth floor of Central Station.
It was nice but I wasn’t happy with the price I paid, although the view was excellent. If you like glass…
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So, London to Glasgow Central, in the relative comfort of First Class, for £42.30. Result! y)
8 Feb 2014
at 23:38
LuganoPirateParticipantThanks for posting NIR, so much more civilised than the plane I think. The sandwich looks ok but I still remember when a member of the train crew would cut fresh bread and add some nice ham or cheese and a bit of pickle. That was a sandwich – though it may have been a bit of private initiative rather than standard BR fare!
9 Feb 2014
at 06:30 -
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