Cosham to Darlington avoiding London

[Ellijay]

I'm planning for the future. As crossing London on the tube to Kings X - St Pancras is exhausting, can avoid it altogether if I go via Southampton or Winchester?

 

[Trainguy34]

Cosham - Southampton on Southern / South Western then Cross Country to Darlington should work, unsure about costs. Might be very crowded however since it's Cross Country.

 

[Farigiraf]

Best route I can see avoiding London is GWR to Bristol TM then XC to Darlington. Not outrageously more expensive than via London. Via Winchester would involve a change at Birmingham New St which can often be just as stressful as cross-London transfers.

 

[Ellijay]

Best route I can see avoiding London is GWR to Bristol TM then XC to Darlington. Not outrageously more expensive than via London. Via Winchester would involve a change at Birmingham New St which can often be just as stressful as cross-London transfers.

Thanks.

 

[Ellijay]

Best route I can see avoiding London is GWR to Bristol TM then XC to Darlington. Not outrageously more expensive than via London. Via Winchester would involve a change at Birmingham New St which can often be just as stressful as cross-London transfers.

Thanks

 

[30907]

If it is specifically the tube that you find a problem, an alternative is Cosham- Brighton-St Pancras (or Cosham-Barnham-East Croydon-St P if you prefer).

 

[Ellijay]

If it is specifically the tube that you find a problem, an alternative is Cosham- Brighton-St Pancras (or Cosham-Barnham-East Croydon-St P if you prefer).

Thanks for your suggestion. It's not only the tube that I dislike. St Pancras is so busy & potentially confusing, with it's upstairs platforms, that I'd rather not go that way. The GWR train to Bristol TM is a better option as the station is easy to navigate.

 

[A S Leib]

There's three trains per day from Reading to Darlington once CrossCountry's temporary timetable ends (I think the end of October?) leaving Banbury at 07:28, 15:32 and 18:31 in case changing at Southampton / Winchester and Oxford / Banbury / Leamington Spa's preferable; all CrossCountry services in the same direction at Oxford and Banbury (not sure about Leamington Spa) use the same platform.

 

[Magdalia]

Thanks for your suggestion. It's not only the tube that I dislike. St Pancras is so busy & potentially confusing, with it's upstairs platforms, that I'd rather not go that way. The GWR train to Bristol TM is a better option as the station is easy to navigate.

I use Thameslink a lot to get between the Fens and your part of the world, though not quite as far as Cosham.

I would recommend this way especially if you can start/end at Havant instead of Cosham. Havant-St Pancras is just one cross platform change at East Croydon.

You won't need to go to the upper level at St Pancras: turn left out of the exit gates from Thameslink, walk through the concourse under the Eurostar platforms (the only walkway in St Pancras that is wide enough not to feel crowded), cross the road and you are at the Kings Cross Western Concourse. Once you've done it once you won't find it confusing.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

I use Thameslink a lot to get between the Fens and your part of the world, though not quite as far as Cosham.

I would recommend this way especially if you can start/end at Havant instead of Cosham. Havant-St Pancras is just one cross platform change at East Croydon.

You won't need to go to the upper level at St Pancras: turn left out of the exit gates from Thameslink, walk through the concourse under the Eurostar platforms (the only walkway in St Pancras that is wide enough not to feel crowded), cross the road and you are at the Kings Cross Western Concourse. Once you've done it once you won't find it confusing.

Or change to a Horsham-Peterborough Thameslink service at East Croydon, then change for Darlington at Peterborough.

 

[Magdalia]

Or change to a Horsham-Peterborough Thameslink service at East Croydon, then change for Darlington at Peterborough.

In theory yes, though rather slow.

In practice no, given the frequent discussions here about the reliability of the Horsham-Peterborough service. I wouldn't advise anyone to put all of their eggs in that basket, especially when they're looking for a less stressful option than Waterloo-Kings Cross by tube.

 

[yorkie]

I'm planning for the future. As crossing London on the tube to Kings X - St Pancras is exhausting, can avoid it altogether if I go via Southampton or Winchester?

The forum's ticketing site will allow you to specify up to 3 via and/or avoid points; for each point you can choose whether to avoid completely, or avoid calling at, or avoid changing at

If you simply want to avoid changing in London, you could specify to avoid changing at St Pancras, King's Cross, Victoria, and I expect you would get itineraries which involve journeys such as using Thameslink to change at Stevenage or Peterborough.

You could force a change at Stevenage or Peterborough if you like.

You can also request additional interchange time if that would be helpful (particularly at Stevenage, where interchange times can be quite short).

Stevenage is an easier interchange as it would be cross-platform, though fewer trains call there, especially when going to Darlington (it would often entail an additional change at somewhere such as Peterborough, Newark, Doncaster or York).

 

[Ellijay]

The forum's ticketing site will allow you to specify up to 3 via and/or avoid points; for each point you can choose whether to avoid completely, or avoid calling at, or avoid changing at

If you simply want to avoid changing in London, you could specify to avoid changing at St Pancras, King's Cross, Victoria, and I expect you would get itineraries which involve journeys such as using Thameslink to change at Stevenage or Peterborough.

You could force a change at Stevenage or Peterborough if you like.

You can also request additional interchange time if that would be helpful (particularly at Stevenage, where interchange times can be quite short).

Stevenage is an easier interchange as it would be cross-platform, though fewer trains call there, especially when going to Darlington (it would often entail an additional change at somewhere such as Peterborough, Newark, Doncaster or York).

Thanks

 

[Ellijay]

The forum's ticketing site will allow you to specify up to 3 via and/or avoid points; for each point you can choose whether to avoid completely, or avoid calling at, or avoid changing at

If you simply want to avoid changing in London, you could specify to avoid changing at St Pancras, King's Cross, Victoria, and I expect you would get itineraries which involve journeys such as using Thameslink to change at Stevenage or Peterborough.

You could force a change at Stevenage or Peterborough if you like.

You can also request additional interchange time if that would be helpful (particularly at Stevenage, where interchange times can be quite short).

Stevenage is an easier interchange as it would be cross-platform, though fewer trains call there, especially when going to Darlington (it would often entail an additional change at somewhere such as Peterborough, Newark, Doncaster or York).

Thanks

 

[Ellijay]

I use Thameslink a lot to get between the Fens and your part of the world, though not quite as far as Cosham.

I would recommend this way especially if you can start/end at Havant instead of Cosham. Havant-St Pancras is just one cross platform change at East Croydon.

You won't need to go to the upper level at St Pancras: turn left out of the exit gates from Thameslink, walk through the concourse under the Eurostar platforms (the only walkway in St Pancras that is wide enough not to feel crowded), cross the road and you are at the Kings Cross Western Concourse. Once you've done it once you won't find it confusing.

Thanks

 

[Kilopylae]

The issue with Cosham to Bristol with GWR is that (I think) you end up stuck on a Networker for two hours — no-one's idea of a good time.

See below!

 

[Farigiraf]

The issue with Cosham to Bristol with GWR is that (I think) you end up stuck on a Networker for two hours — no-one's idea of a good time.

Most of the time the Portsmouth-Cardiff is 158 operated, much better than networkers for comfort

 

[Kilopylae]

I have got unlucky last time I went that way!

 

[Snow1964]

Most of the time the Portsmouth-Cardiff is 158 operated, much better than networkers for comfort

Not uncommon for it to be 5 or 6 of the 8 trains as 16x, (not the more comfortable 158s), many of them are the ex suburban 165s, not even the ex outer suburban 166s

From Cosham can get to Kings Cross St Pancras with one change to Thameslink from Sussex stations. At certain times can also change at Finsbury Park, Stevenage or Peterborough which are less walking.

 

[Ellijay]

Most of the time the Portsmouth-Cardiff is 158 operated, much better than networkers for comfort

What's a networker?

 

[jfollows]

What's a networker?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Networker_(train)
It’s subjective!

Networker
Specifications
Great Western Railway liveried Class 165Networker at Reading
In service	1989–present
Manufacturer	BREL (1980s–1992) ABB (1992–1995) Metro Cammell
Number built	344 sets
Number scrapped	40 sets
Operators	Chiltern Railways Great Western Railway Southeastern
Maximum speed	75–100 mph (121–161 km/h)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Networker is a family of multiple-unit passenger trains which operate on the British railwaysystem. They were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s by British Rail Engineering Limited (which became part of ABB in September 1992) and Metro Cammell. The trains were built for the Network SouthEast (NSE) sector of British Rail, which is where their name comes from.

My first house was between Portchester & Fareham but I’d always prefer to travel via London versus Reading/Birmingham, but we’re all different …..

 

[JonathanH]

Not uncommon for it to be 5 or 6 of the 8 trains as 16x, (not the more comfortable 158s), many of them are the ex suburban 165s, not even the ex outer suburban 166s

Now the carpet has been taken out of the 166s, there really isn't much to favour a 166 over a 165.

 

[duffield]

Thanks for your suggestion. It's not only the tube that I dislike. St Pancras is so busy & potentially confusing, with it's upstairs platforms, that I'd rather not go that way. The GWR train to Bristol TM is a better option as the station is easy to navigate.

The upstairs platforms at St. Pancras don't come into it if you're going from the Thameslink platforms to get a Darlington train. You just turn left coming up from Thameslink, go out the side exit, cross the road and you're in Kings Cross, all on one level. It's about 6 minutes brisk walk platform to platform, 10 minutes is fairly comfortable.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

There's three trains per day from Reading to Darlington once CrossCountry's temporary timetable ends (I think the end of October?) leaving Banbury at 07:28, 15:32 and 18:31 in case changing at Southampton / Winchester and Oxford / Banbury / Leamington Spa's preferable; all CrossCountry services in the same direction at Oxford and Banbury (not sure about Leamington Spa) use the same platform.

Same at Leamington. There's one platform in each direction and a bay for the local train to Coventry.