Coventry - Glasgow; 22nd Oct

[daniel78]

Hi, haven't posted here in quite a while but got a tricky one on Saturday.

I need to get from Coventry to Glasgow this Saturday. The West Coast Mainline is due to strike that day so I'm wondering if there's any route that can avoid using them completely. A few points:

-I'll probably be starting from Coventry Arena station, though that's a minor issue. The city station is close enough.
-I can leave as early as I need to, and I'm going for a concert in Glasgow that night. I like riding on trains for the sake of it anyway, so a long way round is fine as long as I don't get into Glasgow too late.
-I live outside the UK now, and I'd earmarked this day for using my Britrail pass anyway, so the cost of a funky route isn't an issue.

Any tips appreciated, thanks.

 

[Watershed]

There will still be some Avanti services. I would expect something along the lines of what they've operated on previous nationwide RMT strike days. I presume you're aware that there is generally no direct service from Coventry to Glasgow at the moment anyway, and a change at Crewe/Warrington/Preston etc. is required?

Ordinarily, I would have said the easiest and most reliable option would be to take any train from Coventry/Arena to Birmingham New St and then one of the direct XC services to Glasgow Central, via Leeds and the ECML. However, there are engineering works on the ECML that weekend, so XC services are terminating at Newcastle.

Now, with a BritRail pass, you can of course take any route you like. So in theory you could then take an LNER service via the Tyne Valley across to Carlisle and then up to Glasgow from there. But I suspect that would make for an exceptionally slow journey and the connections probably wouldn't work out great. You might still decide to take a XC service as far as Leeds though, and change there for a service to Carlisle via the Settle & Carlisle line - a rather scenic (if slow) way of getting there.

If you definitely want to avoid Avanti, and don't fancy going via Leeds, then your next best alternative would be to catch a XC service from Coventry to Manchester Piccadilly, and change there for a TPE service to Glasgow (or to Carlisle/Edinburgh and change there for Glasgow). I would warn you that the reliability of TPE services, particularly on that route, has been very poor this year, and so there's a high chance of a partial or full cancellation. You would at least have Northern services to fall back onto in order to get to Preston/Lancaster. From Lancaster/Barrow, I suppose you could get to Carlisle via the Cumbrian Coast if Avanti & TPE have loads of cancellations. And from Carlisle, ScotRail also run services to Glasgow so again you're not 100% reliant on Avanti or TPE.

In essence, there are alternative routes - they are all just slower and involve more changes. I'd wait to see what timetable Avanti are running, and if the times suit, grab a reservation and travel that way.

 

[najaB]

For an absolutely ridiculous wander, how about:

• 0623 - 2G68 > Leamington Spa
• 0715 - 1M18 > Stafford
• 0839 - 1F34 > Liverpool Lime Street
• 0952 - 1P21 > Newcastle
• 1323 - 2N19 > Carlisle (90 minutes to soak up the hustle and bustle of Carlisle)
• 1609 - 1L90 > Glasgow Central arriving at 18:39.

More realistically, you'd go from Newcastle to Edinburgh and on to Glasgow.

 

[mangyiscute]

I'd highly recommend the Settle and Carlisle route - its stunning. A route could be:
07:27 from Coventry to Birmingham
08:03 from Birmingham to Leeds
10:49 from Leeds to Carlisle
14:07 from Carlisle to Glasgow a. 16:36
or leave 3 hours later if you take the 13:18 from Leeds and if it is all on time you should reach glasgow at 18:38 (an hour faster)

at the moment with no Avanti timetable published and TPE being infrequent and unreliable, the hardest part is getting from Carlisle to Glasgow - theres the slow but scenic scotrail route, LNER to Edinburgh then scotrail to Glasgow or wait for the avanti timetables/trust tpe (which will probably be super busy)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

More realistically, you'd go from Newcastle to Edinburgh and on to Glasgow.

Take it that Newcastle to Edinburgh this Saturday is either via Carlisle (by train) or via Berwick upon Tweed (rail replacement bus)?

 

[najaB]

Take it that Newcastle to Edinburgh this Saturday is either via Carlisle (by train) or via Berwick upon Tweed (rail replacement bus)?

Ah, point. I hadn't looked to see what was running from north from Newcastle - the ridiculous wander necessitated Newcastle-Carlisle-Dumfries-Glasgow.

 

[Watershed]

For an absolutely ridiculous wander, how about:

• 0623 - 2G68 > Leamington Spa
• 0715 - 1M18 > Stafford
• 0839 - 1F34 > Liverpool Lime Street
• 0952 - 1P21 > Newcastle
• 1323 - 2N19 > Carlisle (90 minutes to soak up the hustle and bustle of Carlisle)
• 1609 - 1L90 > Glasgow Central arriving at 18:39.

More realistically, you'd go from Newcastle to Edinburgh and on to Glasgow.

1P21 is highly unreliable - it has been cancelled, partly or in full, for the last 5 Saturdays. So I wouldn't risk a 9 minute connection off that, albeit in theory you'd have the option of the train an hour later - if that isn't also cancelled!

If you exclude TPE and Avanti, most of the fastest itineraries involve changing at Coventry, New Street, Darlington and Edinburgh.

 

[30907]

I'd highly recommend the Settle and Carlisle route - its stunning. A route could be:
07:27 from Coventry to Birmingham
08:03 from Birmingham to Leeds
10:49 from Leeds to Carlisle
14:07 from Carlisle to Glasgow a. 16:36
or leave 3 hours later if you take the 13:18 from Leeds and if it is all on time you should reach glasgow at 18:38 (an hour faster)

I would second that - the weather forecast for Saturday is decent, so a trip over the S&C and GSW would be rewarding.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Presume that last night's freight derailment in the Carlisle area could well necessitate a late change to the OP's itinerary if travelling to / via Carlisle from either the Hexham / Appleby direction?

 

[Watershed]

Presume that last night's freight derailment in the Carlisle area could well necessitate a late change to the OP's itinerary if travelling to / via Carlisle from either the Hexham / Appleby direction?

Yes - that'll put the kybosh on any attempt to do so (at least, by rail). So it's Cumbrian Coast (very slow) or WCML (very unreliable). Hobson's choice!

 

[mangyiscute]

Avanti have published their timetable - there's an hourly service from Coventry to Crewe which has a 10 min connection onto the 2-hourly service from Crewe to Glasgow, with service hours quite restricted, but those are a few quicker options