WestAnglian
Member
I'll try to post a fuller report in a few days but here's an interim posting.
Having been on many All-Lines Rovers I realised that my coverage of the GB rail network was quite comprehensive, so I decided to add completion of the network to my bucket-list. I'd already finished Wales so thought I'd do the same for Scotland. I'm not a hardened track-basher - my aim is just to pass through every station. Some lines without stations seemed important enough to interest me, such as the Swansea District line, but really it's just the passenger routes.
So I decided to finish Scotland. What ticket to buy? I'd normally use a 1st-class ALRR but would spend little time on trains with first. I opted for a Spirit of Scotland 8 days in 15. It covers the entire Scottish network, Carlisle-Glasgow, Berwick-Edinburgh, Edinburgh trams, Glasgow Subway, coaches from Oban - Fort William - Inverness - Ullapool and buses from Edinburgh - borders - Carlisle and a few other buses. It also gives you discounts on some ferries, heritage lines and boat trips. It's not valid before 0915 on most lines during the week - except the Scottish Government has paused peak fares for a while, so the ticket can be used all day every day for now. And it's a bargain. With railcard the 8-in-15 ticket is £125.
I went up on an standard advance ticket from Bishop's Stortford - Carlisle via Ely and Newcastle. The LNER was badly delayed due to an unpleasant incident not of their making, but their communication was shambolic. I arrived at Newcastle nearly an hour late but still able to make my connection across to Carlisle.
I caught the Scotrail service to Glasgow Central via Dumfries, the first of 48 Scotrail journeys I'd make over a week or so. Scotrail can't be said to have the most exciting rolling stock but the classes 156, 158, 170, 320, 318, 322, 380 and 385 (and solitary HST) units all seemed to be in reasonable condition and clean, apart from two broken toilets. Every single train was on time, and my ticket was checked on nearly every train, usually with friendliness and humour.
The trip ended with a marathon to Wick. I'd already done Thurso, so this was 9 hours of travel for a single station. All that was left was my ride home. I'd booked an advance 1st from Inverness the following morning, looking forward to a releaxed trip all the way to the Cross, but LNER cancelled it between Inverness and Edinburgh the previous day. They were to bus us, presumably to Edinburgh, but there was no information other than there would be a bus and you can catch the next train from Edinburgh. So that's my vision of a trouble-free journey home shattered. But I had a day left on the rover. So I turned up at the station 75 minutes earlier than I'd planned and caught a Scotrail 170 to Edinburgh from where I could catch my truncated train to London. My seat reservation was still in place and the carriage was almost empty as most passengers from Inverness failed to arrive on time. Unfortunately, the same applied to the catering staff who were also coming from Inverness. Service from Newcastle was fine, though.
I'm nost sure how much can be inferred from this one week but it does seem to me that the Scots have a better rail system than the English at the moment, and LNER seems determined to snatch the worst operator prize from Avanti.
Having been on many All-Lines Rovers I realised that my coverage of the GB rail network was quite comprehensive, so I decided to add completion of the network to my bucket-list. I'd already finished Wales so thought I'd do the same for Scotland. I'm not a hardened track-basher - my aim is just to pass through every station. Some lines without stations seemed important enough to interest me, such as the Swansea District line, but really it's just the passenger routes.
So I decided to finish Scotland. What ticket to buy? I'd normally use a 1st-class ALRR but would spend little time on trains with first. I opted for a Spirit of Scotland 8 days in 15. It covers the entire Scottish network, Carlisle-Glasgow, Berwick-Edinburgh, Edinburgh trams, Glasgow Subway, coaches from Oban - Fort William - Inverness - Ullapool and buses from Edinburgh - borders - Carlisle and a few other buses. It also gives you discounts on some ferries, heritage lines and boat trips. It's not valid before 0915 on most lines during the week - except the Scottish Government has paused peak fares for a while, so the ticket can be used all day every day for now. And it's a bargain. With railcard the 8-in-15 ticket is £125.
I went up on an standard advance ticket from Bishop's Stortford - Carlisle via Ely and Newcastle. The LNER was badly delayed due to an unpleasant incident not of their making, but their communication was shambolic. I arrived at Newcastle nearly an hour late but still able to make my connection across to Carlisle.
I caught the Scotrail service to Glasgow Central via Dumfries, the first of 48 Scotrail journeys I'd make over a week or so. Scotrail can't be said to have the most exciting rolling stock but the classes 156, 158, 170, 320, 318, 322, 380 and 385 (and solitary HST) units all seemed to be in reasonable condition and clean, apart from two broken toilets. Every single train was on time, and my ticket was checked on nearly every train, usually with friendliness and humour.
The trip ended with a marathon to Wick. I'd already done Thurso, so this was 9 hours of travel for a single station. All that was left was my ride home. I'd booked an advance 1st from Inverness the following morning, looking forward to a releaxed trip all the way to the Cross, but LNER cancelled it between Inverness and Edinburgh the previous day. They were to bus us, presumably to Edinburgh, but there was no information other than there would be a bus and you can catch the next train from Edinburgh. So that's my vision of a trouble-free journey home shattered. But I had a day left on the rover. So I turned up at the station 75 minutes earlier than I'd planned and caught a Scotrail 170 to Edinburgh from where I could catch my truncated train to London. My seat reservation was still in place and the carriage was almost empty as most passengers from Inverness failed to arrive on time. Unfortunately, the same applied to the catering staff who were also coming from Inverness. Service from Newcastle was fine, though.
I'm nost sure how much can be inferred from this one week but it does seem to me that the Scots have a better rail system than the English at the moment, and LNER seems determined to snatch the worst operator prize from Avanti.
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