Scottish Excursion January 2023

[gabrielhj07]

Hi All,

Next month I plan to make a return trip from London to Fort William & Mallaig, making use of the Caledonian Sleeper north, and worryingly, the WCML on the way south.

My booked itinerary involves arriving in Glasgow at 1543, for a 1640 train to Euston.

Knowing the current state of Avanti, my question is whether or not it is wise to consider alternative arrangements for travelling south on the 14th.

My ticket from Fort William to Glasgow is anytime, so I can get the first train of the day at 0727 if needed.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Assuming you don't wish to go anywhere significantly distant South or West or to a certain but lesser extent east of London once you reach Euston then I would say that the 16:40 allow plenty of time for the the job to go wrong and for them to either reroute you or offer you hotel accommodation in Glasgow.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Assuming you don't wish to go anywhere significantly distant South or West or to a certain but lesser extent east of London once you reach Euston then I would say that the 16:40 allow plenty of time for the the job to go wrong and for them to either reroute you or offer you hotel accommodation in Glasgow.

The 1640 is the penultimate Euston-bound departure of the day, so there is leeway. The problem is that arriving at Glasgow shortly before 1600 does not leave enough time to get to Edinburgh for the last train to London.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Unless you are travelling on a Sunday I am almost certain that you would make the last London from the 1615 Queen Street to Waverley. So as long as you've got a reasonable amount of advance warning that it's all gone wrong on the west which you should have have I buy the time you arrive in Queen Street you can make a decision at that point. As I say they have to get you home under the the conditions of travel or accommodate you so so I would stick to your original

 

[gabrielhj07]

Unless you are travelling on a Sunday I am almost certain that you would make the last London from the 1615 Queen Street to Waverley.

That would arrive at EDB 1704, with the last EDB-KGX train at 1630. It does leave room for the 1652 to EUS however.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I would honestly stick with the wcml.

 

[Techniquest]

I would stick with the original plan, you should be OK with that in Glasgow. I'd have some backup plans in place, especially for the bit from the final station to home, but overall I'd not worry too much. It's a +57 across Glasgow, so that should help a lot, and it's not a long walk to Central from Queen Street.

Personally, I'd be making backup plans for the weather on the way to Glasgow, and be prepared the day before to depart earlier if needs be. Just in case

 

[cambsy]

personally I would get into Glasgow earlier, so can have leeway, if several trains get cancelled. So you won’t be stressed if Avanti playing up, as usual.

 

[Huntergreed]

The 16:40 leaves you another two trains in case that gets cancelled. With the last two Glasgows, they often terminate the 17:30 at Preston, chuck you out into the cold for an hour, then start the 18:40 short at Preston for Euston (noticed this a few times).

I’d say it’s very unlikely that none of the last three will run, and if they don’t, you have the slower TPE to connect onto the Edinburgh from Carlisle/Preston starting short there

Is Euston your ultimate destination? Obviously if you have to connect for a further destination, then the further from Euston you need to go, the less likely it will be your journey will go as planned!

 

[gabrielhj07]

Is Euston your ultimate destination?

Ultimately Strawberry Hill but via Euston was the idea.