Virgin Trains 9S44/9M56

[Aictos]

Am currently looking up fares between London and Edinburgh using these services, travelling out on a weekday and returning on a Saturday.

Does anyone know how busy these services get and where it gets busiest?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I guess these are "via Birmingham" services?

I don't know the timings, but they are doing quite well for themselves these days and are generally quite busy throughout. However, the quietest time on VTWC generally is Saturday late morning to early afternoon, and also Saturday evening southbound only. The busiest time is Friday evening northbound and Sunday afternoon-evening southbound.

 

[Aictos]

I guess these are "via Birmingham" services?

I don't know the timings, but they are doing quite well for themselves these days and are generally quite busy throughout. However, the quietest time on VTWC generally is Saturday late morning to early afternoon, and also Saturday evening southbound only. The busiest time is Friday evening northbound and Sunday afternoon-evening southbound.

Yes they are via Birmingham as VT don't have any services that go via Stafford vice Birmingham

So judging by your post, 9S44 as leaves London at 0643 should be well loaded but plenty of seats? 9M56 as it leaves Edinburgh at 1252 should be fairly quiet?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thanks for the timings.

9S44 will probably be fairly quiet, it's a morning peak train (so no Off Peaks from Euston) against the flow. That one is diagrammed as a Pendolino, too, so is unlikely to end up with a single Voyager (I just remembered you can search headcodes in RTT).

I'd expect 9M56 from those timings on a Saturday to be quite quiet and it is also a Pendolino.

 

[Aictos]

Thanks for the timings.

9S44 will probably be fairly quiet, it's a morning peak train (so no Off Peaks) against the flow. That one is diagrammed as a Pendolino, too, so is unlikely to end up with a single Voyager (I just remembered you can search headcodes in RTT).

I'd expect 9M56 from those timings on a Saturday to be quite quiet and it is also a Pendolino.

Brilliant, how early do Virgin Trains allow you to board these days? Seeing as it's quite easy to see what platform the train is using by using OTT, RTT, Traksy etc...

Do you have to actually wait for it to be advertised before boarding or do they let you onto the platforms a few minutes before advertising the service?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Brilliant, how early do Virgin Trains allow you to board these days? Seeing as it's quite easy to see what platform the train is using by using OTT, RTT, Traksy etc...

Do you have to actually wait for it to be advertised before boarding or do they let you onto the platforms a few minutes before advertising the service?

They do boarding checks on most trains these days, so if you wander down early you're likely to get shouted at (unlike with LNR where they don't care, and VT staff don't seem to have any authority to prevent people accessing LNR trains). If you want to be first, find out which platform it is and wander down and wait at the bottom of the ramp just "landside" of the barriers. That doesn't bother them, unlike the control freaks at Paddington who *really* dislike RTT use even if you don't use it to go anywhere you shouldn't before the train calls but simply to find where to stand.

Why not consider reserving a seat? You won't in my view have any difficulty getting one on those trains, but if you want a specific one and you haven't bought a ticket yet buy it on the VT site and use the seat selector?

 

[Aictos]

They do boarding checks on most trains these days, so if you wander down early you're likely to get shouted at (unlike with LNR where they don't care, and VT staff don't seem to have any authority to prevent people accessing LNR trains). If you want to be first, find out which platform it is and wander down and wait at the bottom of the ramp just "landside" of the barriers. That doesn't bother them, unlike the control freaks at Paddington who *really* dislike RTT use even if you don't use it to go anywhere you shouldn't before the train calls but simply to find where to stand.

Why not consider reserving a seat? You won't in my view have any difficulty getting one on those trains, but if you want a specific one and you haven't bought a ticket yet buy it on the VT site and use the seat selector?

Already reserved seats but am hoping the seat I usually get which cannot be reserved is free, I've just reserved the seats in case my first choice isn't available.

The advice of wandering down and just waiting the concourse side of the barriers seem to be a good idea though so will do that, thanks for the heads up on these services.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No worries - enjoy your trip!