York to Georgemas Junc

[mike57]

I am planning a work trip sometime towards the end of July (if the job is ready for me)

Plan is, travel up one day, one day on work site, travel back the next day.

Some questions which you may be able to answer:

There is only one journey per day each way:

Outwards dep York 06:35 Edinburgh arr 09:23 dep 09:36 Perth arr 11:04 dep 11.16 Inverness arr 13:26 dep 14:00 arr Georgemas Junc 17:36

Both the Edinburgh and Perth connections are fairly tight, so even a minor delay is going to mean I miss the 11:16 departure from Perth, and the 14:00 is the last train north out of Inverness with the reduced timetable. I know the layout of Waverley, I have travelled through it quite a few times over the years, but I have never changed at Perth, how long is the walk/stairs etc? What is ScotRail reliability like out of Edinburgh?

Coming back things are less tight, with just two changes and more like 30 mins at each one.

Ticket wise an anytime return is showing as £149.80 2nd class with senior railcard, but 1st class is a whopping £332 with a rail card, this seems like a serious premium. There appear to no advance offerings on this route. I could split tickets, but would prefer not to given the nature of the journey. What is the ScotRail first class like? Is it worth the upgrade? I have travelled on 06:35 out of York in the past and its never very busy, 1st class wouldn't be a 'must' on this leg, on a weekday I might bag a table and either be on my own or maybe one other person, so would be able to work. (one of the general justifications for using first class is the ability to work, which is impossible if on a 'rammed' train in 2nd class)

I back charge the travel costs (and time) but I try to be reasonable. As a benchmark if I were to drive I would be able to charge 45p a mile for around 1000 miles, so £450 ish, and even first class is less so it wouldn't get questioned. However I wouldn't drive, I hate driving, and the thought of two 10hr+ drives separated by a full workday (probably close to 12hr) is not appealing

Another option for the last leg of the journey north from Inverness is the X99 bus, I assume this is just a normal service bus, not a coach, and I dont fancy 3 1/2 hours on a bus unless I have to, although as a plus it actually passes the worksite, and the accomodation is on site. Is the X99 what we used to call a 'country bus' i.e. will pick up and set down where it is safe to do so. (If I go by train I will be met at the station, which is the nearest to the work site.)

Final option would be taxi from Inverness, are local taxi companies prepared to do this sort of run, and what might they charge, has anyone any experiences, good or bad.

Flying doesen't seem to be an option currently, the Edinburgh - Wick service is supposedly running again, but a quck internet trawl hasn't uncovered flight times or prices, although Aberdeen to Wick is running, that could be another option. There is a connecting flight from Humberside in the outward direction to Aberdeen, but nothing coming back without a long wait or overnight in Aberdeen, and if the car is at Humberside that pretty well rules out mixing modes, so maybe train to Dyce.

So if anyone can answer any questions or make any further suggestions feel free to comment

 

[30907]

Perth is straighforward, as the Edinburgh train will almost certainly arrive in one of the bay platforms 5 and 6 which are between the main Inverness platforms 4 and 7.
The national timetable gives an 0627 Cross Country from York due Waverley 0903 if you want to reduce the risk.
While you might not not enjoy a long taxi/coach ride, that is what Scotrail will have to do if you are seriously delayed?

 

[High Dyke]

Regarding the X99 bus service. Seemingly the service is operated by coaches, not buses. Info on the type of vehicles operating here. Maybe subject to change.

 

[Watershed]

I am planning a work trip sometime towards the end of July (if the job is ready for me)

Plan is, travel up one day, one day on work site, travel back the next day.

Some questions which you may be able to answer:

There is only one journey per day each way:

Outwards dep York 06:35 Edinburgh arr 09:23 dep 09:36 Perth arr 11:04 dep 11.16 Inverness arr 13:26 dep 14:00 arr Georgemas Junc 17:36

Both the Edinburgh and Perth connections are fairly tight, so even a minor delay is going to mean I miss the 11:16 departure from Perth, and the 14:00 is the last train north out of Inverness with the reduced timetable. I know the layout of Waverley, I have travelled through it quite a few times over the years, but I have never changed at Perth, how long is the walk/stairs etc? What is ScotRail reliability like out of Edinburgh?

Coming back things are less tight, with just two changes and more like 30 mins at each one.

Ticket wise an anytime return is showing as £149.80 2nd class with senior railcard, but 1st class is a whopping £332 with a rail card, this seems like a serious premium. There appear to no advance offerings on this route. I could split tickets, but would prefer not to given the nature of the journey. What is the ScotRail first class like? Is it worth the upgrade? I have travelled on 06:35 out of York in the past and its never very busy, 1st class wouldn't be a 'must' on this leg, on a weekday I might bag a table and either be on my own or maybe one other person, so would be able to work. (one of the general justifications for using first class is the ability to work, which is impossible if on a 'rammed' train in 2nd class)

I back charge the travel costs (and time) but I try to be reasonable. As a benchmark if I were to drive I would be able to charge 45p a mile for around 1000 miles, so £450 ish, and even first class is less so it wouldn't get questioned. However I wouldn't drive, I hate driving, and the thought of two 10hr+ drives separated by a full workday (probably close to 12hr) is not appealing

Another option for the last leg of the journey north from Inverness is the X99 bus, I assume this is just a normal service bus, not a coach, and I dont fancy 3 1/2 hours on a bus unless I have to, although as a plus it actually passes the worksite, and the accomodation is on site. Is the X99 what we used to call a 'country bus' i.e. will pick up and set down where it is safe to do so. (If I go by train I will be met at the station, which is the nearest to the work site.)

Final option would be taxi from Inverness, are local taxi companies prepared to do this sort of run, and what might they charge, has anyone any experiences, good or bad.

Flying doesen't seem to be an option currently, the Edinburgh - Wick service is supposedly running again, but a quck internet trawl hasn't uncovered flight times or prices, although Aberdeen to Wick is running, that could be another option. There is a connecting flight from Humberside in the outward direction to Aberdeen, but nothing coming back without a long wait or overnight in Aberdeen, and if the car is at Humberside that pretty well rules out mixing modes, so maybe train to Dyce.

So if anyone can answer any questions or make any further suggestions feel free to comment

Have you considered flying from Manchester to Inverness? Obviously a bit of a dogleg as the crow flies but it may be the best option all things considered. Loganair has 2 daily departures in each direction, an early morning and a teatime flight, starting at around £100 rtn.

So you could take e.g. the morning flight up and the afternoon flight back. Both would lend themselves timewise to taking a train/coach onwards from Inverness.

I guess with getting the train across to Manchester and allowing plenty of time for security (given recent queues!) it's probably not massively quicker than the train. But perhaps still worth considering (at least in the northbound direction) to avoid the tight connections at Edinburgh, Perth and Inverness?

If you do go by train, if I look for say Mon-Wed in two weeks' time, TrainSplit suggests you can do it for £109 in standard or £172 in first (including a rather weird and wonderful combination of Advances and walk-up tickets).

 

[mike57]

The national timetable gives an 0627 Cross Country from York due Waverley 0903 if you want to reduce the risk.

That will no doubt be a Voyager, that would push me towards the first class option...

Thanks for the info on Perth, should be a simple change

Regarding the X99 bus service. Seemingly the service is operated by coaches, not buses. Info on the type of vehicles operating here. Maybe subject to change.

They dont look too bad, could be an option as there appears to be a later departure around 16:30, used to do 2 x 3 hour journeys once a week on similar vehicles. I realise nothing is a certainty

I guess with getting the train across to Manchester and allowing plenty of time for security (given recent queues!)

Just had a quick look at the Loganair website, Outward travel would have to be Monday or Tuesday, as there only appears to be one later departure each day later in the week. Departure is 08:35, would an hour be enough for security? Means being at York on the 04:56 departure arrives Man Airport 07:12, it could be a fall back but I think the scheduled rail might be better as if it goes pear shaped they will have to get me to my destination, trouble is with mixed mode its my problem, and to be honest a 04:56 departure would mean leaving home around 03:30 which is on the limit of what I would be prepared to do.

If flying becomes the only way (up coming strikes?) I think I will go from Humberside to Wick and suck up the layover in Aberdeen on the return leg

 

[Watershed]

Departure is 08:35, would an hour be enough for security? Means being at York on the 04:56 departure arrives Man Airport 07:12

There's no way I'd risk that with the combination of current security queues and the likelihood of the train being cancelled due to the TPE IR issues.

If I wanted to take the morning flight, I'd aim for the 02:47/52 off York, arriving at 05:11/16. Thus giving plenty of slack in case of cancellation & bustitution of the train, and the inevitable airport security queues. Of course at that point you may as well stay overnight, hence it's probably no longer worth it.

 

[philjo]

Could you either travel to Edinburgh the night before and stay there, or go from York to Preston and get the sleeper to Inverness ?

 

[mike57]

Could you either travel to Edinburgh the night before and stay there, or go from York to Preston and get the sleeper to Inverness ?

If I can do the end to end journey in one day that means 2 nights away, as I need 1 full day at the work site. Breaking the journey in Edinburgh outwards is going to add another night away. Sleeper from Preston had crossed my mind but I dont really fancy hanging around in Preston until 00:30.

At the moment it looks like outwards fly from Humberside to Wick, On a Monday and Tuesday there is a good connection via Aberdeen using Eastern Airways, and returning by train on Thursday as later in the week there are less flights south. The return journey is less fraught as If I miss a connection coming south I am not left stranded.

I know Scotrail have problems, and the Far North line has never had a frequent service, but having the last departure of the day at 14:00 rather than later seems to severely limit the usefulness.