East or West Coast Mainline...which to use?

[AlistairW]

Ah, but one quick question...is a seat reservation mandatory on NXEC services? I only have the walk up Anytime Return ticket. I have friends who have been charged £70+ for not having a separate coupon with a seat reservation...although I'm not sure if they had a walk up ticket or an advance booking

I think the £70 you are referring to will be a fine for buying an advance ticket and not carrying the compulsory reservation which says which train they need to be on. Your ‘Walk On’ ticket will do exactly what it says on the tin.

[carlosa319]

Would you think, realistically, that 30minutes is enough to get down to the Underground and back up to KX and get onto the train? I'm starting to lean towards the East Coast now but then again is a tilting train worth experiencing or just over rated?

[AlistairW]

I'm starting to lean towards the East Coast now but then again is a tilting train worth experiencing or just over rated?

There certainly isn't 5 hours worth of 'fun' on a tilting train, you probably won't really notice it until you're past Preston when it gets really curvy, perhaps that’s just me though. Of course the train engineers will tell you you're not supposed to notice it . I don't think its that great though.

Could you not go via the East Coast and return via the West?

[carlosa319]

Yep that idea just hit me...well East Coast it is then! Is a service that departs at 9am Monday morning likely to be overwhelmingly busy (if you take into account that school holidays are underway) or is that only really in the off peak?

[alexnick]

Would you think, realistically, that 30minutes is enough to get down to the Underground and back up to KX and get onto the train? I'm starting to lean towards the East Coast now but then again is a tilting train worth experiencing or just over rated?

Yes, definitely. My record between Kings X and Waterloo is 12 mins (running at closing doors with both trains). I generally allow around 20.

AN

[AlistairW]

Although I've never left London that early I find trains going to Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow are generally okay, expect the Aberdeen and Inverness services to be a bit busier, although if you're first on this doesn't really matter. The link below gives a timetable telling you whether it will be a class 91 or an HST.

http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com ... 0NORTH.pdf

Of course you could take the 8:40 Leeds HST as far as Doncaster and change onto the Edinburgh class 91 there, otherwise you'll have to wait for the 10:30 if you want an HST. Or as somebody else suggested you could get the Grand Central 8:04 as far as York, although that is a bit of an early start it would give you an hour to take in the National Railway Museum across from the station.

[ianmacmillan]

If you are using a staff card to buy a priv ticket on the underground, give yourself a lot more time.
The queues can be horrendous. took me 20min last time I was at Kings X

[carlosa319]

Ah but I bought all my tickets on saturday so no queueing necessary

[nwallace]

In relation to your question about the staff.

Anyone can be an arse.

[oldrocker]

Sitting on a voyager for that length of time.....never mind oldrocker, you must be off your rocker to suggest that Dave

I've done Wolverhampton Edinburgh and found it OK.

Certainly preferable to Boeing Pendolinos. Every time I get on one of those I expect to get off in Alicante !

[96tommy]

I would always choose the ECML. It has better views than the WCML well certainly after Alnmouth looking out over the North Sea something that is no really possible on the WCML.

[pendolinofan]

What you could have done to avoid the underground of course, would be go south to Bournemouth on SWT, then sit on a voyager all the way from Bomo - Edinburgh!

Cheers
Adam

[mforeman04]

Ouch. A voyager is bad enough between durham and newcastle for me (a 12 min journey) let alone one end of country to the other.

[charlierc]

I'm starting to lean towards the East Coast now but then again is a tilting train worth experiencing or just over rated?

There certainly isn't 5 hours worth of 'fun' on a tilting train, you probably won't really notice it until you're past Preston when it gets really curvy, perhaps that’s just me though.

I did notice when I went on Pendolino between my nearest stop (Milton Keynes Central) and Euston.

Voyagers the whole Bornemouth-Edinburgh distance.
Even more lol considering there's no direct Bornemouth-Edinburgh trains anymore - change Reading and Newcastle.
There is a 6am Guildford-Newcastle Voyager.... though that's probably not really a great idea if you prefer comfort.

[Riche]

Does the Penzance-Aberdeen service still run?