Topic: Trains from London - any general tips, please?

[swoopy]

They do split ticketing which can easily more than cover the transaction fees. Personally I do buy them separately elsewhere, but that's effort and prone to error.

I use the virgin trains app which also does split ticketing. No fees. Also collect virgin atlantic points on every ticket purchase.

[Schmarn]

Anyone who travelled from London yesterday make sure you submit your Delay Repay claim for both journeys. Shocking service yesterday.

[Jm55]

Anyone who travelled from London yesterday make sure you submit your Delay Repay claim for both journeys. Shocking service yesterday.

Weren’t they meant to be delayed due to planned engineering?

[Schmarn]

Weren’t they meant to be delayed due to planned engineering?

They were delayed beyond the rescheduled times by about 20 mins both ways (Stafford to Liverpool, Crewe to Euston).

[Christy Phelan]

Is it seven weeks in advance when they released the cheaper fares please?  Looking at Birmingham - Liverpool.  Thanks.

[RainbowFlick]

For Sheffield match (4th April), my mate has a spare return ticket if anyone has an under 30 railcard. £31.00 total

Euston->Lime St 13.43-16.04
Lime St -> Euston 6.04-8.26 (next day)

also has an easyhotel for about £55 which he can cancel if not needed, but just in case anyone wanted

DM if anyone wants!

[actwithoutwords]

On the day of the Palace game, there's a bunch of direct trains (one in the morning and several on the way back) that Avanti website say tickets are unavailable for (so maybe sold out?), but Trainline say as "coming soon". Anyone know whether they're sold out or haven't been onsale yet?

[MKB]

An hour ago, Avanti released Advance fare inventory for Sunday 19 May -- matchday 38.

Showing what utter Tory bastards they are, they have made zero seats available on Advance fares in Standard Class or First Class  arriving Lime Street before 15:00 or departing after 18:00.

The exception is Standard Premium, which owing to technical restrictions on how they can sell these in advance, have to be Advance fares.

Also, the 12:42 departure from Euston arriving 15:04 is available with Advance fares (and just 1 in First Class!) if you want to take a wild chance on it running to time.

[Schmarn]

An hour ago, Avanti released Advance fare inventory for Sunday 19 May -- matchday 38.

Showing what utter Tory bastards they are, they have made zero seats available on Advance fares in Standard Class or First Class  arriving Lime Street before 15:00 or departing after 18:00.

The exception is Standard Premium, which owing to technical restrictions on how they can sell these in advance, have to be Advance fares.

Also, the 12:42 departure from Euston arriving 15:04 is available with Advance fares (and just 1 in First Class!) if you want to take a wild chance on it running to time.

They always do this. The only time you get cheaper trains is where the fixture moves. They are utter c*nts.  Virgin trains, for all their failings, used to offer Advance tickets on match days.

[ABJ]

They always do this. The only time you get cheaper trains is where the fixture moves. They are utter c*nts.  Virgin trains, for all their failings, used to offer Advance tickets on match days.

I said it at the time when a fair few celebrated Virgin trains losing the route, ''be careful what you wish for''...even I had no idea how true that would turn out to be.

Utter c*nts indeed.

[apassant77]

Bet they have happy drivers with the new overtime payments being introduced

[ABJ]

Bet they have happy drivers with the new overtime payments being introduced

It also shows just how shit it must be to work for them if they have to be offered a ridiculous amount of money to do overtime.

[apassant77]

Have to admit I've been lucky using them apart from coming back from the West Ham cup game when the overhead wires came down which is obviously out of their control. Hopefully the incentive for overtime will mean they can run more of the timetable.

[Schmarn]

I remember the last day of the 2022 season they cancelled the busiest train going up to both Liverpool and Manchester which made the next trains totally mobbed. No way am I risking getting a late train up. Got to be there for the 3-0 win and trophy lift.

[lionel_messias]

On the day of the Palace game, there's a bunch of direct trains (one in the morning and several on the way back) that Avanti website say tickets are unavailable for (so maybe sold out?), but Trainline say as "coming soon". Anyone know whether they're sold out or haven't been onsale yet?

I'm also following this game day, feel I should have bought earlier but then again my registered sale isn't until Monday. The return train currently closest to end of match is 4.43pm, less than 60 mins from the final whistle, and that's without stoppage time; hate that.

[RainbowFlick]

For Sheffield match (4th April), my mate has a spare return ticket if anyone has an under 30 railcard. £31.00 total

Euston->Lime St 13.43-16.04
Lime St -> Euston 6.04-8.26 (next day)

also has an easyhotel for about £55 which he can cancel if not needed, but just in case anyone wanted

DM if anyone wants!

still available, for free, if anyone needed

[ewok-red-97]

still available, for free, if anyone needed

There's a strike so they'll be able to get a refund. Those trains aren't running!

[ABJ]

There's a strike so they'll be able to get a refund. Those trains aren't running!

The 1343 is running today.

[Mr Grieves]

Travel for the Spurs game , if on a Sunday, looks crap

[MKB]

The 1343 is running today.

Doesn't matter.  If one leg is cancelled because of strikes, a refund is possible for both legs of the round-trip.

[ABJ]

Doesn't matter.  If one leg is cancelled because of strikes, a refund is possible for both legs of the round-trip.

I was just replying as the poster said said that the trains were cancelled. Assuming that its booked as a round trip, yes thats correct. Not if booked as one ways though, as I, and a few of our lot, quite often end up doing.

[MKB]

I was just replying as the poster said said that the trains were cancelled. Assuming that its booked as a round trip, yes thats correct. Not if booked as one ways though, as I, and a few of our lot, quite often end up doing.

I have successfully refunded all tickets where each direction was booked as a single and only one leg was affected by strikes.  The National Rail Conditions of Travel allow for a round-trip journey to be booked using multiple tickets, including multiple splits.  With some retailers, you might have a battle, but ultimately you will win.  Either referral to the Rail Ombudsman or credit card chargeback will sort it if the retailer refuses to recognise your rights.

[ABJ]

I have successfully refunded all tickets where each direction was booked as a single and only one leg was affected by strikes.  The National Rail Conditions of Travel allow for a round-trip journey to be booked using multiple tickets, including multiple splits.  With some retailers, you might have a battle, but ultimately you will win.  Either referral to the Rail Ombudsman or credit card chargeback will sort it if the retailer refuses to recognise your rights.

Good to know, cheers.

[Levitz]

Travel for the Spurs game , if on a Sunday, looks crap

yep, trains absolutely fucked due to engineering works

[Lisan Al Gaib]

yep, trains absolutely fucked due to engineering works

No trains at all from London Euston to Liverpool which is just about right for Avanti's service despite the engineering works

[lionel_messias]

On the day of the Palace game, there's a bunch of direct trains (one in the morning and several on the way back) that Avanti website say tickets are unavailable for (so maybe sold out?), but Trainline say as "coming soon". Anyone know whether they're sold out or haven't been onsale yet?

Did you have any luck with this?

I think I've screwed myself by not buying 16.43 return tickets as this train now doesn't appear

[swoopy]

Did you have any luck with this?

I think I've screwed myself by not buying 16.43 return tickets as this train now doesn't appear

You can buy an off peak ticket for another train (13.43) and get on the actual one you want. As long as it's not an "advanced" ticket you're fine.

[lionel_messias]

You can buy an off peak ticket for another train (13.43) and get on the actual one you want. As long as it's not an "advanced" ticket you're fine.

Cheers buddy.

[lionel_messias]

You can buy an off peak ticket for another train (13.43) and get on the actual one you want. As long as it's not an "advanced" ticket you're fine.

And if a "sold out" train, I guess we just squeeze on somewhere.

[Belmont butty]

They usually run unreserved carriages on each service. As previously mentioned, just buy an offpeak and jump on the one you want.

[Levitz]

You can also try booking to Crewe instead.

[Alf]

Saw this in the Times Earlier.

Saturday may 18 2024
Virgin Trains to take on Avanti as Branson returns to west coast line
The Richard Branson-led rail company has applied for a licence to be an open-access operator on the London-to-Scotland line, in competition with the main operator
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains operated the InterCity west coast franchise from 1997 to 2019. It may be back
Oliver Gill
Saturday May 18 2024, 6.00pm, The Sunday Times
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is to return to Britain’s railways by launching services on the west coast mainline — the route that the billionaire was booted off by ministers five years ago.

The reborn Virgin Trains, which will compete head-to-head with the under-fire operator Avanti, has applied to run ten-carriage trains between London Euston and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.

The company has applied for a licence to be a new “open access” operator under rules allowing rivals to run trains on lines alongside the main operator.

Virgin services from Euston will be hourly to Preston via Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street under the application to the rail regulator. They will run every two hours to Glasgow.

[ToneLa]

I hope it drives prices down.

[MKB]

There aren't three paths an hour available (four every other hour), are there?  The capacity issue on the WCML is the principal reason for HS2.

I'd be amazed if this actually happens.  What we actually need is a reversal of John Major's fragmentation of the railways that has burdened the industry with astonishing inefficiencies and the taxpayer with far greater subsidising.

[bradders1011]

Might be space available once it goes onto the Stoke-Macclesfield-Manchester leg if the plan is to travel to Glasgow via Piccadilly. Dogleg it out of the way of the busiest northern bit?

Presumably the Manchester-Preston bit would be via Bolton, which would be great for the town to have a direct London route.

[MKB]

The path bottlenecks are between Euston and Rugby.  Some hours have a small number of available slots in theory, but if every slot (20 per hour, one every 3 minutes) was taken, there'd be no scope for even minor delays.  Every train that was delayed by a few minutes would knock back all the following ones.

It doesn't help that you've got both 110mph and 125mph trains both on the fast line, the LNW ones delaying the Avanti ones if they're right behind.  (So much for the initial plan that everything would run at 140mph!)

[ewok-red-97]

There seems to be no direct trains from London to Liverpool on the 20th for the Chelsea game, could this be because they haven't been released yet?

[Lisan Al Gaib]

Major engineering works at Lime Street

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/engineering-works/liverpool-lime-street-20241020/

[Dan The Man 28373]

Major engineering works at Lime Street

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/engineering-works/liverpool-lime-street-20241020/

Replacement buses at Crewe, they're going to be busy & won't help that Chelsea fans also travelling from London.

I'm looking at National Express or Megabus.

[stoz]

The other day I paid £48 for a single down for the Palace game at around 6am. So I'm going to be delighted when they do absolutely no checks before boarding, on the train, or on arrival at Euston