How to travel by train from Edinburgh to Birmingham

The train service between Edinburgh and Birmingham is split between:
(1) These trains, operated by Avanti West Coast, which take a faster route, but they only depart every other hour (in even hours)
(2) Alternative trains operated by CrossCountry which take an entirely different slower route, but they depart at least hourly.

Final Destination: London Euston

All trains also call at: Crewe (connect for Chester and Shrewsbury) and Wolverhampton

Pendolino trains are used on most of these services operated by Avanti West Coast.

Book Early and Save: Yes

Tickets Available From: 24* weeks ahead for travel on Mon-Fri; up to 12 weeks ahead for weekend travel.

*This booking ahead period available on the Avanti West Coast trians is longer than that offered by the majority of British train operators.
If you book less than 12 weeks ahead you can compare the prices with the trains operated by CrossCountry.

If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, look for the 'Advance' tickets; though be aware that this type of ticket can't be refunded if you subsequently change your travel plans.

Though something to be aware of when booking tickets, particularly for journeys by Avanti West Coast with its extended booking periods, is that the more expensive Off Peak and Anytime type of tickets can be placed on sale before the Advance tickets will be available.
If that is the case, it won't mean that the 'Advance' tickets have sold out, instead you won't see them, because they haven't have been placed on sale yet.

Though you won't typically have to book months in advance to obtain the cheapest possible price for a Edinburgh to Birmingham rail

Travelling on Saturday-Sunday (also applies to the alternative route operated by CrossCountry

Maintenance work on the railway is periodically undertaken, particularly at weekends, and if it is scheduled on your travel date, it can affect when tickets will be released for sale.

If you're looking up a journey less than around 10 - 12 weeks ahead and the cheaper 'Advance' tickets aren't available, it can be a good indication that works will be impacting on your travel date.
It can be worth checking this on the Avanti West Coast website.

Making an end-to-end journey will still be possible, though you MAY ultimately have to take a substitution bus service for part of the trip.
It's the confirmation of these alternative travel arrangements which can hold up the release of the tickets for sale.

Choosing a Departure:

There are likely to be significant differences in prices between departures on your travel date, it's often possible to save more than £20 by taking an earlier or later train.

If you can be flexible with your travel times and dates, it's a good idea to use the Best Fare Finder service on the Avanti West Coast website.

Booking last-minute:

Avanti West Coast doesn't take discounted Advance tickets off sale until an hour before departure, so before heading to the station to purchase a walk-up ticket(s) it can be worth checking online to see if the Advance tickets are still available for the next departure.

Seat reservations:

When you book an Advance ticket for an Edinburgh to Birmingham journey by Avanti West Coast trains journey online, you will be automatically assigned a seat(s), because you will have to travel by that specific departure.

Because Off-Peak and Anytime tickets (usually) allow the freedom to choose between departures, you can request complimentary reservations when booking these tickets - find out more about this.

However, if you buy Off Peak or Anytime tickets just prior to boarding at the station, seat reservations won't be available

That's because reservations at stations need to be booked at least a couple of hours ahead of departure; so also keep that in mind if you will be using a rail pass, including a Britrail or Eurail pass.

Receiving Your Ticket(s) booked with Avanti

If you book with Avanti West Coast, you will have up to four options for receiving and using your ticket(s) are:

(1) Using e-tickets: 
Book a ticket online and you will receive an e-ticket attached to your confirmation email, which you can print off or download to your mobile device..

(2) Using m-tickets: 
If you book using the Avanti West Coast trains app, you can activate your ticket within the app

(3) Collecting from the 'Fast-Track' ticket machines at the station.
You will receive a booking reference number on your order confirmation email and you can use this reference number to collect ticket(s) from a 'Fast-Track' ticket machine.
You will need to enter your reference number into the machine, so make sure you'll have easy access to it when you are using the machine.
You will also need to insert the specific credit or debit card you used when making the booking, so have that with you too.

(4) Opt to pay an additional charge to have your tickets posted to you.

The potential to save by splitting tickets on Trainline

It can be worth looking up this journey on Trainline.

It can be possible to save money by using split ticketing, with the booking process being no more complicated than booking conventional tickets - find out more.

The train service between Edinburgh and Birmingham is split between:

(1) Alternative trains, which take a faster route, but they only depart every other hour (in even hours).

(2) These trains operated by CrossCountry, which take an entirely different longer route, but they depart at least hourly.
A mix of 125 and Voyager trains are used on this route, but there is no means of working out which of these trains will be used on the departure you will be travelling by.

Final Destination: Penzance or Plymouth or Bristol or Birmingham

All trains also call at: Sheffield and Derby

Book Early and Save: Yes

Online Bookings Usually Open: From 12 weeks ahead of travel on the trains on this route, which are operated by CrossCountry, but trains on the alternative route are operated by Avanti West Coast and it places its ticket on sale up to 24 weeks ahead.

So if you book more than 12 weeks ahead you may only see the tickets for those other services provided by Avanti West Coast

Choosing a departure

As there are multiple operators which provide the trains from Edinburgh, the recommendation is to use the National Rail booking service when looking up this journey.
By doing so you'll have an overview of the ticket times and prices of all departures, no matter which company is operating each departure, and you will also avoid any booking fees.
One company doesn't always offer the cheapest fares on this route, so it's worth making an easy comparison across all departures.

Booking Advance Tickets

If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, look for the 'Advance tickets', though the three key things worth knowing about booking and using 'Advance' tickets in usual circumstances are:
(1) Your ticket(s) will only be valid on the departure you selected when making a booking.
(2) But when travelling by CrossCountry trains, you can amend your ticket free of charge, regardless of when it was booked and when you will be travelling from 2 hours after purchase and up to 15 minutes before your train is due to depart, as long as the stations are the same.
(3) If the train you are booked on is delayed, you cannot then just hop on an alternative train operated by a different company.

Finding a late deal

CrossCountry atypically offers the ability to book Advance tickets until up to 15 minutes before departure.

However, if you will be looking for tickets when the cheapest Advance tickets have sold out on most departures, you may be able to save money by using split-ticketing - read more about this.

The potential to save by splitting tickets on Trainline

It can be worth looking up this journey on Trainline.

It can be possible to save money by using split ticketing, with the booking process being no more complicated than booking conventional tickets - find out more.

Seat Reservations

When you book an Advance ticket for an Edinburgh to Birmingham train journey, you will be automatically assigned a seat(s), but if you book the other types of ticket ahead, you can request a complimentary reservation
However, if you buy Off Peak or Anytime tickets just prior to boarding at the station, a seat reservation WON'T be automatically included with your booking.

However, CrossCountry now offers a service buy which holders of Anytime and Off-Peak tickets can book reservations up to 10 minutes prior to departure time.

Travelling on Monday - Friday

Tickets are usually available 12 weeks ahead of the travel date.
However, when you look up a journey you may see dates further ahead on the calendar, but you'll be informed that tickets aren't yet available for those dates.

Travelling on Saturday-Sunday

Tickets are usually available 12 weeks ahead of the travel date, but maintenance work on the route is periodically undertaken at weekends and if it is scheduled on your travel date, it can affect when tickets will be released for sale.

If you're looking up a journey less than 12 weeks ahead and tickets aren't available, it can be a good indication that works will be impacting on your travel date.
It can be worth checking this on the National Rail website