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Edinburgh to Newcastle by train
How to make the train journey from Edinburgh to Newcastle
The typical train service from Edinburgh to Newcastle has never been more frequent and it now comprises three or four trains per hour during the day (the departures become less frequent after 18:00).
The four departures per hour consist of:
(1) 2 x trains operated by LNER,
(2) 1 x train per hour operated by TransPennine Express (most of these trains are currently suspended)
(3) 1 x train per hour operated by CrossCountry
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Routes
Option 1: travelling with LNER or CrossCountry
Journey Summary
1hr 23min - 1hr 45min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination:
London King's Cross (and Leeds) - the LNER trains
Newcastle - the TransPennine Express trains most of these services are currently suspended
Penzance or Plymouth or Bristol or Birmingham - the CrossCountry trains.
Some trains also call at: Berwick upon Tweed and/or Alnmouth
Aside from environmental considerations there are three very good reasons for opting to take the train from Edinburgh to Newcastle.
(1) Edinburgh Waverley station has a fabulous location in the heart of the Scottish capital, and Newcastle station also offers easy access to the city centre
(2) Now that TransPennine Exress has also begun to operate trains on this route, they are now more departures than ever before to choose from, when travelling by train between these cities.
(3) Very few routes taken by trains between cities are as fabulous as this journey!
3 or 4 x trains per hour
Tickets
Choosing a departure
As there are three operators which provide the conventionally operated trains on the Edinburgh to Newcastle route, 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 for LNER trains
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) *A fee will be payable if you want to transfer your ticket(s) to a different departure ahead of your travel date - and you will only be able to choose alternative departures operated by the same company that's providing the service you were originally booked on to.
(3) *This type of ticket can't be refunded if you subsequently change your travel plans, or miss the train in circumstances not to do with a connecting train.
(4) If the train you are booked on is delayed, you cannot then just hop on an alternative train operated by a different company.
*= the T&Cs of using Advance tickets have been made more flexible for journeys taken before November 30th
Booking Advance Tickets for CrossCountry trains
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.
Reservations
When you book an Advance ticket for an Edinburgh 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 - more info on this
Tickets can now be booked online up to 5 to 15 minutes prior to departure
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.
That's because reservations at stations need to be booked by the end of the previous day for morning departures and around two hours ahead for afternoon/evening departures - so also keep that in mind if you will be using a rail pass, including a Britrail or Eurail pass.
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
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| LNER | * | |
| National Rail | * | |
| Rail Europe | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Which company and train is used on each departure won't particularly impact on ticket prices, travel at quieter times and you'll be more likely to find cheaper Advance tickets, irrespective of which train is being used for a departure.
The train you will be travelling by also doesn't particularly impact on the journey times, as they all follow the same route.
What affects the journey times is how many stations between Edinburgh and Newcastle that each specific departure is scheduled to call at.
Though LNER operates most of the faster non-stop trains.
Though if the prices are similar across the departures when looking up the journey, ShowMeTheJourney's preference is to avoid the trains operated by Cross Country.
The other trains on this route are more modern and have more comfortable ambience than the Voyager trains which CrossCountry uses on some departures.
Journey description:
For the majority of the train ride between Edinburgh and Newcastle the railway lives up to its name of the 'The East Coast Mainline'.
The trains take a route on which the coast can be seen before the train has even left Edinburgh behind; and the sea views initially continue until south of Dunbar.
To the north of Berwick-upon-Tweed the train will travel across the clifftops as it crosses the border into England, these are the most dramatic coastal views on the journey.
Minutes after the train has passed through Berwick-upon-Tweed, the next highlight is the view from the majestic Royal Border Bridge.
Between there and Alnmouth there are views on the left over the dramatic Northumberland coast.
If when you board you discover that your assigned seat(s) on the left-hand side see if you can find available seats on the left hand side of the train.
If you move to a different seat(s) it won't affect the validity of your ticket.
If your ticket(s) don't include reserved seats, then try to choose seats on the left, when facing the direction of travel.
Please support ShowMeTheJourney
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
Option 2: travelling with Lumo
Journey Summary
1hr 20 - 1hr 25min approx
Monday to Friday
Travel Information
Lumo is a relatively new rail operator which offers a more-basic alternative to travelling on LNER's trains.
If you want to travel in Standard Class and...
- are happy to take your own food/drink on board with you
- want access to WiFi during the journey
- won't be travelling with more than one medium suitcase per person
- won't be taking a bike
- and aren't that bothered by seeing the view from the windows (comparatively few of the seats on Lumo trains line up well with the windows)
...then travelling with Lumo seems to compare well with travelling with LNER.
The core differences between the Lumo trains and the Azuma trains used by LNER are:
First Class:
LNER = available
Lumo = not available
Bar/bistro car:
LNER = available
Lumo = not available
At seat catering:
LNER = available
Lumo = available, but more substantial items such as sandwiches need to be pre-ordered up to 10 hours prior to departure
Large suitcases:
LNER = yes
Lumo = no
Non-folding bicycles:
LNER = yes, spaces can be reserved
Lumo = no
4 x trains per day on Monday to Friday
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open 24 weeks ahead of the travel date.
Lumo only offers two types of tickets for sale: Anytime and Lumo Fixed, which are its equivalent of discounted Advance tickets.
The prices of Lumo Fixed tickets will be cheaper the further ahead that they are booked and in common with Advance tickets they are departure specific, so include complimentary seat reservations.
They can be changed right up to the time of departure for any future without any admin fees, though any price difference to travel by the different departure will be payable.
Something to look out for is that the cheapest price of Lumo Fixed tickets are lower than cheapest prices of Advance tickets sold by LNER for Edinburgh to Newcastle journeys, but these cheapest prices will sell out at different rates on each operator.
So it's worth comparing prices on your travel date(s), particularly if you won't be booking months ahead, you may find cheaper prices available on some LNER departures.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Lumo | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final destination: London King's Cross
All trains also call at: Morpeth
Journey description:
For the majority of the train ride between Edinburgh and Newcastle the railway lives up to its name of the 'The East Coast Mainline'.
The trains take a route on which the coast can be seen before the train has even left Edinburgh behind; and the sea views initially continue until south of Dunbar.
To the north of Berwick-upon-Tweed the train will travel across the clifftops as it crosses the border into England, these are the most dramatic coastal views on the journey.
Minutes after the train has passed through Berwick-upon-Tweed, the next highlight is the view from the majestic Royal Border Bridge.
Between there and Alnmouth there are views on the left over the dramatic Northumberland coast.
If when you board you discover that your assigned seat(s) on the left-hand side see if you can find available seats on the left hand side of the train.
If you move to a different seat(s) it won't affect the validity of your ticket.
If your ticket(s) don't include reserved seats, then try to choose seats on the left, when facing the direction of travel.
Please support ShowMeTheJourney
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
