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Glasgow to Manchester by train
How to travel from Glasgow to Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations in Manchester
How to travel from Glasgow to Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations in Manchester
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Routes
From Glasgow Central to Manchester Piccadilly
Journey Summary
3hr 16min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Manchester Airport
All trains also call at: Penrith - North Lakes and/or Oxenholme - The Lake District and Preston.
On the usual timetable
These direct trains to Manchester depart from Glasgow in the odd hours
In even hours from 06:00 until 16:00 it's possible to make the journey by taking a train heading to London via Brirmingham, or the daily train to Liverpool and making a connection at Preston into a train on to Manchester
Monday to Saturday = 4 x trains per day
Sunday = 3 x trains
Tickets
Book Early and Save: Yes
Online Bookings Usually Open: from up to 24 weeks ahead of the travel date (usually) as TransPennnine Express (TPE) places its ticket on sale sooner than other UK train operating companies.
Saving money:
If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, look for the 'Advance tickets', though the four key things worth knowing about booking and using 'Advance' tickets for travel by TPE services are:
(1) The ticket(s) will be valid for the specific departure you select when making a booking.
(2) The ticket(s) cannot either be refunded, if you subsequently change your plans or miss the train due to any circumstances not attributable to the train operator.
(3) They can be exchanged to another departure on this route prior to the departure you have booked - but the price difference with the new ticket will need to be paid (the price will likely have risen since your original booking will need to be paid.
(4) TPE doesn't take Advance tickets off sale until 15 mins prior to departure.
TPE offers a group deal for when groups of 3 - 9 adults are travelling together and Advance tickets are booked online - make sure you see the 'G' symbol which indicates that the discount has been applied.
You can save 33% of the total costs of the tickets and no Railcard is required.
Reservations:
All types of ticket booked at least 15 minutes ahead of travel for TPE trains have complimentary seat reservation.
If you book and Advance ticket(s) you have to travel on the train shown on the reservation, which will be the specific departure you selected when making a booking.
Though on boarding, you won't have to occupy the seat(s) you have been assigned for your ticket to be valid.
If you book Anytime or Off-Peak tickets you will be provided with a reservation(s) on the departure you selected when making a booking, but are able to transfer the reservation to any other valid departure on your travel date.
You can do this by contacting the TPE social media team, or at a station ticket desk.
What is unusual about travelling with TPE is that these reservations can be arranged up to around 15 minutes prior to departure, which is a much shorter time limit than the norm.
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 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 National Rail website - enter TransPennine Express as the operator.
Booking at the station
As TPE doesn't take Advance tickets off sale until 15 mins prior to departure, if you will be booking walk-up tickets at the station try to avoid booking at the last minute.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| TPE | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Arriving in Manchester
If you'll be happy to walk into the city centre, leave these trains at Oxford Road station.
It's the first station in the city that these trains will call at and exiting Oxford Road station will take under a minute; these trains will arrive on a platform (track) which is adjacent to the main station building.
In contrast, at Piccadilly station, these trains use a part of the station which is at the opposite end of the building to its main exit.
So when walking to the city centre, alighting at Oxford Road can save time and it is more straightforward.
Though if you will be taking a tram on to a destination outside the city centre; the tram routes from Piccadilly station go to Etihad Campus and Media City.
Though Oxford Road station is not served by trams.
Tickets marked with Oxford Road as a destination will be valid to Piccadilly station.
Journey description:
For the majority of this journey the train will travel through a majestic landscape; all of the videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction.
South of Carstairs the railway follows a route through the beautiful Southern Uplands.
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South of here and north of Lockerbie station, the views as the railway climbs and then descends over Beattock summit, are particularly special, particularly on the left when heading south.
Between Carlisle and Lancaster the railway takes a route between The Lake District to the east and the Pennines to the west; so there are great views to be enjoyed from both sides of the train towards distant mountains.
Though initially south of Penrith the best views are over on the right, facing towards The Lake District.
Approximately 10 minutes north of Oxenholme comes one of the highlights of the journey when the railway travels through the Lune Gorge - though here the best views are from the left (when facing the direction of travel).
A beautiful landmark to look out for on the left, just after the train enters the gorge, is the spectacular sight of Low Gill Viaduct, on a now abandoned railway.
Then to the south of Oxenholme the best of the views remain on the left.
Around five minutes north of Lancaster, the West Coast Main Line, briefly lives up to its name with a fleeting glimpse of Morecambe Bay, the only sea view on the journey.
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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.
