How to take the wonderful rail journey from London to fabulous Glasgow

Final Destination: Glasgow

All trains also call at: Preston and Lancaster and Carlisle

Some trains also call at: Oxenholme - The Lake District or Penrith-North Lakes and Motherwell

On Board - Summary

More information is available by clicking the on the 'train details', but the key things worth knowing when taking the Pendolino trains used on this route, are:

(1) These trains achieve their high end-to-end journey speed by tilting around curves in the railway line.
So if you are prone to motion sickness, taking preventative medication prior to boarding can be a good step to take.

(2) Also once the train has commenced its journey, if you have a seat reservation, you don't have to spend the duration of the train ride in the seat(s) you have been assigned, for your ticket to be valid.
If for any reason you want to move seats and the train isn't exceptionally busy, check whether alternative seats haven't been reserved during your journey - and if that is the case, you can transfer to them.

(3) Coach C on these Pendolino trains is usually set aside for travellers without reservations and this coach can often be less busy than the other coaches on the train.

The alternative overnight train

Travel by these daytime trains and you won't arrive in Glasgow until after 10:30, but the overnight train is scheduled to arrive Scotland's largest city at 07:30.
The overall journey time will be around three hours longer, but you will be travelling on Europe's newest overnight train service.

Book Early And Save: Yes

**Tickets Available from: 12 weeks ahead typically, construction works can delay the release of tickets.

The types of ticket

Up to three types of tickets will be available from 12 weeks ahead
They each have different terms around exchanges and refunds, so this enables a choice of flexibility.

(1) Advance tickets

• Can only be used on the train selected when booking.
• Will be cheaper the further ahead it is booked.
• Seat reservation included at no additional cost.
• Cannot be refunded.
• Can be exchanged pre-departure to an alternative Avanti West Coast train on the same route.
• Exchange requires a payment of an admin fee of £10, plus any difference in price with the replacement ticket (it will be more expensive because prices rise as the travel date approaches).

(2) Anytime tickets

• Can be used on any departure on a selected travel date.
• Sold at a flat rate price, so these tickets are not cheaper if booked ahead.
• Seat reservation included at no additional cost, but it can be transferred to an alternative departure, or you can opt to board a different train on the travel date without a reservation.
• Can be refunded before the booked travel date, or up to 28 days after.
• Exchange does not apply - if you subsequently want to travel on a different day or departure, you can refund and re-book.

(3) Off Peak tickets

• On Monday to Thursday cannot be used on departures which leave London Euston between 04:29 to 09:26 and between 15:00 and 18:45.
• Sold at a flat rate price, so these tickets are not cheaper if booked ahead.
• Seat reservation included at no additional cost, but it can be transferred to an alternative departure, or you can opt to board a different train on the travel date without a reservation; if it is departing at the valid times.
• Can be refunded before the booked travel date, or up to 28 days after.
• Exchange requires payment of any difference in price with the replacement ticket

More info about how to change your journey / make an exchange is available on this guide

Saving Money

The further ahead you book Advance tickets the cheaper the ticket should be.
Avanti West Coast is claiming that if you book 12 weeks ahead, travellers typically save up to 70% and booking 8 weeks ahead typically saves up to 42% - compared to the on the day price of Off-Peak tickets.

Though there are likely to be significant differences in prices between departures on your travel date.
In particular you can save typically save more than £50 on Monday to Thursday if you opt for departures which leave London between 09:10 and 15:00 and after 19:00
Though generally the trains which which depart London in the middle of the day and late evenings tend to be cheaper.

Also look out for the trains with a journey time of around 5hr 45mins, they can be cheaper, but they take a longer route which involves travelling through Birmingham.

If you know that you will be taking this journey on a specific date more than 12 weeks ahead of your travel, you can use this guide to check when the tickets will become available.

You can also set up personalized ticket alerts for the journey you want to take.

If you will be traveling on Friday to Sunday and don't want want to book Advance tickets - because you want the peace of mind of being able to refund at ticket and /or the freedom to make a last minute choice of departure, you may as well ignore the Anytime ticket and book an Off-Peak ticket - it will be cheaper.

Booking on the day of travel

Advance tickets are now not taken off sale until 10 mins prior to departure, but if you will be booking on the day of travel, the Off-Peak tickets typically become the cheaper option - and you will be charged the Off-Peak rate if you book at the station.

Though if you will be departing London Euston between 04:29 to 09:26 and between 15:00 and 18:45 on Mondays to Thursdays you will have to book Anytime tickets at the (much) higher price.

Travelling on Saturday-Sunday

Maintenance work on the railway 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 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.
Though the Advance type of ticket won't be made available, if a part of a journey then requires a bus substitution, or a train provided by a different company.

Reservations

When you book an Advance ticket for a London to Birmingham journey with Avanti 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 an hour before 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)

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.
Avanti West Coast allows multiple options for using these e-tickets, you can download them to your mobile device, or store them in the Avanti West Coast app.
When boarding you can access your ticket(s) on your phone and use it to open the ticket gates.

(2) 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.

Showing the email you have received to staff at the ticket gates won't get you on to the train, nor will this be valid if you can only show the email to the conductor when you are on the train.

If you forget to bring your ticket(s) with you to the station, but do have the card with you that you used when booking, you can use the machines to collect your ticket(s).
Take your time and take care that you have picked up all your ticket(s) and seat reservations.
You will then need to out the ticket(s) through the ticket gates when boarding.

(3) 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

Final Destination:
Glasgow Queen Street
Note that the Avanti West Coast services arrive at a different station, Glasgow Central.

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 can be good option

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.

Final Destination: Glasgow

All trains also depart from: Watford Junction

All trains also arrive at: Carstairs and Motherwell

When departing from Euston, these Caledonian Sleeper trains are available for boarding from 22:30 (10:30 pm) which is more than an hour ahead of departure.
Then in Glasgow passengers can remain on board for 38 minutes after arrival.

This train is usually scheduled to arrive in Glasgow at 07:23, while the first of the daytime trains isn't due into Scotland's largest city until after 10:30 on Monday - Saturdays.

On Board - summary:

More information is available by clicking the 'train details', but if you make this journey you will be travelling on Europe's most modern overnight trains.
You can opt to choose from three different types of sleeping cabin, one of which offers the opportunity to travel in a double bed, OR you can travel in reclining seats.

Unusually for UK train tickets, you can book journeys on the Caledonian Sleeper up to twelve months ahead.
If you want a full choice of accommodation in the summer months or around holiday times, it's best to book at least a month in advance.

When making a journey by these Caledonian Sleeper trains, you can choose from three types of sleeping cabin, or you can opt to travel in reclining seats - If you want to travel in the reclining seats, you will in effect only be paying the journey costs.

In common with how tickets are sold to travel in sleeping cabins on other European night train services, there are two elements to the total cost of the sleeping cabin ticket price;

• the cost of making the journey, and
• the accommodation costs of travelling in the cabin.

On these Caledonian Sleeper trains the sleeping cabins  have a fixed price, so how the total costs are calculated is dependent on how the sleeping cabins will be occupied.

If you will be making an individual booking you will have sole occupancy of a Club Room or Classic Room - booking a Caledonian Double isn't an option for solo travellers.
Although the total cost per person is more expensive if you will be travelling individually, because if you travel solo you pay the cost for the Club Room or Classic Room, plus a cost for making the journey.
But two people travelling together pay the same charge for the Club Room and Classic rooms, and the additional cost comes from having to purchase two journey tickets.

Paying a higher price for single occupancy of a sleeping cabin is the norm on European night trains, but this particular pricing methodology makes the sleeping cabins on a Caledonian Sleeper service, a comparatively expensive option for solo travellers.

Travelling as a family group:

The costs of adults and children travelling together will be calculated during the booking process - here is the relevant information.

Using Rail Passes:

If you will be using a valid rail pass you can travel in a reclining seat at no additional charge, but you must reserve a place prior to boarding, by calling the Guest Service Centre on 0330 060 0500.

If you want to travel in a bed in a Club Room sleeping cabin, you need to pay a 'Room only supplement' of £170 if you will be travelling solo, or £200 if two people will be travelling together.
If you want to travel in a Classic Room sleeping cabin, the supplement is £120 for solo travellers and £140 if two people are travelling together.

These 'Room only supplements' can be booked online.