Edinburgh <> Glasgow ...?

[WestCoast]

I don't like the term "rough" - the housing estate 200m from my school is far and away Fife's most notorious and is described as "rough",

"Rough" is a very subjective term, what people living in London say is rough and what people living in rural Oxfordshire say is rough are probably two completely different things!

*the places were picked just as examples*

 

[Failed Unit]

So the Falkirk route you are in Edinburgh for about 5 mins before you Cross the city by-pass, the same 5 minutes you get on the Shotts / Carstairs route as you go through Wester Hailes which isn't pretty either!

At Glasgow you are not in the urban area for long.

For me little to choose, but not yet done the A-B. People have recommended it as an eye opener to some of the not so nice areas of Glasgow.

 

[rail-britain]

Coming back to the OP (as this appears to have now been edited)

There are several obvious and some not so obvious routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow :
Edinburgh - Falkirk High - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Bathgate - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Shotts - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Carstairs - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Carstairs - Glasgow (via Brunstane / Newcraighall)
Edinburgh - Falkirk Grahamston (change train) - Glasgow
The following are a bit extreme :
Edinburgh - Dundee (change train) - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Perth (change train) - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Inverness (change train) - Perth - Glasgow
These are just outrageous, but I did one of these many years ago :
Edinburgh - Newcastle (change train) - Carlisle (change train) - Lockerbie - Glasgow
Edinburgh - Newcastle (change train) - Carlisle (change train) - Dumfries - Glasgow

Personal choice is via Carstairs, for leisure purposes, typically a lower fare and is not the normal Class 170 I would otherwise travel on elsewhere in Scotland

With regards to the conurbations, most are quite similar (the further inland from the port the more deprivation / modern 1960s council housing)
For example from Glasgow city centre, eastbound the schemes are easily viewable from the rail line
From Edinburgh city centre, westbound the schemes are easily viewable from the rail line, more so from the Polmont route rather than the Slateford route

 

[me123]

For me little to choose, but not yet done the A-B. People have recommended it as an eye opener to some of the not so nice areas of Glasgow.

It certainly is a bit of an eye-opener. But you've also got quite a nice journey to the East of Airdrie, so it's not all bad. But you're certainly in the Greater Glasgow area for longer than you would be on any other service.

 

[Scotrail84]

There are lot's of nice places in England. Just not some of the outskirts of Edinburgh and Glasgow! [/QUOTE]

Oh the very thought of growing up on a council estate, or even passing through one on the train.

Whats your issue with these estates mate? You upper class like?

 

[All Line Rover]

Oh the very thought of growing up on a council estate, or even passing through one on the train.

Whats your issue with these estates mate? You upper class like?

We're not upper class - lower middle class I'd say (whatever "class" you need to be to live in a fairly large detached house in a "nice" area - but not "rich").

I don't have an issue with council estates - there are some very nice ones out there - but most of them are horrible. They should all be demolished and built again from scratch!

I also think it's fair to say that somewhere like Wimbledon has a nicer (and safer) feel to it than somewhere like Barking. The same applies in most areas.

Although some people have to live in a council house through no fault of their own (and I sympathise with such people), council houses are where the majority of "I don't have a job and don't want one" people live, and where the majority of people who are at the absolute bottom of society live (alcoholics, drug addicts, even smokers, etc.). That's what makes areas with many council houses less pleasant (particularly for the people who don't want to live there!).

 

[SteveP29]

I don't have an issue with council estates - there are some very nice ones out there - but most of them are horrible. They should all be demolished and built again from scratch!

I also think it's fair to say that somewhere like Wimbledon has a nicer (and safer) feel to it than somewhere like Barking. The same applies in most areas.

Although some people have to live in a council house through no fault of their own (and I sympathise with such people), council houses are where the majority of "I don't have a job and don't want one" people live, and where the majority of people who are at the absolute bottom of society live (alcoholics, drug addicts, even smokers, etc.). That's what makes areas with many council houses less pleasant (particularly for the people who don't want to live there!).

Demolish and build again from scratch...
So what do you propose to do with these people who will be made homeless while you rebuild the estate? All you'll be doing is moving the so called 'scum' (which is basically what you're calling the majority of people who live in council estates in your final paragraph) to another area of a city or town, and going by the tone of what you're saying, they'll just wreck that area too prior to wrecking the area that's been rebuilt when they move back there.

Also, to counter your point about those that don't/ won't work living in council estates, I think you'll find that after Maggie Thatcher's 'right to buy' scheme in the '80's, there is now a real lack of social housing provided by councils, why do you think this government and the previous one, wanted to kick start the construction industry in this country by building more social housing. While the governments of this country allowed their housing costs to be paid for by the state, you'll find that a lot of those who don't/ won't work are living in houses/ flats owned by private landlords.

The degredation of the old council estates goes hand in hand, once the majority of people who lived there bought their council houses, the councils almost left them to maintain the estates themselves, grass cutting, housing maintenance etc are cut to a minimum. The very nature of today's world means that a lot of people don't have the time or inclination after a long working day/ week to bother with gardening and painting doors/ windows/ brickwork etc.
I'm not excusing them, it's just a fact of life, humans are turning into sedentary animals, how else do you explain people sitting for hours and hours in front of a tv every night of their lives, watching the latest rubbish that simon cowell puts on saying that it's the best thing you've ever seen and you must buy their single/ album/ dvd (to make him even more money that he doesn't need), kids don't go out to play, they'd rather sit in front of a tv or an xbox or playstation or pc/ laptop.

I don't like having a go at people, as I tend to regret it at a later date, but to me, you need to stop looking down on everyone else who is in a less fortunate position in life to you. Posh doesn't mean better, after all, we're all wormfood eventually!

 

[All Line Rover]

Demolish and build again from scratch...
So what do you propose to do with these people who will be made homeless while you rebuild the estate? All you'll be doing is moving the so called 'scum' (which is basically what you're calling the majority of people who live in council estates in your final paragraph) to another area of a city or town, and going by the tone of what you're saying, they'll just wreck that area too prior to wrecking the area that's been rebuilt when they move back there.

Also, to counter your point about those that don't/ won't work living in council estates, I think you'll find that after Maggie Thatcher's 'right to buy' scheme in the '80's, there is now a real lack of social housing provided by councils, why do you think this government and the previous one, wanted to kick start the construction industry in this country by building more social housing. While the governments of this country allowed their housing costs to be paid for by the state, you'll find that a lot of those who don't/ won't work are living in houses/ flats owned by private landlords.

The degredation of the old council estates goes hand in hand, once the majority of people who lived there bought their council houses, the councils almost left them to maintain the estates themselves, grass cutting, housing maintenance etc are cut to a minimum. The very nature of today's world means that a lot of people don't have the time or inclination after a long working day/ week to bother with gardening and painting doors/ windows/ brickwork etc.
I'm not excusing them, it's just a fact of life, humans are turning into sedentary animals, how else do you explain people sitting for hours and hours in front of a tv every night of their lives, watching the latest rubbish that simon cowell puts on saying that it's the best thing you've ever seen and you must buy their single/ album/ dvd (to make him even more money that he doesn't need), kids don't go out to play, they'd rather sit in front of a tv or an xbox or playstation or pc/ laptop.

I don't like having a go at people, as I tend to regret it at a later date, but to me, you need to stop looking down on everyone else who is in a less fortunate position in life to you. Posh doesn't mean better, after all, we're all wormfood eventually!

Meh... it's amazing how two identical houses can look so different if one is looked after well and one isn't. These lazy people should get off their bum and do some housework (unless they're disabled, obviously) or go and pay someone else to do it!

Also the government doesn't need to rebuild council houses - they need to built more! There are plenty of people who are in bad circumstances and deserve to live in a council house, but there are two types of people who don't. In my opinion they should either be thrown out and can live on the streets or should go back to their home country, and they are:

• People who refuse to get a job (including if that's because they're alcoholics, drug addicts, or have such a bad attitude that no one wants to employ them).
• Foreign people who come to this country to simply take advantage of the benefits system, and offer no benefit to this country in general.

This is only my opinion - which I'm fully entitled to. People can disagree if they want.

 

[OxtedL]

... the so called 'scum' (which is basically what you're calling the majority of people who live in council estates in your final paragraph) to another area...

I think you may have misinterpreted what he was saying. Not that he was right, but at no point did he claim that most people in council estates were "scum". Check the wording carefully.

He was merely (ah the irony) indicating that if you were to, perhaps, go looking for the groups of people listed, you would find a lot of the them in social housing.

Still a bit of a generalisation, but hardly persecuting the entire populous of council estates.

It's really not that clear cut, and it's really easy to look foolish discussing this.

 

[All Line Rover]

I think you may have misinterpreted what he was saying. Not that he was right, but at no point did he claim that most people in council estates were "scum". Check the wording carefully.

Of course I'm not saying that every person who lives in a council estate is "scum!" There are many nice, hard-working people in council estates!

I simply find that most of these "nice" people don't actually want to live there - they're forced to.

If people please read my post carefully you'll see that I didn't say that the majority of people who live in council estates are alcoholics, drug-addicts, people who don't want a job, etc., but that the majority of these types of people live in council estates.

 

[SteveP29]

I simply find that most of these "nice" people don't actually want to live there - they're forced to.

So why if there are so many 'nice' people living there, who can be fussed to do something about the area that they live in, why are you saying that most council areas are poor and look rough?

Surely by your reasoning there, these areas should be the tidiest, best looking areas of the country?? You can't have it both ways

 

[All Line Rover]

So why if there are so many 'nice' people living there, who can be fussed to do something about the area that they live in, why are you saying that most council areas are poor and look rough?

Surely by your reasoning there, these areas should be the tidiest, best looking areas of the country?? You can't have it both ways

Because the areas are full of "rough" people who are not so nice. It's quite simply really!

 

[T163R]

Hmm... one of the more bizarre polls I've seen on here...

It's just to help me choosing which one I'm going to take this summer

 

[ainsworth74]

It's just to help me choosing which one I'm going to take this summer

If your journey is to travel between Edinburgh and Glasgow why not do what I did last summer which was to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street (via Falkirk High) and then return from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh (via Shotts). That way you tick off two routes in one return trip.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

There are lot's of nice places in England. Just not some of the outskirts of Edinburgh and Glasgow!

You're correct.
Neither Edinburgh nor Glasgow are anywhere near England.

There are some lovely spots in the outskirts of the Edinburgh and the Glasgow that are both in Scotland, though. I visit them both regularly for walks and cycle rides.

[geez, the drivel in this thread get worse the more it drags on]

 

[MidnightFlyer]

10 miles south of Glasgow just beyond Barrhead is some of the must stunning countryside I have ever seen in my live, just over the other side of the northern hills are numerous council estates and tower blocks, same for many cities in the world.

 

[All Line Rover]

You're correct.
Neither Edinburgh nor Glasgow are anywhere near England.

There are some lovely spots in the outskirts of the Edinburgh and the Glasgow that are both in Scotland, though. I visit them both regularly for walks and cycle rides.

[geez, the drivel in this thread get worse the more it drags on]

Oh yes! My mistake!

 

[T163R]

If your journey is to travel between Edinburgh and Glasgow why not do what I did last summer which was to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street (via Falkirk High) and then return from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh (via Shotts). That way you tick off two routes in one return trip.

That could be a solution

 

[tbtc]

council houses are where the majority of "I don't have a job and don't want one" people live, and where the majority of people who are at the absolute bottom of society live (alcoholics, drug addicts, even smokers, etc.)

I'm really not sure how "tongue in cheek" you are being here...

 

[All Line Rover]

I'm really not sure how "tongue in cheek" you are being here...

I'm not being "tongue in cheek" at all. You don't find many alcoholics and drug addicts living in lovely houses in nice areas, do you? The people who have no choice but to live in a council house have to live in an area with these sorts of people.

Even smoking is (ironically) more prevalent among the poorer in society which, let's face it, live in council houses.

I don't want to launch into an argument about alcoholics, drug addicts and smokers, though! I think that this thread is going WAY off topic - we're not even talking about Glasgow anymore!

 

[ainsworth74]

I'm not being "tongue in cheek" at all. You don't find many alcoholics and drug addicts living in lovely houses in nice areas, do you?

Take a look at the number of wine bottles and other alcoholic drink bottles in the recycle boxes of your neighbors and I think you will be surprised by what you see. They might not fit the stereotype of Stella drinking and loitering on street corners but even the middle class drink a hell of a lot, I live no where near a council estate but come recycle collection day nearly every box is filled to the brim with bottles.

It would be wrong to say there aren't many alcoholics living in nice houses, because I suspect there are more than you might think.

 

[T163R]

I think we're a bit out of the topic here ...

 

[All Line Rover]

Take a look at the number of wine bottles and other alcoholic drink bottles in the recycle boxes of your neighbors and I think you will be surprised by what you see. They might not fit the stereotype of Stella drinking and loitering on street corners but even the middle class drink a hell of a lot, I live no where near a council estate but come recycle collection day nearly every box is filled to the brim with bottles.

It would be wrong to say there aren't many alcoholics living in nice houses, because I suspect there are more than you might think.

The only alcohol we use is French wine for our cooking!

Someone who is an alcoholic, though, is unlikely to have (or keep) a good job, which means that they're unlikely to be able to afford their own house.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I think we're a bit out of the topic here ...

Yes OK you're right I'll shut up now.

 

[tbtc]

To go off at another tangent here, Ainsworth's post has reminded me that there are some lovely bits of countryside outside Middlesbrough - for all that people criticise the place I'd recommend they get ten minutes out of town and reassess their views of Cleveland.

Similarly for all Sheffield's industrial reputation there are more parks/ trees/ scenery here than in most cities- the Peak National Park lies partly inside the city boundaries.

Similarly, for all that the county of Cheshire sounds posh, I'd recommend a trip to Runcorn etc before people make their minds up

 

[All Line Rover]

Similarly, for all that the county of Cheshire sounds posh, I'd recommend a trip to Runcorn etc before people make their minds up

One of my dad's colleagues lives in Runcorn, and says that it's a horrible place with no character to it whatsoever. Having said that, I consider Runcorn to be more like a part of Merseyside than a part of Cheshire. Most of what people consider to be "Cheshire" is in Cheshire West and Chester East. Runcorn is "separate" - it's in the unitary authority of Halton. Warrington is also "separate", in the unitary authority of Warrington (surprisingly).

He even says that Crewe is a nicer place than Runcorn! That's a brave statement to make, but Crewe isn't that bad overall (apart from small area around West Street - which although being only a small area of Crewe makes the crime rates shoot up tenfold. It also happens to have lots of council houses...).

...runs off and hides.

The Runcorn Railway Bridge always gives me a terrible headache when I pass through - I have to close my eyes. Does anyone else get this feeling?

 

[CarterUSM]

10 miles south of Glasgow just beyond Barrhead is some of the must stunning countryside I have ever seen in my live,

You're right Matt, a lovely portion of line from Barrhead to Dunlop. As suggested earlier, get a via Falkirk High on the way out, and on the way back a semi fast via Shotts (Benhar), or if you want class 380 action there are services at 1742 and 1826 via Carstairs (Cobbenshaw) not to mention some Cross country or EC services too.

 

[T163R]

if you want class 380 action there are services at 1742 and 1826 via Carstairs (Cobbenshaw) not to mention some Cross country or EC services too.

Oh I might try that, just for the 380 !

Uhhh... I can't find any Edinburgh to Glasgow via Carstairs route on the ScotRail website or on Wikipedia...

 

[W-on-Sea]

Someone who is an alcoholic, though, is unlikely to have (or keep) a good job, which means that they're unlikely to be able to afford their own house.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


:

Good Lord this is more detached from reality than it is off-topic.

Anyway, two words: Winston Churchill.

 

[michael769]

Uhhh... I can't find any Edinburgh to Glasgow via Carstairs route on the ScotRail website or on Wikipedia...

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/timetables-routes/1051

 

[CarterUSM]

There is one at 0833 also, if you are in EDB early doors. Conversely there are services from Central at 0704 , 1514 and 1950.