Route choice

[linesider]

I am travelling from Durham to Newton Abbot shortly with an open ticket.I can either go direct or via London.Has anyone done both and which route would you choose.Sorry if on wrong forum.

 

[anti-pacer]

I am travelling from Durham to Newton Abbot shortly with an open ticket.I can either go direct or via London.Has anyone done both and which route would you choose.Sorry if on wrong forum.

I'd go via London to break the journey up and avoid a Voyager!

 

[linesider]

Thanks,I have only travelled on a voyager as far as York before (from Durham) so six hours does seem a bit much.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Not done the journey but I have had three hours on a Voyager and that is enough for my backside without a break.

 

[Goatboy]

I am travelling from Durham to Newton Abbot shortly with an open ticket.I can either go direct or via London.Has anyone done both and which route would you choose.Sorry if on wrong forum.

Via London every time.

 

[142094]

Don't forget that there are one or two CrossCountry HST services per day which serve both stations.

 

[Birdbrain]

I'd go via London!

 

[30907]

0753 from Durham and 1303 from Newton A are HST M-F. full list at http://http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1478549&postcount=5.

if either suits I'd go one way via London and one way direct. For scenery I think London has it but it's marginal.

 

[cuccir]

I've done it before direct, and Durham-Plymouth as well, and would be inclined towards this. Although Cross Country trains can be nightmares and I can see why people are put off them, they tend to be busy only on the 'core' route York-Bristol. I also personally don't think they're so uncomfortable. They're rarely very busy at the Durham end so you should be able to track down a seat, and I'd imagine that the would be true at Newton Abbott. And the last time I was on an East Coast service the engine court fire, blocking one of the two lines through Darlington: it's not only Voyagers which break down!

That said the best best is a Cross Country HST as pointed out by 30907 - frankly they're more comfortable than East Coast's. Otherwise, either the 10:56 or 11:56 miss commuter time in the core area, with the 10:56 looking best.

That said, last time I did this I did book myself first class Advances. If you're travelling at the weekend I'd seriously consider a Weekend Upgrade, as you'll welcome the extra space!

 

[ainsworth74]

And the last time I was on an East Coast service the engine court fire, blocking one of the two lines through Darlington: it's not only Voyagers which break down!

Well statistically East Coast's HSTs and IC225s fail more than XCs fleet of 22xs!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

If time is not important and the ticket allows, the route via Manchester (TP), Newport (ATW) and Bristol (FGW) is the best for scenery and variety.

 

[davetheguard]

If time is not important and the ticket allows, the route via Manchester (TP), Newport (ATW) and Bristol (FGW) is the best for scenery and variety.

According to

trainscanbecheaper.info

via Manchester Picc., Newport, & Bristol is a valid route. As mentioned above, going via this route is definitely the best route for scenery; particularly between Shrewsbury & Newport.

Otherwise, via London would be my choice.

If you want to go with Cross Country, you really should reserve a seat, otherwise you could find yourself constantly having to move about as your "unreserved" seat becomes "reserved" as if by magic during the journey. It is only Cross Country who do this, and gives rise to much inconvenience and trouble.

 

[Jeni]

If you want to go with Cross Country, you really should reserve a seat, otherwise you could find yourself constantly having to move about as your "unreserved" seat becomes "reserved" as if by magic during the journey. It is only Cross Country who do this, and gives rise to much inconvenience and trouble.

A tip of advice if you find yourself without a seat reservation and all of the seats are showing "may be reserved en-route", the ten minute reservation system is very reluctant to reserve a window seat, so sitting in one of those is fairly safe.

 

[linesider]

Thanks for the advice.I have decided to go via London as this seems the best option.My ticket is an ALR so I will probably return via the scenic route.

 

[DarloRich]

I've done it before direct, and Durham-Plymouth as well, and would be inclined towards this. Although Cross Country trains can be nightmares and I can see why people are put off them, they tend to be busy only on the 'core' route York-Bristol. I also personally don't think they're so uncomfortable. They're rarely very busy at the Durham end so you should be able to track down a seat, and I'd imagine that the would be true at Newton Abbott. And the last time I was on an East Coast service the engine court fire, blocking one of the two lines through Darlington: it's not only Voyagers which break down!

The one good thing about a voyager is that it doesn’t break down very often. :roll:

Go via London. Voyagers are disgusting. I have done the XC route many times; it used to be a joy, now it is torture. I used to travel from Newcastle to Exeter during my uni holidays and often have the “pleasure” of using the XC network for work.

I find them uncomfortable with thin, narrow, hard plastic seats, little or no catering facilities, sod all phone signal, terrible wifi, smelly toilets that tend to be full and sloshing after Birmingham, they rattle, they are noisy, each piece of trim seems to have been designed to have an individual resonance point making for a symphony of annoying buzzes, the engines make everything vibrate making work almost impossible, they are rammed and I, for one, have spent my last Friday evening stood next to a toilet breathing in another’s excreta fumes. Even the XC HST'S are unpleasant, mainly because of their cack handed refurb! That said, they are light years better than the voyagers

OR you could travel on a pleasant HST /Mkiv into Kings Cross, pop on a new underground train to Paddington and get another HST ,which isn’t quite as good as the EC ones but still nice, to the South West. In fact why not take East Coast to York then Grand Central to Kings Cross then FGW to the South West

BTW – we are always told by the “experts” on here that no one does long journeys on XC. I guess there must just me and you then :roll:

 

[davetheguard]

A tip of advice if you find yourself without a seat reservation and all of the seats are showing "may be reserved en-route", the ten minute reservation system is very reluctant to reserve a window seat, so sitting in one of those is fairly safe.

That's interesting, I'd not heard of that before, thanks.

I'm not sure where the wife goes though: window seat in the row in front I suppose.

 

[xtradj]

Can't believe people moan about voyagers. There are far worse trains on the network

 

[Goatboy]

Can't believe people moan about voyagers. There are far worse trains on the network

How many of them do you sometimes use for 7 hours at a time though?