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X Country Aberdeen to Penzance direct service

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davsarg

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Hi all,

I'm planning to make this journey in first class (coach A) once the direct Monday to Friday service gets (hopefully) reinstated in May. I want to make sure I reserve the right seat so does anyone know..... when the train leaves Aberdeen, will first class (coach A) be at the front or at the rear of the train?

Thanks in advance
 
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JonathanH

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No attempt is made to ensure Cross Country Voyagers always operate the same way round.
 

Deafdoggie

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It really could be either end. There is no pattern to any XC train being a particular way round. It will vary day by day.
Also bear in mind it can change direction on its journey. Even if not scheduled to do so.
 

Watershed

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Hi all,

I'm planning to make this journey in first class (coach A) once the direct Monday to Friday service gets (hopefully) reinstated in May. I want to make sure I reserve the right seat so does anyone know..... when the train leaves Aberdeen, will first class (coach A) be at the front or at the rear of the train?

Thanks in advance
I wouldn't bank on the service returning Mon-Fri in May.

It's also somewhat more expensive to do the trip on a weekday, seeing as you'd need to have an Anytime ticket (or an Advance) for at least part of the journey. The cheapest option would likely be an Anytime 1st Single at a cost of £390.30 - unless there are any cheaper Advances that get released.

By comparison, if you take the current Saturday-only service, you can buy an Off-Peak ticket (£272.10 for a return, or £266 for a single, or £255.90 with various splits) and upgrade to First for just £25 with Weekend Upgrade.

The best time of year to do it is summer, as that's the only time it'll be light throughout. Technically sunset is a couple of minutes before the 21:39 arrival time, even on 26 June (the day with the latest sunset).
 

JonathanH

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By comparison, if you take the current Saturday-only service, you can buy an Off-Peak ticket (£272.10 for a return, or £266 for a single, or £255.90 with various splits) and upgrade to First for just £25 with Weekend Upgrade.
Could you buy a Super-off-peak single from Aberdeen to Penzance via London for £138.95, use it from Aberdeen to Derby and Bristol Parkway to Penzance and then other tickets between Derby and Birmingham, Birmingham and Cheltenham and Cheltenham and Bristol Parkway?
 

william

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The chances of that are somewhat limited if reversal is not scheduled (although I guess non-zero).
Depends if it reverses out of Newcastle over the High Level for an unscheduled reason. It happens sometimes.

PS I wouldn't fancy doing that in one go on a Voyager. You should do it raising money for a charity or something:D
 

Watershed

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Could you buy a Super-off-peak single from Aberdeen to Penzance via London for £138.95, use it from Aberdeen to Derby and Bristol Parkway to Penzance and then other tickets between Derby and Birmingham, Birmingham and Cheltenham and Cheltenham and Bristol Parkway?
That fare is a remnant of LNER's "single leg pricing" scheme, and can only be bought as part of a return journey.
 

D6130

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Depends if it reverses out of Newcastle over the High Level for an unscheduled reason. It happens sometimes.
It also occasionally reverses at Birmingham New Street and goes in or out via the Camp Hill line, if there are issues on the University route.
 

47827

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XC has never ever bothered trying to have their sets a certain way around on a daily basis. 20 years ago the FC on a hst or mk2 set would be however it landed. Their services reverse and swap ends far too often to worry about that and it was even more the case when sets could go WCML one day and come back out via the ECML at one time.

Generally other IC TOCs would try and have first class at the London ends of the train though but diversions or unscheduled reversals occasionally threw spanners in the works naturally.
 

43055

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Generally other IC TOCs would try and have first class at the London ends of the train though but diversions or unscheduled reversals occasionally threw spanners in the works naturally.
EMR is another TOC where there is no point in trying to keep the sets the same way round.
 

davsarg

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Thanks very much for all your input guys. When Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe (All the Stations) took the same journey, their first class coach was at the rear of the train. I'm after reserving a specific (coach A seat 12) seat so I'm hoping that their train layout was the rule rather than the exception
 

voyagerdude220

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Thanks very much for all your input guys. When Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe (All the Stations) took the same journey, their first class coach was at the rear of the train. I'm after reserving a specific (coach A seat 12) seat so I'm hoping that their train layout was the rule rather than the exception
To give you an idea of the aforementioned 50 50 chance of having First Class at the rear:

Looking at Real Time Trains for today's Cross Country trains leaving Aberdeen:

1V60 08:20 departure to Bristol Temple M is formed A C D F.

1B61 21:35 departure to Edinburgh is formed F D C B A.
 

davsarg

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To give you an idea of the aforementioned 50 50 chance of having First Class at the rear:

Looking at Real Time Trains for today's Cross Country trains leaving Aberdeen:

1V60 08:20 departure to Bristol Temple M is formed A C D F.

1B61 21:35 departure to Edinburgh is formed F D C B A.
Ahh that's interestring, thanks. Just so I understand it correctly, on the RTT train layout diagram which is the front of the train, the right or the left end?
 

voyagerdude220

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The left hand side should be the front. It's accurate most of the time, but isn't always up to date if there are last minute unplanned diversions which add the need for the train to reverse.
 

davsarg

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The left hand side should be the front. It's accurate most of the time, but isn't always up to date if there are last minute unplanned diversions which add the need for the train to reverse.
Ok so a couple more questions please. Going by RTT, what code identifies that physical train (not the service) and where can I look to work out which services that train has operated before it got to Aberdeen. Thanks.
 

route101

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Always wanted to do this I remember seeing advances for around £80 with railcard.I suppose its a bucket list thing to do.
 

_toommm_

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Ok so a couple more questions please. Going by RTT, what code identifies that physical train (not the service) and where can I look to work out which services that train has operated before it got to Aberdeen. Thanks.

The train, whether it will be a 220 or a 221 on the day, you won’t know until it gets allocated early that morning. The 08:20 Aberdeen to Penzance currently runs under the reporting number 1V60 on Saturdays, and I believe it did so in the week too when it ran. It’s formed at the moment from 2A01, which is the 06:42 Dundee to Aberdeen, which itself runs empty from Craigentinny as 5A01 at 05:03. This may change though when the May TT change comes about, so only once that’s confirmed can we fully answer the question.

Always wanted to do this I remember seeing advances for around £80 with railcard.I suppose its a bucket list thing to do.

Although if the OP wishes to buy an advance, they can’t then take up the Weekend First offer if they do it on a Saturday. I’ve had success with one or two guards letting me upgrade with an advance, but the official line with Crosscountry is that Weekend First cannot be done with Standard Advances.
 

Mitchell Hurd

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Ok so a couple more questions please. Going by RTT, what code identifies that physical train (not the service) and where can I look to work out which services that train has operated before it got to Aberdeen. Thanks.
It operates the 06:42 from Dundee to Aberdeen arriving at like 07:55-08:00 :) .
 

43055

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Ok so a couple more questions please. Going by RTT, what code identifies that physical train (not the service) and where can I look to work out which services that train has operated before it got to Aberdeen. Thanks.
The train works 2A01 0642 Dundee - Aberdeen before 1V60 0820 from Aberdeen after coming from the depot in Edinburgh. Looking at RTT for the last week the following orientations are showing for the normal Aberdeen starters (the 0820 started in Edinburgh yesterday):
0820 - 3 first class front, 2 first class rear
2135 - 2 first class front, 3 first class rear
As you can see it is really 50/50 on which way round the train will be and it won't be known until the day which way round it will be.
 

Busaholic

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Mondays to Fridays it does, but I believe it should be extended back down to Penzance after the May timetable change
My sister-in-law was very happy to change from a Voyager to an HST at Newton Abbot on her journey from Alnmouth to Penzance earlier in the month, and she's no whinger!
 

lachlan

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How busy has the service been lately? I'm hoping to do the full journey next year
 

XC victim

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Always wanted to do this I remember seeing advances for around £80 with railcard.I suppose its a bucket list thing to do.
I realise this is probably the wrong place to ask but what is the cheapest price for doing Aberdeen to Penzance direct. I don’t mind doing it in standard class.

This is definitely on my bucket list
 

Watershed

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I realise this is probably the wrong place to ask but what is the cheapest price for doing Aberdeen to Penzance direct. I don’t mind doing it in standard class.

This is definitely on my bucket list
In theory, £58.80. But that would only be the case if XC released their lowest tier of Advance, MES, for that service, which would be pretty much unheard of. It's more common for Advances to be available at MCS or MBS tier, which would cost £94.60 or £118.70.
 

Envoy

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You should also try and get an advance weather forecast as Voyagers tend not to go along the sea wall at Dawlish if there is a storm. Of course, storms are less likely in summer but you would not want to find the service curtailed at Exeter. It should also be noted that improvements to the sea wall such as ‘flicking back’ the waves, should now make the line more resilient. Choosing a day when it is low tide when this train passes Dawlish should also mitigate the risk.

Surely, they would not object if you switch seats en-route should the 1st Class be lightly loaded? (I prefer to sit on the shady side of trains. On this service going south from Aberdeen in the morning, the sun will be on the left side - as it will for most of the trip).

Any foreigner who is not residing the UK should be able to do such a trip for far less than the prices quoted by having a Britrail Pass.
 
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Watershed

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Surely, they would not object if you switch seats en-route should the 1st Class be lightly loaded? (I prefer to sit on the shady side of trains. On this service going south from Aberdeen in the morning, the sun will be on the left side - as it will for most of the trip).
You can sit in any unreserved, vacant seat you like. However it would make sense to get a seat reservation, if nothing else to guarantee being able to stay in the same seat (should you wish).
 

peteb

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Of course if you intended to fly somewhere from ABZ and go on an inter-rail trip round Europe then inter-rail valid on the northbound trip if you can prove an onward flight. Not sure if they'd agree ABZ to Penzance is a valid route to Newquay airport for an onward flight, but you could write to XC and ask.

And before anyone moans it's not in the spirit of Inter-rail, what about Cornish folks who fancy a Scandanavian rail holiday and find ABZ to Norway a useful hop on their trip, saves a day than going via Eurostar then Netherlands, Germany, Sweden etc and could avoid local covid restrictions too.
 

Watershed

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Of course if you intended to fly somewhere from ABZ and go on an inter-rail trip round Europe then inter-rail valid on the northbound trip if you can prove an onward flight. Not sure if they'd agree ABZ to Penzance is a valid route to Newquay airport for an onward flight, but you could write to XC and ask.

And before anyone moans it's not in the spirit of Inter-rail, what about Cornish folks who fancy a Scandanavian rail holiday and find ABZ to Norway a useful hop on their trip, saves a day than going via Eurostar then Netherlands, Germany, Sweden etc and could avoid local covid restrictions too.
There is no northbound Penzance-Aberdeen service and there never has been. It's always been a southbound-only service.
 
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