Basic BritRail Questions
 

Family of four touring Britain next August. Contemplating tickets for

a) Edinburgh to York (one-way)
b) York to London (one-way)
c) London to Cambridge (round trip)

Two very basic questions

a) How far in advance can one purchase tickets?
b) Is it generally necessary to purchase tickets in advance (do they ever sell out)?

Thanks

Rick

This has nothing to do w/ BritRail. That is a marketing company that sells (over priced) passes - not a train company.

Generally you can buy discounted tickets 12 weeks out. If you buy at the last minute they will cost more. Check either on nationalrail.co.uk (not a train company either but will direct you to the right site) or East coast trains.

I think this is the single best source of information, for the UK and elsewhere. Here's the UK page:

http://www.seat61.com/UK-train-travel.htm

Yikes - that is embarrassing about the BritRail thing.

Thanks for the FAQ site.

Nah - not embarrassing :)

They do a lot of promotion so lots of folks think BritRail = trains . . .

The seat 61 is an excellent website but since you already have your itinerary, go to the site janisj suggested www.nationalrail.co.uk It's very straight forward with all the information you'll need.

In any case no BritRail Pass would be cost-effective for your limited train travel and yes as janisj points out the web sites where you can get nifty discounts if you book far enough in advance - full fare can be dauntingly steep so do not just show up and buy a ticket - but check restrictions on the discounted tickets - they often are non-changeable non-refundable and as sold in limited numbers to guarantee must be booked in stone weeks or months in advance often.

the Est Coast site for your Edinburg York and London trains give I think a 10% discount over www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Yes the best source for info on British trains is www.seat61.com, owned by a British train guru whose specialty is discounted tickets and also for general info on British trains www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/

the official site for East Coast Trains that run many of the London-York-Edinburgh route trains.

No need to buy London-Cambridge tickets in advance as there is no discount on buying in advance.

You could consider BTW travelling York-Cambridge which normally involves a change of train at Peterborough.

As for costs - do a dummy booking on the eastcoast website for today, then do the same for several weeks time. See the difference in price

I assume that you know about the "odd event or two" that happens in Edinburgh in August. This tends to raise the price of accommodation somewhat

BritRail yes means a BritRail Pass but not long ago all mainline trains in London where run by British Rail - now there is no more British Rail as the system has been privatized with dozens of independent franchises running the former national rail system.

for the tourist this makes no difference - www.nationalrail.co.uk books tickets on all franchises.

But yes forget the word BritRail unless talking about a BritRail Pass.

"but not long ago" P we are showing our age... :-)

well yeh time is relevant ain't it.

Well -- <i>IF</i> one considers 1997 as 'not long ago' . . .

Where on the OP's post was anything said about a rail pass????

It wasn't - But the title says 'BritRail' so need to clear up the semantics . . . .

1997 - seems just like yesterday - dementia from too much gloss setting in.

My prediction: we will witness a return of a nationalized rail system in Britain - a new BritRail within a decade or so.

only if the adenoid idiot gets in

only if - a good chance though I know not of who you speak - Milktoastabrand?

we speak of the same, brother-slayer, red-ed, the adenoid idiot (the guy had to have an operation a couple of years back to change his voice), still his wife is a pleasant person (Mrs Bilbo knows her)

Does he really want to re-nationalize the old British Rail?

Great idea to me but seems a step back now.

I'm helping out my daughter on ordering train tickets from Heathrow to Bristol Temple. When buying in advance, how much time does she need to allow for customs and finding the correct station/platform? If she's landing around noon, should she schedule a train that leaves around 14 or 15 ( 2 or 3)?

avoid the faff of taking the train into London then out again; take the coach

http://coach.nationalexpress.com/nxbooking/journey-list

quicker too

avoid the faff of taking the train into London then out again; take the coach...
direct from Heathrow to Bristol

What exactly are you trying to book - There is no train from LHR to Bristol (nor to anywhere else other than central London)

She will either need to take a bus to Reading and a train from there - or a train (no need to pre-book this one) to Paddington and then a different train to Bristol.

we were all posting at the same time.. . .

I was just about to add that I'd probably take a coach all the way and forget about a train . . . and they beat me to it :)

I'm a train nut but coach makes more sense and is probably cheaper - when landing you never know when you would be able to get to Reading or Paddington for a train so if you did the discounted ticket route that would I believe only be for a specific train and if you miss it you're out of luck and have to buy a full fare ticket.

Buses right from the airport I think have an always cheap fare - no reservations needed and frequent.

coming back to London - if - book a cheap ticket at www.nationalrail.co.uk not full fare which can be way way more expensive than the early bird tickets but those must be booked way in advance to get as they are sold in limited numbers - look at the sight and see.

the main train station in Bristol is Temple Meads, if I have it right.

If she's landing around noon, should she schedule a train that leaves around 14 or 15 ( 2 or 3)?>

Well bus is best in all regards - you just head to the unified bus stand - but otherwise landing at noon and booking a train from Paddington at 2 or 3 pm is not feasible - if everything went hunky-dory you might make it - but there can be long LONG lines at Heathrow Customs, planes can be late, etc.

Thanks for all your input. I told her about the bus option. I think it would be a lot less hassle. From what I saw, she would have to change trains a couple times.

From what I saw, she would have to change trains a couple times>

bus is best but you would only have to change trains once- either at London Paddington station or at Reading (rail bus link from Heathrow) - but then direct to Bristol Temple Meade (main station in this really interesting nice refurbished ancient town!)

"Bristol Temple Meads" :-)

getting to the bus station in Heathrow IME if the same unified one a few years back does require a bit of walking once you land - the one I am talking about is a unified bus stop outside of terminal 3 and close to terminals 1 and 2 but a long way from other terminals. It may have changed but allow a lot of time to find the bus.

<Temple Meads> - name always perplexed me - interesting derivation: (From Wiki)

The name Temple Meads derives from the nearby Temple Church, which was gutted by bombing during World War II.[1] The word "mæds" is an Old English derivation of meadow, referring to the water meadows alongside the River Avon that were part of Temple parish. As late as 1820 the site was undeveloped pasture outside the boundaries of the old city,[2] some distance from the commercial centre. It lay between the Floating Harbour and the city's cattle market, which was built in 1830.

http://www.tourinaday.com/bath/heathrow-to-bath.html


Bus and train take about the same time from Heathrow - nice info on this site about bus and train from Heathrow to Bath Spa.

Where she catches the bus depends on which Heathrow terminal she lands at. Here's the link to the national bus/coach website for departures from Heathrow: http://www.nationalexpress.com/where...w-airport.aspx. (Coach is the British word for long distance -- intercity -- buses.) The above link shows departures from Terminal 4, Terminal 5, and the Central bus station for Terminals 1 and 3.

What about terminal 2 or is there no more two? Think it is the unified bus station for terminals 1, 2 and 3 since they all adjoin each - or used to at least.

T-2 closed 5 years ago. It will re-open later this year.

Thanks janis - I thought perhaps Mimar just forgot about terminal 2 but then I though no she is always pretty right - thanks for the update.