By Train
Introduction
Arriving by Air | Arriving by Road | Arriving By Sea | Arrival by Train
By train
There are fast and frequent rail services from London and other main towns and cities in England to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. Two companies operate direct services from London to Scotland: GNER trains leave from Kings’ Cross and run up the east coast to Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness; and Virgin trains leave from Euston and run up the west coast to Glasgow. Journey time from London is about 4€ hours to Edinburgh, five hours to Glasgow, seven hours to Aberdeen and eight hours to Inverness. Scotrail operate the Caledonian Sleeper service if you wish to travel overnight from London Euston to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Fort William. This runs nightly from Sunday to Friday. Eurostar, Tel: 08705-186186, EuroStar operates high-speed trains through the Channel Tunnel to London Waterloo from Paris (three hours), Brussels (two hours 40 minutes) and Lille (two hours). You then have to change trains, and stations, for the onward journey north to Scotland. If you’re driving from continental Europe you could take Le Shuttle, which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and takes you and your car from Calais to Folkestone in 35-45 minutes. Fares range from £84 to £165 per carload, depending on how far in advance you book or when you travel (Tel: 08705-353535 for bookings).
Enquiries National Rail Enquiries, Tel: 08457-484950, RailTrack for information on rail services and fares. For advance credit/debit card bookings, Tel: 08457-550033. GNER, Tel: 08457-225225, GNER Trains Virgin, Tel: 08457-222333; ScotRail, Tel: 08457-550033, Scottish Rail
Fares
To describe the system of rail ticket pricing as complicated is a huge understatement and impossible to explain here. There are many and various discounted fares, but restrictions are often prohibitive, which explains the long queues and delays at ticket counters in railway stations. The cheapest ticket is a Super Apex, which must be booked at least two weeks in advance, though this is not available on all journeys. Next cheapest is an Apex ticket which has to be booked at least seven days before travelling. Other discount tickets include a Saver return, which can be used on all trains, and a Super Saver, which costs slightly less but cannot be used on a Friday or during peak times. For example, a GNER London-Edinburgh Saver return costs £82.50, while an Apex is £51. A standard return with Scotrail on this route is £65. All discount tickets should be booked as quickly as possible as they are often sold out weeks, or even months, in advance, especially Apex and Super Apex tickets. The latter tickets guarantee seat reservations, but Saver and Super Saver tickets do not. These can be secured by paying an extra £1. A Caledonian Sleeper Apex return ticket from London to Edinburgh or Glasgow costs £89, while an open return is £125.