Aberdeen To Inverness -Train

[caledonia]

Going to Inverness in a few weeks with wife and youngest (9 years)and thinking of taking the train for a change instead of driving..

Aberdeen to Inverness and back same day but want to know how crowded this service is and what are the best days for it to be quiet and best times for it to be quiet as well

 

All the trains i have been on before are either to Glasgow (football) or London never up north

Also is it best to book in advance online or at a station

 

Not to bothered about the time it takes etc as its just for my son who has never been on a train yet

 

 

 

[Dandyesque]

Book at least 2 weeks in advance for an Apex ticket as is a fraction of the cost

 

No idea about your other questions though

[caledonia]

Book at least 2 weeks in advance for an Apex ticket as is a fraction of the cost

 

No idea about your other questions though

Thanks

[dervish]

If you're booking that far ahead just reserve a table you'll be sorted then (no matter how busy). Done that run a few times and wasn't nuts. Wouldn't go at peak times (think tickets more expensive then) because there will be more folk. If you're up in Inverness for a holiday River House restaurant is magic or if more looking for pub grub The Room isn't half bad.

[jassb]

Trainline.com

 

Go first class. Free coffee and biscuits.

[The Boofon]

Going to Inverness in a few weeks with wife and youngest (9 years)and thinking of taking the train for a change instead of driving..

Aberdeen to Inverness and back same day but want to know how crowded this service is and what are the best days for it to be quiet and best times for it to be quiet as well

 

All the trains i have been on before are either to Glasgow (football) or London never up north

Also is it best to book in advance online or at a station

 

Not to bothered about the time it takes etc as its just for my son who has never been on a train yet

 

 

 

If it's nae trainers then it's trains eh Dandyesque?

[Dandyesque]

If it's nae trainers then it's trains eh Dandyesque?

 

Or training.

 

I also like to strain.

[E-P-K]

If you're booking that far ahead just reserve a table you'll be sorted then (no matter how busy). Done that run a few times and wasn't nuts. Wouldn't go at peak times (think tickets more expensive then) because there will be more folk. If you're up in Inverness for a holiday River House restaurant is magic or if more looking for pub grub The Room isn't half bad.

 

 

 

Not always true, have booked tickets and seats to Aberdeen (and onwards) and 2 times recently the train has been that busy, there has been no seats at all, just standing space.

 

Would avoid leaving Aberdeen before 930am, and returning 4-6pm

 

 

Amazing how if one xtra person was on minibus, or a tax, the cops would shut the company down and nae doot charge them, but the train, it can cram as many folk in standing, yet fuck all gets said or done

[Walt Flanagan's Dog]

 

 

 

Not always true, have booked tickets and seats to Aberdeen (and onwards) and 2 times recently the train has been that busy, there has been no seats at all, just standing space.

 

In that situation I have no issues with telling someone who is in my seat to move. I don't care if the train is packed or if it's one person sitting in an empty carriage in my seat...I booked it, so fuck off. And looking at me with sad eyes isn't going to make me change my mind...if you wanted to sit next to your ugly kids you should've fucking booked seats too!

[Don Fonte]

Going to Inverness in a few weeks with wife and youngest (9 years)and thinking of taking the train for a change instead of driving..

Aberdeen to Inverness and back same day but want to know how crowded this service is and what are the best days for it to be quiet and best times for it to be quiet as well

 

All the trains i have been on before are either to Glasgow (football) or London never up north

Also is it best to book in advance online or at a station

 

Not to bothered about the time it takes etc as its just for my son who has never been on a train yet

 

 

 

Have travelled this route numerous times. Times to avoid as already mentioned are early morning and the end of the working day. But if you book in advance and book a table then you've a guaranteed seat and will be fine.

 

The info re Apex tickets is a touch outdated. My advice would be to book as early as possible. The train companies release the early tickets approx 10 weeks in advance. There will be a set number of tickets at the cheapest price, when they're gone it's up to the next price and so on until it's the full standard fare. Therefore you could find that 2 weeks out you are only able to book a full price fare as all cheap tickets are gone, or you could try to book the day before and get a cheap ticket.

 

I'd just book via the Scotrail website. No website will give you cheaper tickets and Trainline actually charge you a £1.50 fee so you will be more expensive.

 

The train takes about 2hr15 so depending on time of day can be a lot quicker than driving.

[dave_min]

The Aberdeen to Inverness route is great at never having the reservations in place.

 

The 5:20(ish) from Aberdeen is the longest Diesel Powered train in Scotland.

[Don Fonte]

 

This. I book all my train journeys in advance with the Trainline as you get to reserve a seat, table and can choose to sit next to a plug socket and luggage racks etc.

 

Also, sometimes you can actually get first class cheaper than standard. I got first class to London for £15 once.

All which is true of the Scotrail website and without the £1.50 booking fee.

[E-P-K]

 

In that situation I have no issues with telling someone who is in my seat to move. I don't care if the train is packed or if it's one person sitting in an empty carriage in my seat...I booked it, so fuck off. And looking at me with sad eyes isn't going to make me change my mind...if you wanted to sit next to your ugly kids you should've fucking booked seats too!

 

 

 

Aye, I have no issues with telling folk to GTF, but in both the last 2 instances, and a previous 1 to that too, the conductor type arse, does a PA and says there is no pre-booked seats on this journey, pretty much every man and woman for themselves.

 

I seriously do not know where there is never any additional carriages included at these times, as it is always chaotic, and overcrowded. certainly not the basis for an enjoyable family trip.

[E-P-K]

The Aberdeen to Inverness route is great at never having the reservations in place.

 

The 5:20(ish) from Aberdeen is the longest Diesel Powered train in Scotland.

 

 

 

Aye longest in time, not in carriage length.

 

If you get on at Dyce, you might, get a seat at Huntly, if your lucky.

[dave_min]

Nope.

 

Longest in Length.

 

Until it splits at Inverurie.

[Poodler]

The Aberdeen to Inverness route is great at never having the reservations in place.

 

The 5:20(ish) from Aberdeen is the longest Diesel Powered train in Scotland.

 

I'm often on this train. I like staring at women and making them feel uncomfortable.

[caledonia]

might wait on the summer holidays then so it will be less busy

Or will it?

[rumpus]

I like trains.

 

Looked into getting the sleeper from Aberdeen to London a few nonths ago, I would imagine you'd get a great sleep on a train. it was ridiculasly expense so didn't bother.

 

 

And with that bit of completely useless information I shall now press "post'

[The Boofon]

I like trains.

 

Looked into getting the sleeper from Aberdeen to London a few nonths ago, I would imagine you'd get a great sleep on a train. it was ridiculasly expense so didn't bother.

 

 

And with that bit of completely useless information I shall now press "post'

You do get a great sleep. It's not overly expensive if you compare it to getting a flight down to London then also having to stay a night in a hotel.

 

With the sleeper you get the travel and the accomodation rolled into one.

[rumpus]

You do get a great sleep. It's not overly expensive if you compare it to getting a flight down to London then also having to stay a night in a hotel.

 

With the sleeper you get the travel and the accomodation rolled into one.

 

 

I probably hadnt timed the booking right so was looking at top whack.

 

Will have a look again for next month, do you still arrive at Kings Cross?

[dave_min]

I like trains.

 

Looked into getting the sleeper from Aberdeen to London a few nonths ago, I would imagine you'd get a great sleep on a train. it was ridiculasly expense so didn't bother.

 

 

And with that bit of completely useless information I shall now press "post'

 

Call me controversial if you like, but I always find it a lot comfier to snooze in the seats on the sleeper rather than the actual bunks.

 

It's also a great place to get really drunk, the seats are huge and surprisingly comfy.

 

There's no longer showers in Euston though, you've to head through to Kings X to use them instead. You're meant to be able to use the Virgin ones in Euston, but whenever i've went to use them i've been told to fuck aff and that they're only for 1st Class Ticket Holders.

 

But these days i'm big in O&G and my buLd lives right beside Heathrow, so fuck getting the train anywhere.

 

Also FYI: while BA only offer Gordons, both Virgin & easyJet have Bombay.

[jassb]

I used to get the sleeper from Edinburgh to London. Loved it. Sit up in the buffet car for a few hours then sleep like a baby. Once spewed in the sink in the cabin before I realised the plug was so small even water struggled to drain away. Had to use the end of my toothbrush to force it out. Then wake up in Central London rather than an hour on the crowded Piccadilly line (that was the days before the Heathrow Express). Also saved getting up at 4am to get to the airport. Never got the sleeper home again though, always the 6pm and home at 10.30pm, in first class, decent meal and heaps of drink. Always enjoyed that too.

[The Boofon]

 

 

I probably hadnt timed the booking right so was looking at top whack.

 

Will have a look again for next month, do you still arrive at Kings Cross?

No. Euston. There may be a Kings Cross service but I arrived in Euston.

[dervish]

Google the bargin berth thing. Think it's like 4 weeks before on a Friday you have to call before the rest of the cunts (prob mostly ScotRail employees, and MPs) snap them up. You get one way for £35 I think (in a bed).

 

Have done the chairs... ok for the first 4 hrs... fingers crossed no spaz has taken a kid on... but yeah I prefer the beds.

 

EDIT:

 

Ok was near enough 100% wrong there (is 12 weeks ahead...but apparently £19).

 

http://answers.loco2.com/3cf-how-to-get-a-caledonian-sleeper-bargain-berth-ticket/

 

 

UPDATE Feb 2013: Unfortunately, Scotrail have removed the separate booking tool for Bargain Berths. Links on this page will now go to the Mixing Deck on the Scotrail.co.uk website.

It is still possible to find the bargain berth fares via the Scotrail website, but you will have to manually search for trains from London Euston to your preferred Scottish destinations. Search 12 weeks ahead and play around with your dates and you may find a bargain. We think this is a big shame as it was a useful tool, but we hope to find more tricks to find the cheap fares soon.

Travel by train between London and Scotland for £19 one-way with a Caledonian Sleeper bargain berths. The bargain berth tickets on the Scotrail Caledonian sleeper can be elusive, with many people paying above the odds for train journey between London and Edinburgh, Glasgow or the Highlands. It's possible to buy a one-way fare, including the sleeper for £19. Here's how:

How much can I expect to pay?
The cheapest bargin berth is £19 for a one-way fare from London to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Fort William, Aberden, Dundee and Carlisle. And from the same destinations in the opposite direction.

However, there are limited number of £19 tickets (only 4 tickets of each price are released in each batch), so once they're sold the price goes up to £29, and continues to rise in increments of £10 as each fare sells out, until it reaches £49. One they're all gone you'll have to try your luck with a advanced one-way train ticket and pay the usual £40 supplement (i.e. the non-bargain berth way!).

Before you start
First of all you need to plan ahead, approximately 12 weeks ahead to be specific. The tickets are released by Scotrail on Friday mornings for journeys commencing 12 weeks in the future. If you want to book a ticket for a Monday, you should search for tickets 12 weeks in advance of the Friday of the same week. It's not as simple as 90 days in advance as is usually the case with booking trains.

For example, if you want to purchase tickets for Monday 16th July, you need to look for tickets on Friday April 27th. I used this time and calculator tool to work out the dates.

You'll need to be an early bird in more ways than one though, as each Friday the batches of tickets are released at 9am (or thereabouts - Scotrail told me they don't stick to it religiously). If you're determined to find a bargain, get into the habit of logging on first thing in on Friday mornings and running your search. Apparently tickets are occasionally released mid-week as well so it pays to check back regularly if you've got a specific trip in mind.

It helps if you're flexible about dates, and days of the week, as you are more likely to find a bargain ticket for trains departing London between Sunday and Wednesday, or returning on a week day in the other direction.

Bookmark the website and get to know how it works. It sometimes runs slowly so if you know what you're doing, or even better have 2 or more windows open, your chances of getting one of the cheap ones is higher. You'll notice that once you've selected your departure point from the drop down, you have to wait for the available destinations to load. Sometimes it get stuck so you might want to refresh the page or start again to speed things along.

How to find and buy a Scotrail bargain berth
The first mistake people make is searching for tickets on the websites they usually use (e.g. National Rail, Trainline etc). Others are on the right track when they search on Scotrail's main website, but none of these sites will show you the bargain berth fares. I did a search today and found a £39 bargain berth ticket available, but the cheapest I found on Thetrainline and Scotrail was £100.50 (one-way advance single £60.50 plus £40 sleeper berth supplement) for the same train.

 

[The Boofon]

We've moved topic somewhat. I doubt there would be a high demand for a sleeper from Aberdeen to Inverness.

 

Still the sleeper is a fantastic way to travel to London if you are in no hurry.

[beer gut]

As said above, Book early, pick table seats and be prepared to tell some fuckwit(s) to move if they are in your seat. Its amazing how people always feign ignorance when they are sitting on your reserved seat and look astounded when you ask them to move.

[dave_min]

You can't get on the sleeper without a reservation

[daytripping]

As said above, Book early, pick table seats and be prepared to tell some fuckwit(s) to move if they are in your seat. Its amazing how people always feign ignorance when they are sitting on your reserved seat and look astounded when you ask them to move.

 

The Aberdeen to London daytime service is always hoaching and is bad for this, anyone sitting in your seat just needs told, no messing, get the fuck off my seat!!

[Henry]

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/system/files/documents/projects/Aberdeen%20to%20Inverness%20-%20GRIP3%20Phase%20one%20enhancements%20-%20Summary%20-%20Final%20version%20-%2013%20August%202014.pdf

 

Looks like they're going to upgrade the Inverness-Aberdeen line, including new stops at Kintore and Dalcross.

 

[dave_min]

Qatar are hosting the next World Cup.