Thinking about possible future long-range blue-sky planning

[cdybedahl]

How difficult and/or expensive is it to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh (and vice versa) using some kind of public transport? From the maps, they seem to be fairly close (160km or so), but I know that doesn't have to mean much when infrastructure and geography enters the picture.

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I've not done it in a while, but it's certainly possible to get between the two by rail; as I recall, it took around an hour. The National Rail Enquiries site is clunky and slow, but will give you times and ideas on price. The latter will vary greatly according to when you buy the ticket (a few days in advance is usually the cheapest).

[birdsflying]

Train is probably the easiest and cheapest. The Trainline is a excellent site for finding prices and booking tickets.

I'd run a search but prices can vary on dates and whether it's open return or not and if you carry any discout cards.

[apel.livejournal.com]

Not difficult at all if you take a Scottish CityLink coach. It takes about an hour and seems to cost in the region of £10. Their Explorer Pass looks useful if you're going to stay a couple of days and want to go back and forth.

By train...

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

If you go from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central, it takes anywhere between just over an hour to an hour and a half. Times variable.

If you go from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street, it takes a pretty reliable 48-53 minutes (depending whether it stops in Motherwell or not, I think) and trains run four times an hour. (Central and Queen Street are within 10 minutes walk of each other.)

The very cheapest method of travelling is to go with 3 friends who'll all be going and coming back at the same time as you - that will cost something like £3.75 apiece, but it's a group ticket, and legally it's the same group who travel in and out.

Other than that: it will cost you between £10 and £20, depending whether you can get a cheap day return.

I don't know about the price for coach travel, but I wouldn't risk it myself if I were travelling to/from either Edinburgh or Glasgow in rush hour: the traffic can add quite a bit of time to the trip.

Re: By train...

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

I really don't know from where in either city I'd be travelling, but in any case it sounds like flying to Glasgow instead of directly to Edinburgh is a reasonable plan, given that the flight tickets then cost less than a tenth as much.

Re: By train...

[grumpoldusenaut.livejournal.com]

And there is, or at least was, a regular free shuttle bus running between Queen St and Glasgow Central, which takes luggage as well as people. I've used it when I've come into Central and there was a long wait for the next train from Central to Waverley.

[madralaoi.livejournal.com]

From my recent experience, there are good bus connections between Edinburgh and Glasgow. :))