European Railroad Discussion > A Texan's view of England, Part 5 - Edinburgh

Our second full day in Manchester we realized we had only
one day left on our 8 day First Class rail pass so we decided to
travel to Edinburgh. We hopped on a Transpeninne Express train (pic 1)
not really understanding what the diff was between that train and
the Virgin Train option which left 30 minutes later that this one.
There were 8 seats in first class on the front end and 8 on the rear end.
We got on the rear and away we went with a fairly full train at Manchester
Piccadilly. At our first stop on the outskirts of Manchester
a lot of folks got on, way too many for the seats available. There
was a guy and his gal + her Mum that had first class tickets as well but no place
to sit, so I gave up my seat to the Mum, and soon after departure a call came
on the speaker explaining a problem with the train earlier and we would be
running to Edinburgh with 4 cars instead of 8. I found it odd that no other males
gave up their seats, given the overall polite nature of the Brits I had met to date.

It was a rather long journey on ones feet but fortunately the ride was quite smooth,
and I chatted with the guy and gal most of the way which passed the time. We finally
arrived Edinburgh Waverley station right in the heart of the city. The station had a
beautiful lobby and is not very large compared to the ones in London and was packed
with people when we arrived. Outside we saw more of the same, streets packed with
cars, busses and trams, and sidewalks full of walkers (this was a Tuesday).

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I was quite intrigued by the trams because they were so low to the pavement,
probably only a couple inches from the surface. We did not ride any of them
though but they looked clean and comfortable. We walked across a Cockburn St.
bridge and I saw this scene and knew I must soak all this in somehow. We walked
over the the National Gallery as my bride needed to use the facilities, and I spotted
a ^%$#@& Transpeninne Express leaving Waverley station emerging from under the previously
mentioned bridge (sorry, but it hurts just to say the name).

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My bride learned that the Selfridges flagship store was nearby so I walked her there
and set up a rendezvous time one hour forward, and I made a beeline back to the
National Museum and watched a parade of trains coming and going, jockeying back and forth
from that perch (first photo this page) to the opposite one on the bridge (second and third photos)

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After a lot of walking and seeing touristy things in Edinburgh,
we boarded a Virgin train back to Manchester. We were the only
ones in First Class coming home, quite a change from the Transpeninne
Express debacle on the northbound trip. The icing on the cake was
seeing this bridge on the trip back, which I had previously posted on this
forum. We don't see things like this in Texas.

That is all for part 5 - part 6 coming in a day or two.

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Nice shot of the 11-arch viaduct (bridge).

I did a double take - it looks so much like Starrucca Viaduct in Lanesboro PA, USA

Great pictures and descriptions of your trip. Have enjoyed all of the installments so far . Looking forward to the last installment !!!:):):)

There always seem to be an over abundance of first class seats and not enough second class seats on U.K. trains. Much more so than on the Continent. With fixed train sets, the consists can't be adjusted for hourly variations in traffic.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> There always seem to be an over abundance of first
> class seats and not enough second class seats on
> U.K. trains.

As wrongwaymurphy discovered first trans pennine do not have enough 1st class seats, then again they do not have enough second class seats either, their trains are more akin to cattle trucks most of the time.
First class fares are also extortionate unless booked well in advance.

Alexander

Glad you enjoyed Edinburgh. Trans Pennine should be avoided at all cost. For us locals we know they are always over crowded and not suitable for long journeys. I do like Edinburgh. My first stop when getting off the train is The Guildford Arms for a pint of 'heavy'. My last stop will be to find a cracking bottle of Scotch!! chris uk.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There always seem to be an over abundance of first
> class seats and not enough second class seats on
> U.K. trains. Much more so than on the Continent.
> With fixed train sets, the consists can't be
> adjusted for hourly variations in traffic.

It has been reported in Railway Magazine that at least two of the railways have converted one of the first class coaches to standard class on their long-distance trains. Great Western Railway is one and Virgin Trains (West Coast) is the other. On all of our trips Virgin has had three and a half first class coaches. It is reported that the longer (11-coach) trains are keeping those, but the shorter trains (9 coaches) will have or have had one converted to standard class. I will see this for myself in October.

At certain times of day these first class coaches can be quite crowded. Not surprisingly, in mid-day there are often nearly empty first class coaches in the fixed consists. On week-ends, many long-distance trains offer cheap upgrades to first class and because of that they can be full. Of course, the full service of meals and drinks on Virgin is not offered for the cheap upgrade (£10 when I last saw it advertised).

By the way, the bridge in Edinburgh that you didn't like the name of...it's actually pronounced 'Co-burn', which isn't so bad!