European Railroad Discussion > Edinburgh Waverley to Chester-Avanti West Coast (July 2026)

In summer 2026 my wife and I rode several trains across the UK.
The first trip was on July 8; it was cool and overcast; Scotland largely avoided the heat wave.
1. Departure screen at Edinburgh.  Trains do not have assigned numbers; they are referred to by departure time, company and destination. Ours was the 10:52 Avanti West Coast train to London Euston.
2. A view of the train underway; the pantographs are several cars back.
3. Rail grinder equipment on a siding

Thx for looking.

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You pictured #2103.  Here's #2102 as CSXT e/b W041 in Brunswick, Maryland, 7/29/03, on its way to Baltimore for shipment to the UK.  Gerry

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GPutz Wrote:
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> You pictured #2103.  Here's #2102 as CSXT e/b
> W041 in Brunswick, Maryland, 7/29/03, on its way
> to Baltimore for shipment to the UK.  Gerry

British trains do have numbers.   They are not used by the public, and can be difficult to find, but are available.

casco17 Wrote:
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> In summer 2026 my wife and I rode several trains
> across the UK.
> The first trip was on July 8; it was cool and
> overcast; Scotland largely avoided the heat wave.
> 1. Departure screen at Edinburgh.  Trains do not
> have assigned numbers; they are referred to by
> departure time, company and destination. Ours was
> the 10:52 Avanti West Coast train to London
> Euston.

To get train numbers you need to use one of the many free railfan apps which use open source data from Network Rail, that show rail services in real time. The train you caught from Edinburgh, for instance, is the 9M54. This is it from last Tuesday, August 11th when I happened to photograph it passing Slateford in Edinburgh

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W34060/2026-08-11/detailed#allox_id=0
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/26 11:15 by 86235.

Eggenberger Wrote:

> British trains do have numbers.   They are not
> used by the public, and can be difficult to find,
> but are available.

Thanks for the clarification.

GPutz Wrote:
Here's #2102 as CSXT e/b W041 in Brunswick, Maryland, 7/29/03, on its way
to Baltimore for shipment to the UK.  Gerry

Thx very much; I did not realize these were built in the US.

86235 Wrote:

> To get train numbers you need to use one of the
> many free apps that most British railfans use
> which use open source data from Network Rail that
> show rail services in real time. The train you
> caught from Edinburgh, for instance, is the 9M54.
> This is it from last Tuesday, August 11th when I
> happened to photograph it passing Slateford in
> Edinburgh
>
> https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W34
> 060/2026-08-11/detailed#allox_id=0
>  
Thx for the clarification; if/when we return to the UK I will look into this further to better understand the train numbering system.  I take it the naming convention used for the public (scheduled departure time/company/destination/track assignment) is standard British practice dating back years/decades? It worked well for us, especially in busy stations.  
 

casco17 Wrote:
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> I take it the naming convention used for the public
> (scheduled departure
> time/company/destination/track assignment) is
> standard British practice dating back
> years/decades? It worked well for us, especially
> in busy stations.  

The Train Operating Co name is relatively recent, trains have traditionally been known by their departure time and their destination, also name in the days when specific trains had names.

casco17 Wrote:
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> Eggenberger Wrote:
>
> > British trains do have numbers.   They are
> not
> > used by the public, and can be difficult to
> find,
> > but are available.
>
> Thanks for the clarification.

I am not going to take up the trouble to look it up, but if you look for the complete timetables on National Rail (not the basic public information), there are train numbers.  They have meaning.