Britain's cheapest full-fare train ticket? Glasgow/Edinburgh 'Anytime' single £1.80!

jamesbrownontheroad

If you travel regularly between Glasgow and Edinburgh you'll probably know you have three different train routes to choose from (and a fourth will come with the Airdrie-Bathgate link).

The fastest is the Glasgow Queens Street - Falkirk High - Edinburgh shuttle, the next fastest is the 2-hourly East Coast, twice-a-day Cross Country and occasional ScotRail service from Glasgow Central via Motherwell and the slowest is from Glasgow Central via Shotts.

So fastest = best?

Not necessarily! I only discovered this week that the standard walk-up 'Anytime' fare on the two daily CrossCountry services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh is just £1.80 That's almost a tenth of the cheapest offered by ScotRail (£11.50 'Anytime' or £10.30 'Off-Peak') and about a sixth of the cheapest East Coast fare (£6.90).

Why? Presumably because CrossCountry only serve Glasgow Central twice a day as part of their franchise obligations, as an extension or alternative terminus for their Anglo-Scottish services which usually terminate in Edinburgh or Aberdeen. But because many of these routes are very busy further south, the trains into Glasgow are often operated using refurbished High Speed Trains with 2 first class and 5 standard class coaches - so lot's of seats going empty!

Current times:

from Glasgow Central: 06.00 & 09.00 Mon-Fri, 07.00 & 09.00 Sat, 11.37 & 13.45 Sun;
from Edinburgh Waverley (and Haymarket about five minutes later): 19.03 & 21.12 Mon-Fri, 19.07 & 21.10 Sat, 12.07, 20.07 & 21.11 Sun

This is a seriously cheap option for Glasgow based commuters and day trippers! Ask for the CrossCountry-only Anytime single or return to take advantage of it.

dzug1

Certainly the cheapest for a journey of that length - but Exeter Central to St Davids is 90p anytime day single.

KeithP

And an Anytime Day Single from Ryde St Johns Road to Ryde Esplanade is a mere 70p.

pompeyrich

An "anytime" single is a bit misleading if only valid on 2 trains a day !!

jamesbrownontheroad

pompeyrich wrote: »

An "anytime" single is a bit misleading if only valid on 2 trains a day !!

It is odd, I didn't realise 'Anytime' (supposedly the most flexible of the three basic fare types) could be operator-specific either.

However, what it does mean is that for Glasgow-based commuters at least this is a very handy rush-hour fare.

AirlieBird

And the first class version is only £2.50