Taking alternative trains due weather this week

Sheepfan

Hello - I am booked to travel Aberdeen-Edinburgh-Durham with East Coast this Friday evening. As I only have a 10 minute connection in Edinburgh, I am worried that with the current conditions, I may miss it and this is the last train to Durham on Friday night.

Given the current forecast, it seems likely that the delays will continue for most of the week. Is it reasonable to try and take an earlier train (on Scotrail) from Aberdeen-Edinburgh so I have a better chance of making the Durham train?

The East Coast and Scotrail websites are both crashing today, so it's difficult to get any concrete info. My ticket is a non-flexible advance one. If anyone has any experience or advice, I'd be most grateful.

flyingscotno1

I arrived at Queen Street 40mins before my train to Edinburgh so took the one 30mins before mine due to points failure. No questions were asked, and the ticket stated East Coast and Connections, but unlike the EC ticket which had 'Not Valid before 1140' on it, nothing was indicated on the Scotrail section.

Given the weather I'd say it would be fine, but reserve judgement for those most knowledgeable.

spiro

I would try phoning Aberdeen station and see what they say. The problem with some advance tickets is that they are only valid on the train specified and anything paid does not count towards the cost of a full price single if you come across a jobs worth who insists (rightly) that your ticket is not valid on the train you are travelling on.

alanrowell

Isn't it the responsibility of the TOC to get you to your destination as long as you've booked Aberdeen to Durham rather than Aberdeen to Edinburgh & Edinburgh to Durham

BTW does anyone know why there are two trains at 21:00 on Friday - both run by EC & both heading to York - but one taking 30 minutes longer despite stopping at the same stations - and the faster one is the cheaper one

dzug1

alanrowell wrote: »

Isn't it the responsibility of the TOC to get you to your destination as long as you've booked Aberdeen to Durham rather than Aberdeen to Edinburgh & Edinburgh to Durham

BTW does anyone know why there are two trains at 21:00 on Friday - both run by EC & both heading to York - but one taking 30 minutes longer despite stopping at the same stations - and the faster one is the cheaper one

My guess is one of them has been cancelled and replaced by the other but not removed from the database.

dzug1

spiro wrote: »

I would try phoning Aberdeen station and see what they say.

Try finding a phone number........ Stations don't have such things available to the public these days

Sheepfan

I have booked it as one ticket, but

a) I wonder how likely there is to be a customer service rep at Waverley at 9pm on a Friday night

b) We're only going to Durham for the weekend, so I don't particularly want to spend one night in Edinburgh (even if East Coast paid for a hotel)

Have looked at the East Coast emergency schedule for today and the East Coast evening train from Aberdeen southwards isn't operating so if this carries on til Friday I will have no choice but to catch an ealier one.

Worst case scenario is that the train is operating on Friday, but the first one runs late and I end up stuck somewhere....

discplayer

Often when there are emergency timetables (i.e. they say in advance what's cancelled) they remove restrictions on advance tickets. If this is the case you could get an earlier train without worry.

See if the train operators' websites have notes about this with their revised timetables.

sammylou100

I have just gotten off the phone to East Coast Trains about this, as I have tickets booked on Friday and the likelihood is that the trains will still be on this mad timetable. The woman I spoke to said that you can get an alternate train 2 hours either side of the one you booked. Hope that helps.