Getting There By Rail
With incompetent administration and ongoing industrial action throughout Britain’s rail industry, delays and schedule changes occasionally occur. Rail service can also be pricey at peak times or if not booked in advance. Virgin Trains (tel: (08457) 222 333; website: www.virgintrains.co.uk), GNER (tel: (08457) 225 225; website: www.gner.co.uk) and Scotrail (tel: (0845) 755 0033; website: www.firstscotrail.co.uk) operate the majority of services to Glasgow. National Rail Enquiries (tel: (08457) 484 950; website: www.nationalrail.co.uk) provides 24-hour information for all train companies in Britain.
Glasgow is served by two main rail stations – Glasgow Central station, Argyle Street, has train services from London and other English cities, while Queen Street station, Queen Street, receives services from Edinburgh and the north of Scotland. Facilities at Glasgow Central include a travel centre, ATMs, bureau de change, left luggage, shops, cafés and bars. Taxis and car hire are also available nearby, while buses link the station with Queen Street station and Buchanan bus station. Facilities at Queen Street station are a little more basic. However, this station is adjacent to the main shopping precinct.
Rail services: Virgin Trains operates West Coast mainline services to London Euston, while GNER runs services on the East Coast mainline route to London Kings Cross via Edinburgh. There are up to 15 direct services a day and the journey takes between 5 hours 20 minutes and 6 hours. ScotRail offers a night-train service on the ‘Caledonian Sleeper’ to Euston (journey time – approximately 7 hours). ScotRail also offers services from Oban, Fort William, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness, as well as a regular service from Edinburgh (journey time – 50 minutes) to Queen Street station and from Carlisle, Largs, Lanark, Ayr, Kilmarnock, East Kilbride, Dumfries and Stranraer to Glasgow Central station.
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