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Maybe Lumo refer to the driver as the Customer Driver because he isn’t employed by them, maybe he is just a train enthusiast who has paid them to have a go at driving a train. Lol

I remember an announcement on a West Coast service once, "Our unreserved coaches are coach F and coach U. Just remember, F and U, For You". I really hoped she was aware of what she was saying, but it certainly didn't come across that way.

An interesting "experiment" in train travel. Others (I forget the name) have compared flying with train travel between London and Edinburgh, and, by the time you factor in arriving early for flights and getting to and from the airports the time difference was about 15 minutes!

If you fancy something a bit involved, take a Kings X to Leeds fast train, then a Leeds to Carlisle which will go over the Settle-Carlisle line then a jaunt into Glasgow... on the way back Edinburgh to Newcastle, Newcastle to Carlisle then Carlisle to Euston means you have taken in two of the iconic lines our railways can offer.

The whole “choose a charge point” on Pendolinos is basically “get a window seat on a 4-seater table” choice. Hence the rat race for such seats because people are nothing but power hungry. Bring on my refurbed Pendolinos with charge points for all (and standard class seating the exact same as Lumo)…

Strangely familiar... The other day I was in public transport for 17 hours on one day for 1 video! (It was to the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal so it was absolutely worth it)

I'm surprised you didn't try splitting your fare. I'm going to Edinburgh on the Caledonian Sleeper next week but coming back by normal train. By splitting my fare at Crewe , I'm getting back to Cardiff for £38 instead of £138!

My wife does the west coast route regularly. Apparently, the un-booked seat thing is normal. Last week she tried to book train A, only to be told it was full. She booked train B, which was subsequently cancelled and thought she'd chance her arm on train A, which happened to be in and proved to be largely empty. I'm sure there's a good reason for turning down fare-paying passengers on half empty trains, but I have no idea what it is.

When we often visited Edinburgh we always stayed in Glasgow as hotels were always half tbe price of Edinburgh's extremely overpriced hotels, there is a train to Edinburgh from Glasgow every 6 minutes or so ( Seriously) and it's a pleasant journey too

When I traveled to Europe and the UK I did a lot of my travel via train the difference being that I had a Brit-rail and a Eur-rail pass verses having to pay for a ticket each time I got on a train. It also turned out that these passes could also be used on some public transport as well although I think the only time I used a bus was one of those tourists buses that go around London. All things considered those passes where worth their weight in gold given that by rail I traveled from London to York, then to the north coast of Wales then eventually back to London. While in York I payed a visit to the NRM and donated 50 quid to help get LNER 4427 "Flying Scotsman" back to steam again (this was back in 2010 mind you).

looks great…here in the states…Amtrak would be two days late with no electricity or food🙄

I spent this morning talking to a charming elderly gentleman, who was recounting his childhood journeys north on the Royal Scot, climbing Shap summit, the banker being attached for Beattock, etc. We quoted Auden to each other, and debated wether the Elizabethan was perhaps the better train. And then I watch this. The trouble with having one foot in the past is that you're always comparing. And the present is always found wanting. Egg and cress? I think I'll opt for a martini in the bar car, and then the first sitting. Perhaps they'll have roast beef on the menu...

I really really want Jago to pubblish a video about trains in Italy, that would make my day

Aye Jago MacHazzard or is McHazzard? Like a true Scot you showed Thriftiness in your travels to the magnificent Lands of Scotland. But, now I have to wait to see more of your travels, I’m thinking of my power usage of my batteries, aye, terrible expense. I do have Scots and Irish in my family history. Did you try the Great Chieftain of the Pudding Race during your times in Scotland? Haggis and a wee dram nothing finer. Yes I do like haggis. I’m looking forward to the next instalment(s) Safe journeys and best wishes from Oxfordshire.

I’ve done day trips to Venice and Rome before. Not by train, obviously.

I've always found flying to be more expensive and just as slow, if not worse, once you factor in getting return train tickets to an airport at each end. The budget version of London to Glasgow would be perhaps Ryanair from Stansted to Prestwick which has long rail connections if you want to get into town, both airports are miles outside their respective cities

You could have taken the Caledonian Night Sleeper to and from Scotland. A pleasant journey - cheaper than city hotel prices! Gosh, you go past our house (they are rebuilding a station behind our house!). Come back, and enjoy the capital, Forth (Rail) Bridge, tram, subway, transport museum, the resting place for Concord and the Fife Circle - perhaps the roaming haggis in their natural habitat! I wonder if the crimes of Charles Yerkes made it to the many railways we had/ve in Scotland.

Ooooh so exciting to see a thumbnail with a local view! Can't wait to see your Edinburgh video (though my family may evict me if I get any more excited about whether you're going to cover the history of the Leith trams). I'm assuming Glasgow's going to be about the clockwork orange?

Blimey, that's a long stretch of journey between Stevanage and Newcastle!

Rhod Gilbert would be jealous that you were able to get an egg and cress sandwich 😁

Yes customer driver was just train enthusiast paying to give it a go , this has been quite interesting often wondered, so many people I know catch plane , cheaper than rail , that's Brum to Edinburgh, thanks jago as ever great filming. !

Before returning to a ticketing site, remove its cookies and you may find cheaper seats are still available, but probably to you only with a different email address...

When I first heard of Lumo I looked at tickets to Edinburgh. I then found out that even a hostel or very budget room in the city was 2 to 3 times the price of the ticket & breakfast was extra. That meant for a 3 day trip, skipping lunch & having an evening meal there would be no change from £500 with the train costing

I love that your first stop out of London was Stevenage, and the second stop was Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

I haven't been to Scotland in 25-ish years. I should get back up there as I had a great time.

Living near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, with family around London, these trips are fairly common. If pushed for time I take a seat on the sleeper, usually on the outward leg, surprisingly comfortable, especially with a nightcap, and can be surprisingly cheap.

Jago, Jago Jago... RULE NUMBER ONE when buying tickets is ALWAYS buy from the station/TOC you will be travelling with, even whenbuying advance tickets. Services like "The train line" take a slice of the money for doing nothing but offering the choice of buying online, thus removing a percentage of funding from the railways themselves.

Flying down to London (I'm in Edinburgh now) is a baronial pain. This end, it is tram to the airport - cheapish and pleasant. Then the normal hurry up and wait. Then the thing goes all shouty and you get to a place a long way from the place you want to be. The train is good. Especially when the private companies do a runner and LNER take it back. (Hint - no bacon butties after 11am, for some strange reason) You can get to London by air for a lower price, for some definitions of 'London' The night coach is a horror, unless you are semi-comatose.

We have an open access operator from our area, Hull trains, We use them to get to London for Eurostar, and for the odd day out. They offer some good value first class fares on advance tickets. Maybe a day trip to Hull and Beverley. The street life museum in Hull has some interesting transport related exhibits, and Beverley, although only 15 mins away by train (not all Hull trains services carry on to Beverley) has a totally different feel, look at the North Bar which used to have specially built Hull Corporation double deckers built to fit through it. Hull trains fill a niche that all the major operators have ignored. I enjoy your videos, keep them coming.

I've travelled between London and Scotland often over the last 30 years and used both air and train, the trouble with air travel is the time you take to get to the airport and the time you have to waste there. In the end there's almost no difference in the overall time, but on the train you are sitting still in one seat for a long period to time so you can work, sleep or just chill - so it's less stress and/or more productive, take your pick. Often I use the sleeper on the way up because the cost of the ticket and the sleeping berth is no more than the ticket and a low budget hotel room, and by travelling whilst I'm asleep I don't have to give up the previous evening with my family, or tumble out of bed at 4am to get to the airport - instead I wake up at 7am in Glasgow or Edinburgh, relaxed and refreshed and in plenty of time to get to a 9am meeting. You'd have to be mad to go by air when you compare them that way. Sleeper every time for me! Such a shame the planned "NightStar" sleeping services to the continent were cancelled, they would be so much better than going by air. In terms of privatisation, I've seen it both ways because over the last 40 years I've travelled all over the country by train, probably 50 or more long distance journeys every year. I can say that for the customer, privatisation has improved things immensely, far beyond what most people will tell you. The trains are now generally much more frequent, and the age of the rolling stock has come down greatly. Punctuality is better too. In terms of prices, they were eye-watering under British Rail as well. They may be a little higher now in real terms, but there's not that much to choose. The only thing I miss is the ability to get a good meal in an actual restaurant on the train, when travelling home after a long day of work, that was nice. And carriages now have far too few table seats in standard, the airline-style seating is claustrophobic and doesn't give space to use a laptop properly. But those who tell you "it was much better under British Rail" are kidding themselves, the reality is it's so much better for the customer now. State-owned companies have no imperative to care about customer service, the customer is just an inconvenience to them and that's the way it always was with British Rail. You think customer service is dodgy now? It's nothing like the don't-give-a-damn attitude of management (not generally front line staff) under BR. I travel all over the world, and the UK should be very proud of its rail system compared to most countries. I seriously fear that re-nationalisation driven by politics, rather than rational thinking, will do immense damage to our railways. It will do nothing but put the focus on cost-cutting, and everything will suffer. Marion

I have to say, my daughter has used both Lumo and LNER on the East coast main line to Edinburgh - and will pick LNER over Lumo... The trains are very similar in that they're based on the same Hitachi design. The main difference is that the LNER "Azumo" trains can run off diesel as well as electricity, as the track isn't electrified all the way north to Aberdeen or Inverness, so the train can run on electricity where it's available and diesel where it isn't. The Lumo trains are electric only, hence only going as far as Edinburgh.

My partner and I arrived at London St Pancras four hours late and we couldn't make the connection to our destination in the North of England. Initially we planned to have a hotel room in London. Reviewing the prices - which were excessive we looked at travelling part of the way and found that a journey to Leeds plus a hotel near the railway station was less than a quarter of the cost of a room in London! I would recommend some towns marketing themselves as great places to stay when visiting London.

There is a degree of competition on the east coast mainline route - LNER, LUMO, Grand Central and Hull Trains all operate out of King's Cross, in start contrast to the west coast mainline where there is a choice of Avanti and Avanti, at least if you want to travel north of Crewe and in reasonable time. (You can get the London North Western from Euston to Crewe, then change for local trains to Manchester or Liverpool, but it makes for a far longer journey.) Unsurprisingly, you can generally travel along the east coast more cheaply than on the west coast. I had hoped that HS2 would introduce some competition in due course, but alas, Avanti will have that route too, should they manage to cling on undeservedly to the west coast mainline. Incidentally, there are now some pendolino trains with power sockets at all seats. It's quite new, and I've only seen them on one or two trains.

I'm heading back to Birmingham for university in a week and am hoping to get a few day trips in (student budget permitting) given how well-connected New Street is by rail. Edinburgh is one of the places I'd love to visit, I was at the station for a few minutes once but didn't have time to go into the city proper.

i'm very surprised The Happening and The Subsequent Queue didn't affect this adventure more edit: i think the "let's franchise more than one operator in every route" is the plan for the weirdly-named Great British Rail

My limited, second-hand experience of flying Newcastle-upon-Tyne to London, the time you had to be at the airport plus the time to reach thw airport more than matched any saving, so rail was at best the same timespan but probably quicker!

I’m a Londoner living in Glasgow, and this week, I’ve been working in Edinburgh. The trams/works putting the lines in, have caused major traffic problems in Edinburgh.

privatization, particularly when done from a political impetus, is usually done to benefit, not the customer, but a political donor... if incidentally it ends up with the fares being cheaper, well...it is just that, incidental. (likingandcommenting to appease the algo-deities of the tube-u-all)

Premiere Inn Hub at Haymarket. Breakfast at CJ's Cafe down the road. Sorted.

When I was there in 2019, being an Australian I was able to use a British Rail pass. For the price I paid, economy seating on long distance services was fantastic

If you want competition on the Railways don't have a competition between several companies for one several-year contract, but let for example three companies fight it out in operation (even more so in commuter services).

Hope you had a great time in Scotland!

I've been looking forward to this ever since I saw the Scotland stuff on your Instagram, glad it's finally here

Excellent video…. Many thanks for coming, and looking forward to seeing your Caledonian adventures!

“I am not a normal person!” Your best line yet! 😀👍🏼😀

Despite all that is said about the privatised railway having expensive fares, a lot of trips can still be done quite cheaply using off-peak or advance fares, and these were not available in the "good old days" of British Rail. I remember going to Milton Keynes and being asked for £84 for a day return to Manchester. When was this? In 1986! So I waited half an hour and took a slower route via Northampton and paid a slightly more reasonable £48. But a lot of fares are much cheaper than they were in the past, allowing for inflation. And - whisper it gently - the trains are a lot cleaner than they were then.

I'm a big fan of these none London videos from time to time

The prices are about the same for flying from Edinburgh. The same week you had went to Edinburgh, my partner and I did a round trip from Edinburgh to Stansted. It was £65 per person, however we also had to pay for a bus to our hotel.

If you want to see a lot more of the wonders of Scotland for a very modest cost you can get a Freedom of Scotland ticket which covers not only all the railways including the brilliant Highland scnic routes but also Caledonian MacBrayne ferries and selected bus routes. Can't help on the hotel costs, though I once saved a hotel bill by travelling on an overnight train from Edinburgh to Inverness and changing on to the return working at 2am at Pitlochry. Though if you go away from the city centres, you can get fairly inexpensive hotels (e.g. Premier Inn) near suburban stations and it saves you the 5 hour return train journey.

Presumably train operators offering budget fares do the same as some airlines and track via browser cookies that you have been viewing potential bookings before and remove the really cheap fares from displaying to try and convince you that they are being snapped up, so you need to book NOW!!! Try using private/incognito browsing and see if you get to see the cheap options again.

You bold, intrepid boy, you... If I'd known you were coming I'd have let you buy me a drink! Looking forward to the Hazzardous treatment... Cheers!

With regard to saving time by flying, it is worth comparing the door-to-door times of the two modes of transport. The results often show rail travel in a much better light; this is well worth considering in a world where very few of us have unlimited time available to us.

I'm dumb enough that I've done this several times (for leisure not business too!), and strangely enough it really never occurred to me to stay over and come back the next day. It wasn't until I watched this that I got round to wondering why.

Next time you are in Edinburgh go to Princess Gardens and visit the statue of Corporal Wojtek.

Fabulous! I can’t wait for the film!

I once went with my boss on the virgin service from Milton Keynes to Glasgow for a business lunch with a customer and came back the same day. It was very pleasant we got good 1st class fares so lots of tea and door to door it was quicker than flying from Luton. Found the same with Eurostar to central Paris was quicker to go by train. ❤

You've got the voice of an audiobook narrator, very soothing

I mean I'm all against privatising the regional and commuter trains that people are dependent on, but can definitely see the prospect in open access. I mean here in Denmark where I'm from we don't have any, but in Sweden they have loads! Most notably Snälltåget running between Malmö and Stockholm, MTRX between Gothenburg and Stockholm, and even Flixtrain as the low cost operator between Gothenburg and Stockholm. There have even been others throughout the years like Blåtåget who tried to be a luxury service, and Sagarail, a tiny operator that focused on cheap express trains aimed at students between Stockholm and Linköping using an old suburban train painted entirely in pink! I mean heck even SJ, the Swedish state railways are eyeing the possibility of operating Open access in Denmark when more of the network is electrified and they have the rolling stock for it, which it should be a few years from now.

Very good, trouble is there is only one route east or west, and only so many trains can run in the signalled sections, more independent operators won't necessarily make it better, as there are limited paths available.

Absolutely loved this one. Thank you. 👍

I travelled back from Glasgow with Avanti and enjoyed it , at least you can get a cup of tea in the restaurant car when you want one and four and a half hour train journey is better than by coach , when you think of going by plane your forgetting about the extra time and expense of getting to the airport along with checking in for your flight and the reverse at the other end so all told your not saving much in the way of time by comparison , I stayed in Glasgow in a back packer hostel at reasonable price and found it was better to take a day return to Edinburgh on the train than staying there.

Ever since I lived in Germany 40 years ago I've felt that the way to run a transport network is for the public to own and manage it, and for private companies to be contracted to run the services. I guess this is a bit like open-access. I'm a fan of OA as I've travelled quite a number of times from Halifax to London on Grand Central and have always found them efficient and not expensive.

There is nothing better than an adventure ✨️

Wouldn’t miss one of your videos for love or money! Cheers! Ken

It's good to hear that you fared well on your trips. In the late 70s I travelled to Glasgow from London for the day a couple of times but that was in the electric loco and coaching stock era with leg room.

One way to save on accommodation in Edinburgh, albeit you'll be completely shattered the next morning, is to ride around on the night buses - £10 for a whole day and night on the network. Cheaper than being ripped off in a hotel though.

even the adverts are enjoyable

The only open access operator I've used is the long defunct Wrexham & Shropshire. I'd take the first train of the day from Marylebone and the last return of the day from either Shrewsbury or Wrexham. The service reminded me of travelling on a heritage line: the incredibly nice and helpful staff, who had all the enthusiasm of volunteers, the slightly musty smelling carriages and the homemade cakes on sale at Wrexham General. Sadly, the service was made uncompetitive because the then West Coast Mainline franchise operator, Virgin Trains objected to it and wouldn't allow the service to call anywhere in Birmingham or stop at other strategic places, such as Wolverhampton and Telford in one or other of the northbound or southbound directions. It was further prevented from extending to Chester. So, when I felt that I'd seen Shrewsbury and Wrexham I began changing to the Arriva Trains Wales service from Wrexham and exploring Chester instead. It was quaint, but very comfortable in a faded sort of way, with a class 67 locomotive hauling a rake of originally unrefurbished carriages at the start of the enterprise. By the time it was wound up the carriages had been refurbished and continued to be used behind a class 67 on the Chiltern mainline.

Looking forward to seeing the videos you now have the footage for. On a Pendolino the tables have power sockets.

I assume you travelled on a weekday. I am afraid weekend rail travel can be a different story with never ending engineering work closures to staff shortage cancellations.

Yeah, I guess still a bit steep for a room then as it was just after the fringe. I would recommend checking out the single rooms with shared bathroom at Edinburgh Backpackers, currently about 40 quid. They are based on Cockburn St, right next to Waverley. Interestingly, Lumo have said they are not trying to compete with LNER but with the low cost airlines.

Thanks Jago - very informative as always. Your mention of 'open access operators' reminded me of the services run in Germany by the bus operator Flixbus, which now operates buses on routes here in Brtain as well. Flixbus also operates fast train services between major cities in Germany and Sweden and are apparently rather successful, being cheaper and a little slower than the ICE trains. It would not be surprising to see Flixtrain arrive in Britain sooner or later.

Very useful info, not least because I’m hoping to visit Morpeth via friends in Newcastle. I had a very quick and reasonably priced train trip to York recently, and an absolutely fantastic visit to the Railway Museum, natch. Thanks!

5:02 I have literally NEVER seen Euston so empty!!! It's like the apocalypse! 😵😵😵

I used to do the Edinburgh to London weekly. With careful booking I could get first class tickets with a meal for quite a bit less than standard class.

Brilliant video, sounds like you've had an interesting journey. Looking forward to seeing what you've managed to discover and film in Scotland, would love to go back up at some point. :)

I miss the days of the £1 Megabus and megatrain fares Leeds to Weymouth for £2, nice day trip 🤣

Excellent. Informative and, as ever, amusing.

There are reading lights at every seat on a Pendolino AFAIK

Back in the days of British Rail you could dine on the Euston to Glasgow train. There were two sittings on the evening train. The waitress came round taking bookings for dinner.... two please for the second sitting. If I were you she said, I would go now before the gas conks out. True story.

8:09 Jago: "Hey, Penny, do you have any charge points or reading lights at my seat?" Penny: "F U!"

A really interesting tale of your journeys Jago. An interesting point about the Open Access Operators, maybe we can expect to see Jago Railways on the tracks in the next few years

The original pendolinos only have sockets at the tables in standard class. But there is currently a refurbishment program happening which will give all seats in standard class sockets

Its interesting how expensive train travel is in the UK. Amtrak California Zephyr from Salt Lake to Denver, about 500 miles or so, is a $64 (£58) ticket two months out and $109 (£100) a couple days before. And that's in Superliner stock with wall plugs all over it and a cafe/observation car plus dining car when that opens back up to coach class.

12 days late, but this was quite wonderful. Gotta be honest Jago, I even enjoyed your entire, so cleverly scripted, sponsored segment, with my happy chortling staying the finger poised like Damocles Sword above the skip forward key. READLY certainly got their money's worth there. Otherwise, banger content and delightful viewing. Well done. Carry on.

As a child my father took me to the Isle of Wight for a day trip..... From York!!! He was a big wig on the railways so it was First Class all the way, except on the hovercraft and ferry for the wet bit at the end!

The ravings of a madman indeed, Mr Hazzard? Nice to see you were up in my neck of the woods, and yes, Edinburgh/Glasgow city centre hotels are insane priced - especially those like the Balmoral... Also, looking forward to seeing your footage of Edinburgh's Trams, and possibly Glasgow Riverside museum?

I think the main advantage of air over rail is the ability to book their cheapest fares a whole year out. I much prefer taking the train from home in Lanarkshire to London, but I’ve found myself flying a few times just because of the uncertainty of what the price for the train will be by the time it’s released. Also, I’m a 16 year rail employee, and I get ZERO incentive to use the train. Not so much as a voucher. So, I know exactly how everyone else feels about the prices. If the industry won’t encourage their own staff, how can it encourage the public.

One of your best!

If any UK people think that travel from London to Edinburgh is a long trip, I'll just mention that long-distance trains in America (my side of the pond) regularly take 2-3 *days* to get to their destination.

Definitely cheaper prices typically than flying for the most part! However, the LNER overall is faster than flying (due to security and whatnot, let alone travel to and from airports if you wanted to factor that in too). The LNER can be as quick as 3hrs and 38mins from Edinburgh to London, whereas a flight can take 1hr 35mins, but then at least 2hrs for security and checks (4hrs more now with staff shortages), and then getting off the other end and out.

You could have stayed in a small town between Edinburgh and Glasgow, in other words up to Edinburgh stay overnight between Edinburgh and Glasgow then return via the West Coast mainline. The other option would have been to travel from Edinburgh down the Borders Railway and stay at Galashiels then train via Edinburgh to Glasgow for the return leg.

I can't see that air is much faster. With check in closing an hour before departure, and the flights taking an hour, and then having to get to / from the airport at either end, I'd say it would be a very close run thing! If you ever fancied a race, I'd be up for that!

👍👍👍 Cant wait for the next trip !

Avanti is refurbishing there 390s, with new seats and power outlets at every seat

We took the train (LNER) from KingsX to Edinburgh in July. Afterwards we wanted to visit family near Milton Keynes. After looking through multiple options on the train to either MK or Northampton we decided to fly to Luton. It cost a third of the train and including all the time at the airport was 3x as fast. Rental car options at LTN were far superior as well.

Taking the train is a gem when you get the right cheap ticket. I have from time to time come close to being stuck in a city or town when cancellations happen.

Interesting trips. I'd have looked for a hotel somewhere between the cities that's not as far away as London but also has trains for both.

You know Jago, you should do more trip reviews, both in this video were very good