Every major British rail journey
Timings, operators, stops, seat-side advice and where the split-ticket savings actually are — for the routes American travelers use most.
Intercity, cross-border and scenic
From the 52-minute hop to Brighton to the five-hour West Highland Line to Mallaig.
4h 20m
London to Edinburgh
The East Coast Main Line is Britain's great scenic express route — Durham Cathedral from the viaduct, the Northumberland coast…
2h 07m
London to Manchester
The busiest long-distance city pair in Britain, with tilting Pendolino trains running the West Coast Main Line through the Trent…
4h 30m
London to Glasgow
Over Shap Fell and Beattock Summit, past the Lake District fells and the Southern Uplands. Or take the Caledonian Sleeper…
2h 13m
London to Leeds
Fast East Coast running to West Yorkshire, with Grand Central offering an open-access alternative at often dramatically lower fares.
1h 22m
London to Birmingham
Britain's shortest major intercity hop, with a fast Avanti service and a slower, far cheaper London Northwestern alternative via Northampton.
1h 25m
London to Bristol
Brunel's Great Western Main Line, now fully electrified as far as Bristol Parkway, running through the Thames Valley and the…
1h 50m
London to Cardiff
Through the Severn Tunnel into Wales — under two hours from Paddington to the Welsh capital.
2h 12m
London to Liverpool
West Coast Main Line express to Merseyside, arriving at the magnificent trainshed of Lime Street in the heart of the…
1h 51m
London to York
Under two hours to one of Europe's most complete medieval cities — and the home of the National Railway Museum.
2h 50m
London to Newcastle
Across the King Edward VII Bridge with the Tyne below and the city rising on both banks — one of…
42m
Edinburgh to Glasgow
Scotland's central belt shuttle — four trains an hour, 42 minutes, no reservation needed.
2h 16m
London to Paris (Eurostar)
City centre to city centre under the English Channel in 2 hours 16 minutes — faster than flying once you…
1h 40m
Settle to Carlisle
The most spectacular railway in England: 72 miles across the Yorkshire Dales and the Eden Valley, over the 24-arch Ribblehead…
5h 15m
West Highland Line
Rannoch Moor, Loch Treig, Ben Nevis and finally the Glenfinnan Viaduct — the most famous stretch of railway in the…
52m
London to Brighton
Under an hour from central London to the Sussex coast, with departures every fifteen minutes and Gatwick Airport on the…
3h 15m
Manchester to Edinburgh
North over Shap and Beattock through the Lake District and Southern Uplands — the cross-border route the tourists miss.
Choosing between operators on the same route
Britain's most useful quirk for a traveler is that several major routes are served by more than one company, and their pricing is entirely independent.
- London – Edinburgh — LNER (fast, full service), Lumo (all-electric, single class, cheap) and Avanti via the West Coast (slower, different scenery).
- London – Leeds — LNER and Grand Central, whose fares can diverge dramatically on the same day.
- London – Birmingham — Avanti in 82 minutes, or London Northwestern in two hours for roughly half the price.
- London – Newcastle — LNER, Lumo and Grand Central all compete.
- Manchester – Edinburgh — TransPennine direct, which almost always beats routing via London.
A consumer search engine will usually show you one of these. We check all of them, plus the split-ticket construction, plus your Railcard eligibility, before quoting.
The scenic detours worth taking
- Settle to Carlisle — 72 miles across the Yorkshire Dales over the Ribblehead Viaduct.
- West Highland Line — Rannoch Moor, Ben Nevis and the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
- Kyle Line — Inverness to the Isle of Skye ferry across the Highlands.
- Cambrian Coast — the Welsh coast from Machynlleth to Pwllheli.
- Dawlish sea wall — the GWR main line running literally against the Devon shoreline.
