On Sat, 17 May 2003 22:48:32 +0100 someone who may be "Dave Moore"
<
[email protected]> wrote this:-
> I'm thinking about doing some touring in west Scotland. However, given my current location is
> Kent, I'm wondering how the hell to get myself and the bike and all the kit (I'll be camping)
> up there. The obviously route is via numerous trains journeys including the underground.
I have little idea about trains from Kent, but when you get to London the easiest thing to do
is cycle to Kings Cross or Euston. Most of the London terminals take less than 20 minutes to
cycle between.
You don't say which part of west Scotland. If going to the Oban/Fort William area then there are
trains from Euston and Kings Cross to Glasgow Central, which have large luggage vans, though you
will need to book a space. These are easy to get a fully laden bike in and out of.
www.nationalrail.co.uk is your starting point for journey planning.
In Glasgow you will need to cycle to Queen Street Station, though you may prefer to push the bike
due to some mad "pedestrianisation" that took no real account of cycling. Here there are trains to
Oban and Fort William/Mallaig. These also need a space to be booked, which is much more congested
and you will probably need to take most of the luggage off.
Alternatively you could travel directly to Fort William on the sleeper, saving a day. This takes
bikes all the way AFAIR, but does need to be booked. They have been running special offers on the
sleeper train, which may help.
http://www.scotrail.co.uk. Note that when refurbishing coaches for
the sleeper the railways, in their infinite wisdom, removed the large doors from the vans, so that
you will probably need to take the luggage off to get the bike in. However, boarding sleepers at the
terminal is a leisurely affair that you can do in the hour or so before departure time. There is
space in sleeper cabins to get camping kit, though it needs to be stowed neatly (cyclists are
generally good at this).
If you are going further north west then the place to get to is Inverness. This can be done by
direct day trains from Kings Cross (a handful of direct trains, possibly only one), or on the
sleeper (another portion of the one that goes to Fort William). It is also possible to change to an
Inverness train at Edinburgh Waverley, but with a laden bike it's easier to get a direct train, not
the least because it's another link to go wrong.
From Inverness you can either cycle directly, or catch trains to Kyle of Lochalsh or Thurso. These
are similar to the Oban trains, with the same booking system and luggage space.
If you are going to the south west then you can either go to Glasgow and catch a train to the area
(same booking, two routes to Stranraer or Carlisle via Dumfries), or go to Carlisle and change there
for the train to Glasgow via Dumfries.
So the minimum is two train trips (one from Kent to London and the second the sleeper or direct day
train to Inverness). Hardly difficult in my view, driving to Scotland is certainly more complicated.
--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E I will always explain revoked
keys, unless the UK government prevents me using the RIP Act 2000.
