Leeds to Oban trains

[scotsbikester]

I'm planning visiting the Outer Hebrides, with my bike. I'm in Leeds.

I'm looking for the best train route. People say that Avanti on the WCML are good for bikes, and hopefully the new Scotrail bike carriages from Glasgow to Oban should be good.

So I'm thinking Leeds-Preston-Glasgow-Oban. I'll need to change stations in Glasgow, but they only seem to be half a mile apart.

I've never taken the bike on a train, and I want to keep stress low. It's a "touring" frame, with 700c wheels. I won't be taking a lot of gear, as I'll be B&Bing or hostelling.

People say Northern Rail are OK for bikes (the Leeds-Preston leg). Is that true? Best to avoid rush hour they say - what is "rush hour" on a train?

Also, I'd like to get on trains at the start of train's journey, if possible, as that seems like a way to reduce stress. Is there a better WCML station to choose, with that in mind?

Thanks.

 

[ColinJ]

People say Northern Rail are OK for bikes (the Leeds-Preston leg). Is that true? Best to avoid rush hour they say - what is "rush hour" on a train?

Northern are great. The only time I have ever had a problem was one evening 'rush hour' train back from Leeds towards Hebden Bridge. Rush hour is when you would expect - when everybody is heading to work in the morning or heading back in the evening. In my case, about 5:10 pm. The train was so crammed full of people that I wouldn't have been able to get on even without a bike! A couple of hundred people must have finished work in Leeds city centre between 4:30 and 5:00 and rushed to catch the train home. The next train about 25 minutes later was fine - no problem at all.

I imagine that there would be a lot of people heading towards Leeds on a weekday morning and far fewer heading towards Preston but I have never travelled in that direction early.

If you were travelling on a Saturday then you wouldn't have that problem anyway.

 

[PaulSB]

My overall experience with trains is one is unlikely to encounter a problem. Some lines it's essential to book, for example WCML, and others, probably Leeds to Preston walk up is OK. If I was making your trip I would make sure I booked myself and the bike in advance. Despite what you may read or hear it's a simple enough process.

As you're planning B&B just note Castlebay is a small place with only a few B&Bs so booking for the night of your arrival is important. When I toured the Outer Hebrides I booked in Castlebay and took pot luck everywhere else.

I'd advise eating a meal on the ferry. I've arrived in Barra early evening to find everything shut and so dined on crisps, peanuts and a pint of beer!

 

[Slick]

I can only really speak of the Scottish leg of your trip and your right, Central Station to Queen Street is very easy walking distance although there is a bus running between the two stations all day. I've added a link for the fairly new Highland Explorer that I haven't actually used yet but it does look excellent and I know @oldwheels is from that part of the world, so may be able to help further.

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotrail-highland-explorer

 

[oldwheels]

Cannot speak from experience but I have seen the Glasgow/Oban train often and at least in summer it has a cycle carriage but not on every train so you would need to check. I have not travelled by train recently but often by ferry.
I would second the suggestion to eat on the ferry in the evening. It does vary a bit from boat to boat but most are pretty good and Castlebay may have changed in the last couple of years due to the avalanche of tourists. I found many B&B would not take bookings from singles so I just took a tent. Even that has changed as there were no sites when I was last there and you could pitch up more or less anywhere with permission from the nearest dwelling if it was nearby.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Craignure ferry: I found it took a little stress away if timings might be tight to book tickets online (carry on your phone) to save having to queue. I got there with 15 minutes to spare (after riding 85km) and was glad not to have the stress of locking up the bike (with all kit) and spending time inside the ticket office, with the clock ticking away.
I assume the train arrival times are deliberately aligned with ferry departures (+30 mins say). Having said that, Oban's well worth exploring for a few hours. Enjoy the planning @scotsbikester

 

[Blue Hills]

West coast excellent with bikes - but only once you have the booking in your mitts.

Booking the bike online is very easy but after a recent experience I would be inclined to make the booking at a station if with a bike and you can - they are supposed to be able to sell you anything that can be bought online at the same price. I booked a ticket online with bike from Manchester to London - tickets printed out of the machine OK for me but not the two bike tickets. Avanti West Coast were damn useless at sorting it - an email response said they could see that my bike tickets had printed out - they damn well hadn't and my printed receipt showed just 3 had printed and only ever been meant to be - receipt and two tickets for me. They suggested I go to the ticket office at the print-out station to get it sorted - I pointed out that the ticket office at that station was permanently shut. They seemed unaware of this. No response whatsoever to my email reply with full info asking for a meaningful solution. I never got a reply. I had to cycle a 70km round trip to the nice folk at Skipton booking office and they sorted it but only by giving me an entirely new bike booking - if one hadn't been available I would have had an entirely useless train ticket on a train leaving with one bike space free.

A complaint is sitting with them.

I have a vague memory that something similar happened on an earlier West Coast booking when Virgin ran the service - that involved a ride to Blackburn (not my departure station) to get it sorted.

Northern don't take bike bookings but as above they are excellent with bikes.

An alternative route if you have never done the wondrous Settle to Carlisle line (maybe you have) would be Leeds to Carlisle with Northern then pick up the West Coast line there. No barriers at Carlisle so a quick in and out - I know an excellent spoons just a couple of minutes away - you can get to it down a back lane and plonk your bike at the back in clear sight. Great place to sit out a train change.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Train bookings: use gwr.com Is the best, imo

 

[PaulSB]

Presuming you going to be island hoping on the Outer Hebrides check the tickets available via Calmac. When I've visited there have been very competitively priced multi-journey tickets. I think they are called "Hopscotch" tickets/passes.

 

[Blue Hills]

Presuming you going to be island hoping on the Outer Hebrides check the tickets available via Calmac. When I've visited there have been very competitively priced multi-journey tickets. I think they are called "Hopscotch" tickets/passes.

be great if those still exist - happy memories of a carcamping trip around the islands with one of those.
I need to get back on one of the damn bikes.

 

[Slick]

Island Hopping only currently bookable by phone, but they are still on offer.

Not sure about Hopscotch though.

https://www.calmac.co.uk/island-hopping

 

[mudsticks]

Craignure ferry: I found it took a little stress away if timings might be tight to book tickets online (carry on your phone) to save having to queue. I got there with 15 minutes to spare (after riding 85km) and was glad not to have the stress of locking up the bike (with all kit) and spending time inside the ticket office, with the clock ticking away.
I assume the train arrival times are deliberately aligned with ferry departures (+30 mins say). Having said that, Oban's well worth exploring for a few hours. Enjoy the planning @scotsbikester

Last time I was on the Oban train with a bike there was a fellow passenger slightly panicking because it was looking touch and go whether the slightly delayed train was going to get in, in time for the ferry (to Mull on this occasion)

As it was, we got there in time so all was well, but the train manager did say, when she overheard this exchange that its has been known for the ferry to wait, if notified of delayed passengers on the train.


I wonder if it's something about ferries in particular??
Cos when I was having a similar panic about getting to the Santander ferry with my bike due to circumstances, someone here said they would also wait a bit if notified.
Which seemed an astounding notion on such a big boat, but someone (who appeared to know what they were talking about) said it was so...

Agree Oban is a nice place to kick about in for a day waiting for a ferry, good bookshop (hope it's still there) I bought "The loch of the green Corries" there for absorbing , but non spooky tent reading whilst camping it up the Western Isles.

It was very nearly dark when arriving on Barra, but I somehow found a nice clifftop perch for my tent on Vatersay, with the help of some nice people I met along the way..

Oh now I'm all wistful for touring in Scotland again..😳

.

 

[PaulSB]

be great if those still exist - happy memories of a carcamping trip around the islands with one of those.
I need to get back on one of the damn bikes.

Oh you should. First time I went it was a choice between LeJog and the Outer Hebrides. I made the right choice. One of the top three cycle rides of my life and an experience I will never forget. Fabulous place. I talked so much about it our French friends insisted we take them the following year for a holiday, which we did.

I'll stop or I'll get all sentimental next......

 

[classic33]

People say Northern Rail are OK for bikes (the Leeds-Preston leg). Is that true? Best to avoid rush hour they say - what is "rush hour" on a train?

"Rush Hour"* on Northern is known as peak period, 06:00 - 09:30 & 16:00 - 18:30.

There's upgrade work to be done later this year, so keeping an ear open for this would help. Supposed to have been done in the last two years, but put off as it was essential.

*Also a time when you can expect to see platform 12C as just a mass of people.

Time amended from 07:00 to 06:00 after checking today the morning peak period.

 

[oldwheels]

Craignure ferry: I found it took a little stress away if timings might be tight to book tickets online (carry on your phone) to save having to queue. I got there with 15 minutes to spare (after riding 85km) and was glad not to have the stress of locking up the bike (with all kit) and spending time inside the ticket office, with the clock ticking away.
I assume the train arrival times are deliberately aligned with ferry departures (+30 mins say). Having said that, Oban's well worth exploring for a few hours. Enjoy the planning @scotsbikester

For a bike or foot passenger it is not really necessary to book and I have never done so. It was necessary to book during the peak of the pandemic due to restrictions on numbers travelling. This caused much local anger as tourists booked weeks in advance but locals with urgent journeys were forbidden to travel. You had to have a printed ticket last time I travelled a couple of weeks ago as they are not yet set up to read from a phone.