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Original poster

What is going on with London to Liverpool trains?

63 replies

nancy75 · 31/10/2022 12:18

I'm not sure if I'm going mad, but i am trying to book a train to go from London to Liverpool on a Saturday and come back on a Sunday & they don't seem to exist!
Every website is saying booking not open yet or times not confirmed can't buy tickets. I am looking to travel in November (probably 26/27) so it's not months in advance. trains to everywhere else seem to be running.

OP posts:
PanicAtTheBigTesco · 31/10/2022 14:05

ouchyoubiteybugger · 31/10/2022 13:45

Yes that'll be the strikes ATM we only seem able to bookweekend trips a couple of weeks ahead at most.

It's nothing to do with the strikes, Avanti are just trying to use them as an excuse.

AntiqueCestChic · 31/10/2022 14:07

The issue is Avanti's west coast service.

Sadly I have to travel from the north west to London for work on a very regular basis and it is shit.

Avanti often don't release tickets for sale until the last minute- if at all- they've massively reduced the timetable and trains are often cancelled or delayed.

I usually go via Crewe or Birmingham on other train operators as Avanti are so shit. I was so disappointed they got an extension to their franchise recently- but nothing seems to have improved so hoping they lose it when it's up for review in a few month's time! Virgin was so much better!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 31/10/2022 14:22

YesThisIsMe · 31/10/2022 13:47

I have a child at uni in Birmingham. Last year it was so quick and easy to run up to see them or for them to come down for the weekend. This year Avanti are a complete write-off. At least West Midlands will get you to Brum for only 45 minutes longer. Anywhere further north must be a nightmare.

The Northern/Midlands mayors need to come down to London mob handed (maybe they could share an Uber?) and bang heads together - starting with <<checks notes>> Mark Harper, and then hit the airwaves with a targeted pressure campaign backed up by Starmer and the Labour front bench.

It is a nightmare. My Euston to Glasgow leg is followed by another train and a ferry. I don't drive but even if I did I wouldn't want to drive that far and it would take even longer than the train. I hate flying and want to avoid it for environmental reasons but I even looked at doing that when I saw how bad the Avanti service was getting. I've also wondered about going up the East Coast line instead and across from Edinburgh. It can't be much slower and may be more reliable.

I could spit when I think of the enormous sums being wasted on HST to shave a few minutes of London to Birmingham, and not used instead to improve the services we already have.

Original poster
nancy75 · 31/10/2022 14:29

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g I agree, I really wouldn't usually even think of flying within the UK but it just seems like madness that you can fly (with BA so not a cheap airline) for half the price of the train and that's if you can even get a train! Your journey sounds nothing short of a nightmare

OP posts:
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 31/10/2022 14:39

It's a bit of a mission but I end up in a beautiful place and I stay with my parents, so it's worth it! Just a bit worrying at the moment as my Dad is unwell and I am on tenterhooks that I may get a call at any time and need to get up there asap.

My other huge beef is with the SNP who have absolutely messed up the ferry replacement process, which means the ferry is extremely unreliable in the winter, but that's a whole other saga ...

BooksAreSaferThanPeople · 31/10/2022 14:43

Yeah DH regularly has to go Penrith to Euston and it's been a nightmare since the summer. They release tickets a few days before travel so you can't plan anything!

The government don't care because it's only us northerners who are affected. Imagine the uproar if the same thing was happening on the London - Home County commute routes.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 31/10/2022 14:47

Have they just decided the Red Wall will go red again no matter what they do, then? You'd have thought they might be trying to do something, anything, to keep hold of a few of the votes they got from the north last time.

Ted27 · 31/10/2022 14:47

@nancy75

I'd suggest getting a train from London to Birmingham and then Bhm to Liverpool.

YesThisIsMe · 31/10/2022 15:04

The government don't care because it's only us northerners who are affected. Imagine the uproar if the same thing was happening on the London - Home County commute routes

To be fair, anyone from Brighton reading that might be forgiven for a hollow laugh. The Victoria to Brighton line has been catastrophic on and off for a few years, with not a peep of government intervention.

reigatecastle · 31/10/2022 15:41

Yes does anyone remember the year(s) of strikes on Southern Rail over guards, and then as soon as SWR took over from SWT, the RMT started on them over the position of the guards as well (in fact they started even before the handover had taken place). Since covid there hasn't been a peep about it though. I do think we are incredibly lucky with our service, even though it has been heavily reduced since covid.

The London to Liverpool service used to be great. It's an absolute shambles that this has been allowed to happen.

reigatecastle · 31/10/2022 15:42

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 31/10/2022 14:47

Have they just decided the Red Wall will go red again no matter what they do, then? You'd have thought they might be trying to do something, anything, to keep hold of a few of the votes they got from the north last time.

Not Liverpool though, that stayed Red.

balalake · 31/10/2022 16:08

I think you may have to look at going on Friday coming back Sunday as an option, given the train strike on Saturday. Or find another day to visit the university.

Original poster
nancy75 · 31/10/2022 16:26

balalake · 31/10/2022 16:08

I think you may have to look at going on Friday coming back Sunday as an option, given the train strike on Saturday. Or find another day to visit the university.

The train strike is this weekend, we’re not going until the end of November

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