Operator: LNER
Headcode: 1S10
Route: PBO-EDB
Class: 1st Class
Seat: ??
Date: Friday 27th January 2023
The end of January saw my second trip to Scotland of the year, with Beth & I heading north with my in-laws to spend the weekend in Glasgow. The first part of this trip saw us travelling from Peterborough to Edinburgh with LNER and on this occasion we’d decided to upgrade to first class.
As with all LNER services, our train had started at London King’s Cross and had a journey of just under 400 miles to connect the English and Scottish capitals. Peterborough was the first stop for this service and with us having boarded, we departed a couple of minutes late behind a delayed LNER service to York that calls at all stations (some foreshadowing here…)
Within a couple of minutes of departing the helpful and friendly Newcastle based crew came around with the drinks trolley and some decent coffee to help with what had been an early start that morning. At our seats were also menus for the LNER ‘Dish’ first class menu, and we were advised that the breakfast menu was still being served, giving us the choice of six options for a light brunch.
Whilst the next stop for our service was Newark Northgate, we were unfortunately delayed approaching Grantham and the York service sent ahead of us at Peterborough stopped there and there was no opportunity for us to overtake. This service also stopped at Newark and so by the time it had called at both stations and we had stopped at Newark, we left Northgate station seven minutes late. Thankfully the next stop for the York service was Retford where the platforms are served by loops off the mainline, giving the opportunity to overtake.
Just after we left Newark the crew came around to take food orders and I opted for the waffles with rhubarb jam. Beth also opted for the waffles but with maple flavour syrup (not actual maple syrup seemingly…) whilst her parents both opted for bacon rolls. Other options were a meatless sausage sandwich, a porridge pot, flapjack or a yoghurt, but none of these tickled our fancy.
All in all there were eight intermediate stops on our journey and with Newark Northgate out of the way, we had stops at Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Morpeth and Alnmouth to look forward to before arriving at Edinburgh. This particular service is a bit of an oddity and generally the LNER Edinburgh services that call at stations between London and York then run fast from Newcastle and vice versa, however our service had multiple stops and both ends of the journey.
Our food arrived just before we stopped at Doncaster and the waffles turned out to be singular but delicious, whilst unfortunately the bacon rolls were the same microwaved sadness that you can buy in standard class. The ‘Dish’ menu is slightly more substantial than the ‘Deli’ menu served on some LNER services but when I actually compared the two menus, the waffles are the only additional item on the breakfast menu.
From Doncaster to York we passed along the Selby diversion, the UK’s first high-speed railway (not HS1!) and something I’ve written about a few times before. This runs from Temple Hirst Junction (south of Selby) to Colton Junction (south of York) and features high-speed junctions to allow for express services to pass over the full section and high speed.
At Colton Junction the East Coast Mainline (ECML) meets the lines to/from Leeds via Church Fenton and where we could see the ongoing work of the Transpennie Route Upgrade (TRU) which is seeing this section of the line receive electrification. This will allow TransPennie Express (TPE) and the few LNER services to run on electric traction all the way from Leeds to Scotland, reducing the use of diesel engines.
After our stop at York, I decided to settle down and get some writing done for the second half of the journey north and ended up finishing the Luxembourg blog from my (Not Quite) All the Small Things trip (read that here). There was also another drinks service just after York and I was more than willing to accept another cup of coffee from the wonderful staff.
The stops at Darlington and Durham were uneventful and we were unfortunately on the wrong side of the train to properly enjoy the view of Durham Castle and Cathedral. As we approached Newcastle we passed Tyne Yard which sits on the west side of the ECML and from where engineering trains for works in the north-east depart. Network Rail have multiple yards dotted around the country to deliver engineering works, from Hoo Junction in Kent to Millerhill near Edinburgh.
Crossing the King Edward Bridge, we arrived in Newcastle pretty much back on time and the LNER crew swapped with an Edinburgh based crew for the remainder of our journey north. Once again this crew were friendly and helpful, and following our stop at Morpeth another drinks service was completed and we were even offered more food (which we declined).
The final intermediate stop of our journey was at Alnmouth or Alnmouth for Alnwick, a station I have since learnt is a mile from Alnmouth itself and a good deal further from Alnwick (look out for that Exploring the East Coast soon!). A non-stop run across the Royal Border Bridge and through Berwick brought us into Scotland and a good run on the final stretch through Edinburgh’s commuter belt towns saw us arriving into Edinburgh Waverley two minutes early.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad journey with LNER in terms of the crew and even when things have gone wrong, LNER’s staff have helped recover it. This journey was no different with two great crews and further helped by some good food. It’s a shame that not all LNER services serve a full breakfast (like they did pre-Covid) and the lack of a first class lounge at Peterborough is always going to be a slight negative, but all in all this was a great journey.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 4*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 18/25 (read about my rating system here!)
Flights & Times 
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