Operator: LNER
Headcode: 1E06
Route: GLC-PBO
Class: 1st
Seat: M13
Date: Thursday 21st September 2023
Having had a few days in Glasgow for work it was time to head home. After my disastrous journey north via the West Coast Mainline (read about that here), I had decided to travel home via my more traditional route of LNER and the East Coast Mainline (ECML) but with a slight difference as I was getting the only direct train from Glasgow to Peterborough.
Departing Glasgow Central at 0648, LNER’s 1E06 runs via the West Coast Mainline to Carstairs where it then runs via Midcalder to Edinburgh. Enroute to the Scottish capital there are intermediate stops at Motherwell and Haymarket before departing Edinburgh in the 0800 path south along the ECML. In total the journey from Glasgow to Peterborough is scheduled to take five hours with 10 intermediate stops.
With a five-hour journey ahead of me, I had decided to try out Seatfrog, a website that works in partnership with some railway companies to auction off first class upgrades. Through this I was able to upgrade my ticket for the journey at a cost of £27 (plus the £3 admin fee). Given this would include the first-class onboard service, removing the need for me to buy some breakfast and multiple coffees, I thought it was a reasonable price but probably wouldn’t have paid much more.
With LNER only having one train a day from Glasgow they unfortunately don’t have their own first-class lounge and access isn’t available to the Avanti West Coast lounge, mainly because it doesn’t open until 12 minutes after the service departs. However, with the early departure time and a hotel not far from the station I only had a short wait at the station before boarding.
Boarding on platform 2, it was a bit of a walk to the far end of the train and coach M, however I was soon settling into seat M13 ready to start my journey south. Just one other person was in coach M from Glasgow, although with half of the coach dedicated to the onboard kitchen, the LNER staff were also in and out of the carriage giving it a busy feel despite the early hour.
Whilst the majority of the onboard catering was added to the train at Edinburgh, one of our onboard hosts had made the effort to bring some milk with them so that they could provide us with coffee during the first part of the journey, with this being offered (along with some biscuits) just after Motherwell. Beyond Edinburgh the service was advertised as having LNER’s ‘Dine’ menu onboard which includes larger options such as the ‘Full LNER’ cooked breakfast. Unfortunately this didn’t seem to come to fruition with the ‘Dish’ menu offered instead, providing a choice of bacon or sausage rolls, porridge or a veggie option for breakfast.
Shortly after we departed Edinburgh to undertake the ‘normal’ section of the journey via the ECML, we passed the second of four railway depots on the route, Craigentinny which is operated by Hitachi on behalf of LNER. The depot maintains the Azuma fleet in Scotland, as well as ScotRail, CrossCountry, Lumo and Transpennine Express units and the class 73s that operate the Caledonian Sleeper services north of Edinburgh. We’d already passed Alstom’s Polmadie depot just after leaving Glasgow, which maintains Avanti West Coast’s Pendolino’s and Caledonian Sleeper’s coaches, along with again servicing other operators sets stabled overnight.
After Edinburgh this service stops at seven stations before Peterborough, these being Alnmouth; Newcastle; Durham; Darlington; York; Doncaster; and Newark Northgate with a run of 3 hours 48 minutes south of the Scottish capital. Approaching Newcaslte, we passed the third railway depot of the journey, Northern’s Heaton depot which as well as once again maintaining stabled units of the ECML’s other operators overnight. Our final depot would come just after Doncaster, where Doncaster Carr IEP depot is hidden behind the trees to the east of the ECML.
With the stop at Newcastle complete, we had a new crew for the remainder of the journey who kept us supplied with copious amounts of coffee. Darlington saw the train fill up, with this being the first ‘off-peak’ service of the day south from the County Durham town. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful with me spending the time doing some writing and watching YouTube videos, and we were unhindered along the central section of the ECML, arriving into Peterborough exactly on time.
Whilst the 0648 departure is a bit of a pain (partially as it means missing the hotel breakfast), the once a day LNER service from Glasgow Central certainly makes it more convenient to travel back from Glasgow to ECML stations. The Seatfrog upgrade was reasonable value for money although it was disappointing that the advertised ‘dine’ menu wasn’t available onboard. As always though, what made the journey was the excellent LNER staff, especially the first class host who made sure we were provided with coffee as soon as possible leaving Glasgow.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 3*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 17/25 (read about my rating system here!)
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