I’m just fed up with the Perth-Edinburgh train service – slow trains, hopeless times [particularly in the early morning], lack of parking at Perth Station and so on … So I’m going through one of my phases of trying alternatives – before I go back to the train. Today’s was to drive to the new Park and Ride at Ingliston just by Edinburgh Airport and take the £1.20 bus in from there. It proved to be not a great idea. I waited almost 15 minutes for the bus at each end and it was a painfully slow journey to the City Centre. I would have been faster on the Brompton but the A8 is not appetising for cyclists.
Next attempt is the Megabus – maybe from the Park and Ride at Kinross rather than the Broxden Roundabout. I’ll let you know how it goes.
A flurry of phone calls from Belfast this morning reminded me that the BBC in Belfast has been putting out some of my pre-recorded Thought for the Day – if you’re interested it’s here and here and here and here
I fell out of love with the trains after a recent trip back from Cambridge – left Cambridge at 4 pm and due back in Perth at 0005. At 0030 we were still stuck outside Perth being told that it was a ‘signalling problem’ and then that ‘they were having difficulty getting a platform’ Eventually arrived at 0045. The only other occupant of my carriage suggested that it might be an overtime issue. Certainly was overtime.
Trains – I agree, and they are a terrible price.
You could try parking in Craigie (free) and walking over the bridge to the station front door, or park in Gray Street (free), and walk in over the other bridge (from Glasgow Road) to platform 7. You can actually park there too for £3 a day.
Megabus is good, reasonably reliable, and cheap. But you can’t just jump on any bus easily: you need to specify which busses you travel on – can be tricky if you don’t know how long you will be in Edinburgh.
Park and Ride at Ferrytoll is OK too, but not cheap – I have not done it for a while.
You could drive in to somewhere past Quality Street on the Queensferry Road, park up just off the main road and catch a 41 bus: £1.20 now I think, and every 15 minutes.
Of course, cars, park and rides and busses are all subject to the same delays on the roads, although the bus lane going in from the Forth Bridge does help when it is busy.
Who could have thought that the 45 miles from Perth to Edinburgh could be so complicated?