[Travel] Newcastle to Brighton direct train service

[Pinkie Brown]

This would be excellent. IIRC there used to be a long distance service to Manchester from Brighton many moons ago which ran maybe once a week as well as another Long Distance service to Great Malvern.

This is the sort of route innovation that the rail network needs to engage in.

As I recall it used to do a grand tour before getting to Manchester, stopping loads. Going from Brighton to Manchester was way quicker via London from Euston. Looking at the routing of this new train, it appears to take a similar round the houses route.

 

[Whitley Bayster]

Given you only need a brief pootle across to Kings Cross from Thameslink St Pancras they aren't making the trip that much more appealing. Getting the flights reinstated between Newcastle and Gatwick would be far more attractive

 

[ROSM]

Not to derail (thank you) this thread but, as a frequent user of them before the Channel Tunnel ruined everything, I’d love to research and write a book about the many old stations that used to connect rail connections to ferries: Dover Western Docks, Ostend, Calais, the little Newhaven one and that very stylish station building on the quayside in Dieppe, all gone or converted now.

For marseille last season we went from Newhaven to Dieppe to Rouen to Paris to Marseille

The walk from the new dieppe ferry terminal to dieppe station was c25mins at 5am in the morning (no cabs, no buses)..i understand ferries need a deeper harbour now but the londres, chartres, senlac, villandray and valencay were wonderful vessels.

Whilst dieppe main station is superb, the ferry station was a work of art. There was a ubiquitous giant wheel where the old ferry port and that station would have been.

Even prisunic had gone too

 

[Withdean South Stand]

Could be a useful addition for away games. Not until December 2026 if at all though

Arriva Group submits open access rail application to connect Newcastle and Brighton, via London Gatwick

New services operated by Arriva’s Grand Central would introduce a direct rail connection between the Northeast and Midlands to London Gatwick and the South Coast. Making better use of available network capacity, the proposed route would connect underserved communities in the UK and enhance...

news.arriva.co.uk

Although looking at the calling pattern, I think it will be December 2027 by the time the train gets to Newcastle.

View attachment 200591

It doesn't say how long the journey would take, do you have any insight into the total journey time? Thank you for sharing this link.

 

[jackalbion]

It doesn't say how long the journey would take, do you have any insight into the total journey time? Thank you for sharing this link.

At a guess about 8 or so hours, especially with the round the houses route.

 

[Gwylan]

Indeed. Why not get rid of the stop at Northallerton and add Preston Park?

No, Northallerton is the station on that route I use the most. I have a friend who lives near there and we visit her a couple of times a year. That's a very handy service for me

 

[studio150]

2 carriages standing room only

 

[Seaview Seagull]

I don't think the rationale is to encourage end to end travel on the routeIt is more likely to provide alternatives on shorter journeys along the route that can be competitive on time and price whilst avoiding London.

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

Guildford to Brighton direct would be a handy option.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Awesome news for me… don’t care if it takes three weeks I can get to home games without having to Fanny about in London.

Reminds me of the "good" old days when British Rail operated a direct service from Brighton to Manchester Piccadilly, it left at 09.18 Monday to Saturday l seem to recall.

I used it for a while whenever we were playing away in the West Midlands and Lancashire, until l got so flipping tired of the time it took to get to my destination. It used very old rolling stock, and there was an interminable wait in a railway yard somewhere west of London where they changed engines. Iy was usually very late by the time it reached wherever l wanted to go.

Quite honestly l think you will probably be much better off fannying about in London if this new Newcastle service is anything like the same.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

2006 was the last one, I dropped a link to a website about the history on post #9. There even used to be a Manchester Piccadilly to Newhaven Marine service in the late 80s!

Indeed. Cross Country still operate regular services to the north from the likes of Bournemouth, and Penzance, so why not Brighton?

 

[jackalbion]

Indeed. Cross Country still operate regular services to the north from the likes of Bournemouth, and Penzance, so why not Brighton?

To do with the requirement for paths for commuter services, as much as it was great running a 4 carriage voyager through the middle of rush hour was not great use of capacity. I have to say I'm surprised with this proposal as I can't see where they are going to find 5 paths each way!

 

[Bry Nylon]

US Amtrak's Floridian, goes from Chicago to Cleveland to Pittsburgh to Washington DC to Savannah, Georgia to Tampa to Miami. Over 48 hours of travel and yes, there are toilets

Thanks. But not much good if you’ve got Rotherham away in the Carabao Cup on a Tuesday night.

Still, have this week’s award:

 

[Withdean South Stand]

To do with the requirement for paths for commuter services, as much as it was great running a 4 carriage voyager through the middle of rush hour was not great use of capacity. I have to say I'm surprised with this proposal as I can't see where they are going to find 5 paths each way!

Which part are you thinking about here specifically? Difficult finding the capacity between Gatwick and Brighton, or more broadly on the network?

 

[Terry Connor]

When I was at Warwick Uni in the early 80s, I used to get the direct train from Coventry to Brighton via the West London line, leaving about 8am Saturdays, give my mum a bag of washing when I arrived at Brighton, go for a couple of pints, watch the game, collect clean washing then go back via London in time for the free bands in the Student Union on the Saturday night. £3.75 special return fare with a student railcard. Mind you £3.75 would get you 7 pints of Old Hooky, so equivalent of £35 today in beer tokens.

 

[jackalbion]

Which part are you thinking about here specifically? Difficult finding the capacity between Gatwick and Brighton, or more broadly on the network?

Between Gatwick and Brighton, only double track and its pretty much wall to wall at the moment, might be able to sneak some stuff in very late and very early though.

 

[Giraffe]

Actually, seeing as there is no longer a Gatwick-Newcastle Flight, I can see this doing very well (IF it happens)

Depends on how much it costs though. If you book quickly when the fixture is confirmed the flight from Heathrow to Newcastle might actually be cheaper. Albeit you do have to get to Heathrow in the first place.

 

[mile oak]

Will it have a sleeper carriage?

 

[GT49er]

This would be excellent. IIRC there used to be a long distance service to Manchester from Brighton many moons ago which ran maybe once a week as well as another Long Distance service to Great Malvern.

Many moons ago indeed! Well over a century ago in fact! The London Brighton and South Coast Railway joined up with the LNWR to Run the Sunny South Express to and from Brighton to destinations up north - I believe it was split, probably at Crewe, into Liverpool and Manchester portions.

Right up to the 1960s, and maybe beyond, the train(s) known to Southern railwaymen as 'The Birkenhead' ran with portions from the Kent coast, Hastings and Eastbourne, joining up and reversing at Redhill, then to the GWR at Reading, thence via Oxford and Birmingham to the old GWR terminus at Birkenhead Woodside, just across the ferry from Liverpool. This train - sometimes as two separate trains from Redhill if the trains that arrived there were too long to join up as a single train - ran daily, one journey each way, plus sometimes a relief on Summer Saturdays.

 

[BNthree]

Will it have a sleeper carriage?

Would love to see more sleeper services