As a slightly late celebration of a significant birthday, my wife and I took a trip to Scotland by train to explore a part I had not really covered well before, namely Perth, Dundee and Fife. We have two friends who hail from Dundee, both of whom still have family in the area, and both of whom have told us that the city centre has been transformed by recent redevelopment. Two significant maritime attractions (Discovery and HMS Unicorn), an additional recommendation to see Dunkeld, an attractive half-board offer for a Perth Hotel from a chain we’ve used before and the opportunity to try the East Coast Main Line again after over 10 years since our last trip to Scotland using it all helped plan the break. Initially I looked at Lumo, but although the price for King’s Cross to Edinburgh is attractive, by the time you add a period return from Goring & Streatley to King’s Cross, and onwards to Perth, and the additional hassle on changing for Perth, we went for LNER directly to Perth on the daily down Inverness train.

Part One – LNER and Azumas.

This was my first opportunity to try the LNER version of the (dreaded?) IET. The first impression on boarding is favourable. Simply having a bright interior with white walls and red upholstery seems to give a much more welcoming atmosphere than the gloomy grey ambience of GWR’s offering.

As to the seats, I don’t know how much difference there is to the underlying structure of the seat, but the softer upholstery material of LNER’s seats feels more comfortable than GWR’s. The seat base still feels firm, but no evidence of that uncomfortable bar across the seat now becoming evident through the seat cushion on GWR trains that has been commented upon elsewhere in this forum. We generally felt comfortable during our near six-hour journey, although during the extended return journey (see below!) I did have a cramp requiring a stroll part-way through the return journey.

The seat reservation signage seemed to work well, with just a short delay before updating after station when a seat became available. The train was generally clean, and the upholstery seemed to be standing up well to use so far. There was some evidence of the finish to the wall finished below the windows. Having had the opportunity to chose seats on-line when booking well in advance we secured table seats with good views, but noticed that many seats still do not align elsewhere in the carriages. This is a shame on a service that runs on one of the most scenically-rewarding routes once you get past Darlington going north.

For forum members for whom on-board catering is important, the picture is mixed. We did not leave anything to chance, stocking up for lunch at Pret at King’s Cross and Costa at Perth for outward and return journeys. The Azumas have a modest snack counter in coach G, and a QR code ordering system at the seats for Standard Class. On the way up, its staff was friendly, but they were already running out of some items at Peterborough. LNER coffee also does not score well. “Almost as bad as Starbucks” was my wife’s verdict!

There was also a common problem with on-board announcements, namely that they were almost inaudible for the first part of the outward journey. Perhaps a replacement crew picked up that sound was down, as things improved after (I think) York.

All went well on the journey up to Perth, everything ran to time. On the way back it also went well until we had just passed Tursdale Junction, where the disused Leamside Line leaves the ECML. We came to a halt, and soon the train announcements kicked in. Credit to the crew, they passed on to us what the problem was when they were informed. A train had failed ahead, leaving us third in a queue of down trains waiting for a gap in the up traffic to enable each train to get past. A subsequent announcement informed us that there were three trains to pass on the other line before we could proceed. Just as the second one passed us, a further announcement informed us that someone had managed to get the failed train moving again, so we would soon be moving again. By this time we had lost over 40 minutes. LNER’s website estimated we would make up time so as to be 28 minutes late at King’s Cross. At York, however, we were informed that we would be held as there was a train from Edinburgh that had caught us up that was to run non-stop to London, whereas we were due to stop at Doncaster, Newark and Peterborough. So we ended up 43 minutes late at King’s Cross, but at least we had an explanation and apologies every time we stopped and new passengers joined.

Finally, a comment on LNER’s apparent commitment to simplifying fares. So, why was the outward fare from Goring to Perth with Senior Card £68-25, but the return one £72-30? Was it a peak fare for the Paddington-Goring leg on the way back?

Next time, ScotRail, HSTs and some thoughts on destinations and stations.