Cardiff - London Train Journey?

Question

I'm researching cities and Universities in the UK, and Cardiff University is one of my top three choices.

As I have a lot of friends living in London I was wondering how a train journey between the two cities is. Is it terribly expensive? Is service regular or infrequent?

I want to hear from first hand experience; something you couldn't find on a basic internet site.

Answer 1

there's high speed trains which are quick, frequent and reliable ... what has not been reliable is the track ... over the last few years we've been through a period when just about every weekend they were working on the line somewhere or other and there was replacement bus services which were a nightmare (if they're doing track work, it's almost always over the weekend, the weekday services are much more rarely affected) ... I think it's all finished now and they're busy digging up another part of the UK at the moment and causing havoc with the west coast main line out of London

I agree with the previous poster, the trick is to search the website and book your tickets well in advance to get the best prices

www.thetrainline.com

alternatively if you leave it to the last minute, coaches are a lot cheaper, but they take longer of course

www.nationalexpress.com

Answer 2

the train journey from Cardiff to London Paddington takes just over two hours on a good day, up to four on a bad day!

The trains are new, clean and safe, and leave up to every half hour throughout the day.  If you book in advance you can get cheap tickets (say £15 return), whereas if you leave it to the day you travel to buy tickets they can be quite expensive (£60 one way).

First Great Western run the service and have a reputation as one of the worst train operators in the UK... think delays, breakdowns and replacement buses on weekends while they upgrade the track.

It's mostly good though, and they are working on improving it.