UK’s longest train route with 36 stops across the country to be cancelled for good
The new route will be 80 miles shorter
THE longest train ride in the UK that takes around 14 hours will be cancelled this year.
Travelling from Penzance to Aberdeen, the Crosscountry route will no longer go ahead from May.
The once-daily route is the longest single train ride in the country, travelling 775 miles with 26 stops along the way.
First starting in 1921, it was only reinstated back in 2023 after it was paused in the pandemic.
However from May 2025 this will be scrapped, with the new longest route ending in Edinburgh rather than Aberdeen.
This will reduce the route by 80 miles, to 695 miles instead.
A Crosscountry spokesperson told local media: “The changes will mean a more convenient service to Penzance for customers; a day trip from Bristol and the west of England become much more viable thanks to the new timetable.
“There will also be considerable operational efficiencies for us arising from the newly-timed services.”
The once-daily new route will leave from Penzance at 11:15am, arriving in Edinburgh at 10:15pm.
Some of the stops include Taunton, Cheltenham, Derby, York and Newcastle.
And some of the most scenic sites along the way include in Bamburgh Castle and the Dawlish seawall.
Tickets could be found for as little as £78.60 each way if booked in advance.
If you want one of the shortest train rides in the UK you can head to Stourbridge with a tiny one-carriage train operating just 0.8 miles.
And experts have revealed the most scenic train route in the UK to be the Scottish West Highland Line.
The UK is also getting a number of new train routes, including:
- Cardiff to Edinburgh, taking around six hours
- Oxford to Bristol, the first direct route since 2003
- Oxford to Cambridge, by 2030
Here is how train travel has changed in the past 200 years in the UK.
If you want the world’s longest train journey it could be done in 21 days, travelling 12,000 miles from Portugal to Singapore.
With 20 trains needed, the overall cost was estimated to be around £1,000.
Sun Travel's favourite train journeys in the world
Sun Travel's journalists have taken their fare share of train journeys on their travels and here they share their most memorable rail experiences.
Davos to Geneva, Switzerland
“After a ski holiday in Davos, I took the scenic train back to Geneva Airport. The snow-covered mountains and tiny alpine villages that we passed were so beautiful that it felt like a moving picture was playing beyond the glass.” – Caroline McGuire
Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen
“Nothing quite beats the Shinkansen bullet train, one of the fastest in the world. It hardly feels like you’re whizzing along at speed until you look outside and see the trees a green blur. Make sure to book seat D or E too – as you’ll have the best view of Mount Fuji along the way.” Kara Godfrey
London to Paris by Eurostar
“Those who have never travelled on the Eurostar may wonder what’s so special about a seemingly ordinary train that takes you across the channel. You won’t have to waste a moment and can tick off all the top attractions from the Louvre to the Champs-Élysées which are both less than five kilometres from the Gare du Nord.” – Sophie Swietochowski
Glasgow to Fort William by Scotrail
“From mountain landscapes and serene lochs to the wistful moors, I spent my three-hour journey from Glasgow to Fort William gazing out the window. Sit on the left-hand side of the train for the best views overlooking Loch Lomond.” – Hope Brotherton
Beijing to Ulaanbatar
“The Trans-Mongolian Express is truly a train journey like no other. It starts amid the chaos of central Beijing before the city’s high-rises give way to crumbling ancient villages and eventually the vast vacant plains of Mongolia, via the Gobi desert. The deep orange sunset seen in the middle of the desert is among the best I’ve witnessed anywhere.” – Ryan Gray
Sadly it would need to travel through Moscow, so currently cannot operate due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
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