Changing At Perth Station

[island girl]

Travelling from Glasgow to Pitlochry by train and have to change at Perth Station between trains, I have 13 mins. Is it simple with a bike to change platforms at Perth. it would be the same coming back from Pitlochry to Glasgow, a change of trains at Perth.

[irc]

Yes. I have done it. A while ago. I can't remember details but it wasn't an issue. 13m will be fine.

Assuming you are not already booked why not book direct trains? AKAIK every alternate train south from Pitlochry goes direct to Glasgow.

[Paulc]

Best do some research to see if there are regular platforms. Some would be a bit of a rush.

[island girl]

Thank you, this post is part of my research. There are 6 of us travelling and as the Gw to Pit trains only take two bikes each we have to catch 3 different trains and some are direct, others change at Perth. Just wondered if there was anyone on here who had changed trains at Perth and could advice on stairs, bridges etc.

[beinbhan]

Perth station bridges all have ramps and stairs. The station itself isn’t that big.

[Will]

Network Rail have plans of railway stations, here is the platform level one for Perth:



I assume that your train from Glasgow Queen Street is heading to Aberdeen, so it should arrive at Platform 2 in Perth. Your train from Perth to Pitlochry should depart from Platform 4 or Platform 7.


Will

[L+1]

Thank you, this post is part of my research. There are 6 of us travelling and as the Gw to Pit trains only take two bikes each we have to catch 3 different trains and some are direct, others change at Perth. Just wondered if there was anyone on here who had changed trains at Perth and could advice on stairs, bridges etc.

I don’t think it’s correct that there are only 2 bike spaces per train on the Glasgow to Pitlochry route ( Glasgow to Inverness). Some services on the ‘intercity’ lines might be smaller commuter trains, and in emergencies but I think all between Inverness and Glasgow are planned as Inter7City.
The Inter7City trains are repurposed HSTs, and ScotRail have fairly recently added 4 (if all cyclists on board co-operate, and remove luggage and frame bags, possibly more) flat entry spaces, as well as the 2 ridiculous ‘hanging cupboard’ spaces. As far as I am aware, the only trains running from Inverness/Pitlochry to Glasgow are the Inter7City ones.
Direct quote from ScotRail Website, under Cycling….Bikes on Trains

“Our Inter7City fleet operate on the routes linking Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling, Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh. They are fitted with cycle storage spaces for up to 6 cycles - 4 horizontal roll on roll off cycle spaces and 2 vertical storage spaces. The 2 vertical storage spaces require you to be able to lift your cycle and secure it. All cycle spaces are located in Coach C.

All cycle spaces on our Inter7City services must be reserved in advance with your seat reservation.”

ScotRail have numerous problems, but the amount of cycling info on their website is good, as is the helpfulness of their own reservations staff over the phone. They have excellent knowledge of the train network ( have you thought of sending some of your group to Edinburgh and then Glasgow) You can discuss and book train reservations over the phone and the staff member can see at a glance what the desired day’s availability is.

Are you absolutely sure you need to change in Perth?

Make sure you get the little orange tickets to tape to each bike - the ticket inspectors much prefer to see them in situ.

[L+1]

I’ve just tried a random day on the ScotRail app for the Glasgow to Pitlochry journey, and the info button will tell you how many cycle spaces ( out of 6) remain on each train. It seems that only 4 can be booked online, by the same person at once, which I suppose is fair, to give everyone a chance.
Unless you are all booked up ( or have some flexibility to change what you’ve booked), I would recommend phoning ScotRail to see if they can help you with your group booking.

[Will]

The Inter7City trains are repurposed HSTs, and ScotRail have fairly recently added 4 (if all cyclists on board co-operate, and remove luggage and frame bags, possibly more) flat entry spaces, as well as the 2 ridiculous ‘hanging cupboard’ spaces. As far as I am aware, the only trains running from Inverness/Pitlochry to Glasgow are the Inter7City ones.
Direct quote from ScotRail Website, under Cycling….Bikes on Trains

ScotRail Video (Travelling with a bike on our Inter7City trains):

https://youtu.be/6cK07iQ4J7g

There are only two direct trains a day between Glasgow Queen Street and Pitlochry that are I7Cs ( 10:07 and 15:07 departures from GQS - Mon-Sat, and 11:11 and 14:38 departures from GQS on Sunday).

The ScotRail timetable shows which trains are I7Cs: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/media/22536/download?inline

Will

[L+1]

ScotRail Video (Travelling with a bike on our Inter7City trains):

https://youtu.be/6cK07iQ4J7g

There are only two direct trains a day between Glasgow Queen Street and Pitlochry that are I7Cs ( 10:07 and 15:07 departures from GQS - Mon-Sat, and 11:11 and 14:38 departures from GQS on Sunday).

The ScotRail timetable shows which trains are I7Cs: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/media/22536/download?inline

Will

Thank you for the link to timetables showing the Inter7City services. That’s a feature I hadn’t spotted before.
I hadn’t realised how biased towards the Aberdeen - Glasgow/Edinburgh the Inter7City HSTs were - it’s quite difficult not to get a Inter7City service from Aberdeen south.
Is there any way of telling whether the other unidentified services will run as 158 or 170 type trains from Aberdeen - Glasgow/Edinburgh or other routes, and which has 2 bike spaces and which has 4 spaces?

[Will]

Is there any way of telling whether the other unidentified services will run as 158 or 170 type trains from Aberdeen - Glasgow/Edinburgh or other routes, and which has 2 bike spaces and which has 4 spaces?

This site allows you to search for trains at a station at a particular time:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search ... wtt&toc=SR

If you click on one of the listed trains, it will show you more information about the train, including a picture of the train and the train number(s). The train number will identify the type of train.

I have no idea how accurate it is.

Will

[Paulatic]

Can’t help but think you’re missing a good little ride Pitlochry to Perth.

[Will]

Also, ScotRail have videos for taking your bike on each type of train:

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/guide-travelling-bike-train

Will

[pjclinch]

Can’t help but think you’re missing a good little ride Pitlochry to Perth.

Perth to Dunkeld can be done either on or off road and then there's wee roads parallel to the A9 up to Pitlochry.

Pete.

[island girl]

Thank you for all of your replies, very informative. Before I posted I had already researched the Scotrail App, Website and visited Queen Street Station Glasgow and enquired at the help desk. Of the trains that we can catch only 2 bike spaces are available on each. I was advised we would need to catch 3 trains for a group of six. One of the available trains requires a change at Perth for Pitlochry. I only need to know if anyone had done this journey before and how easy the change of platform is with a bike.