Got to get train then bus from Preston to Lochgilphead this Saturday. Following a big landslip in the Boxing Day rains the main line is closed somwehere south of Carlisle and Virgin Trains are running buses, at the weekends at least. Has anybody used the service? Do they stick to the train timetable and how regular are they? Trying to find out from Virgin Rail is hopeless as they just tell you to ask at the station.

Hi,

Usually they split the buses outside Preston into ‘all stations’ and ‘direct’ so buses will run from Preston to Carlisle, some calling all stations and some running direct to Carlisle. There is always a co-ordinator outside the station who can advise on which of these you should catch.

The timings in the National timetable (available on any website, I used Nationalrail) are quite generous (i.e. 2hrs 15mins to get Preston to Carlisle) so I believe these are the timings for an ‘all stations’ bus. Obviously this will be traffic conditions dependant.

Hope this helps!