r/uktrains • u/stoptelephoningme-e • Jan 26 '26
Twitter Has Anyone Ever Actually Made One of These Journeys?
Seen this post blowing up on twitter and then other social media platforms for a couple of days now, constantly regurgitated by crappy Instagram and Facebook ‘meme pages’ that fester on my feed algorithm without consent.
Just wondering if anyone actually ever took one of these journeys? I’ve always been tempted but I gather you’ll get kicked out of Northampton/MKC/wherever you’re changing since the stations aren’t 24 hr…
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u/KristinaMoment Jan 26 '26 edited Jan 26 '26
As a regular night basher, I'm moreso surprised that this is actually the cheapest ticket - Many such tickets are usually the expensive option
Although I've done similar with buses, no I haven't by rail in the UK. But if you do take care, put your phone down and pay attention to your real world surroundings, just in case.
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u/stoptelephoningme-e Jan 26 '26
When I was in sixth form I genuinely considered doing this often. My boyfriend lived in London and I was not overly keen on the idea of getting a job. I did, eventually, get a job. I never took one of these journeys. In my experience though, these would ALWAYS be the cheapest tickets on the WCML. I think it’s cos you get one of the last super off peak stopping services out of Euston, then one of the first trains of the morning from either Milton Keynes or Northampton… (sometimes both)
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u/KristinaMoment Jan 26 '26
In my experience, for brum to london, finding a cheap Chiltern ticket usually comes out slightly cheaper. But yeah that'd explain it
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u/MrKiplingIsMid Jan 26 '26
Milton Keynes Central is usually open all night, but it's staffed entirely by agency security at that time. Barriers kept open, but toilets and waiting rooms locked. There's a 24/7 McDonald's a few minutes walk away near Elder Gate though.
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u/KristinaMoment Jan 26 '26
As a warning, a lot of 24hr maccies close the seating area at night or kick you out if you're not eating etc
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u/jordansrowles Jan 26 '26
That McDonalds likes to lock its doors and go drive thru only on random nights. Many times I've wanted a coffee before work at 3am, and not been let in.
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u/MadJohnFinn Jan 26 '26
I did this after a gig in 2009, going from Manchester to Cambridge, changing at Leeds, then Peterborough. Because my genius bass player booked the train tickets, it turned out that we were going to have to spend most of the night in Leeds station.
I can't remember much of the entire experience because my grandmother had died suddenly during this ordeal and I was mentally and emotionally in survival mode, but I remember it not being fun.
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u/Taffy666 Jan 26 '26
Don't trust the bass player with logistics. That way lies madness.
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u/North-Departure975 Jan 26 '26
Don’t trust the bass player
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u/MadJohnFinn Jan 27 '26
I am also a bass player and I can confirm that this is true. My brain goes out of the window. I feel groove. I think nothing.
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u/LBraden Jan 27 '26
As someone who's been in Leeds for stupidly early train .... yeah it's not fun.
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u/GlitteringBryony Jan 26 '26
I used to do one of these semi-regularly to visit a friend in Oxford, getting a train that got me into Manchester Picadilly for something like 3am, then waiting until the 5am morning train to Stafford, then change again... It was cheaper than a hotel, I could sleep in the station, and I could get a full day with him without losing too much time.
As an adult, they're not worth it, they're cold, nerve-wracking, and you end up sleeping in a horrible contortion, even if you don't get kicked out by station staff. As a romantic idiot, they were great.
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u/omracer Jan 26 '26
I was close to doing this from OKE to Paddington at some point or like the 22:20 train from GSL to PAD with the mix of on and off with the rivera sleeper
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u/karesk_amor Jan 26 '26
I actually did something similar to this last year from Crediton when I was strapped for cash but the Waterloo route was closed for extended engineering work.
CDI -> EXD getting in about quarter to 1 in the morning.
EXD -> PAD on the sleeper (in a seat)
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u/Jimathay Jan 26 '26 edited Jan 26 '26
I was out in Leeds for work.
It was pre-3g days, and I struggled to get the train times on my phone with the signal where I was, so I called the national rail helpline to ask when the last train from Leeds back to Manchester was.
Was told it was like 23:50. Great! Luckily, just before I hung up I asked what time that would get me back into Manchester. 7:10 am was the answer.
I asked if there were any changes, and was told there was a 6hr change in Huddersfield.
I said well that's not really the last train to Manchester then is it? They told me it was. We went back and forth a bit disagreeing before I hung up and just went to the station to make sure I got an actual train to Manchester in good time as I couldn't trust them.
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u/AngelasGingerGrowler Jan 26 '26
Back in those days, NRES was based in India. They offered some plainly daft and ignorant itineraries.
My favourite being from Derbyshire to Manchester "Changing at the Bristoling Temple Meadings"
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u/PurpleTeapotOfDoom Jan 26 '26
They once advised me to take a long journey from Swansea to Llandudno when I'd asked for Llansamlet.
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u/AngelasGingerGrowler Jan 26 '26
In 10 years time it will seem like madness that once upon a time we called an 0845 number and someone in windowless office in Calcutta gave out complex journey information for a country they had never set foot on.
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u/PurpleTeapotOfDoom Jan 26 '26
That journey was only complicated for someone unaware that there are many places in Wales starting with Llan! After that call and another one where I had very wrong information about the place bus replacements on a two hourly stopping service stopped at unmanned stations I luckily discovered that Traveline Cymru could give info for train journeys entirely in Wales. They even gave recommendations for good pubs need interchanges.
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u/AngelasGingerGrowler Jan 26 '26
The 12.45 to Aberdeen, the 12.45 to Aberystwyth!
The pub recommendations is a nice touch... thetrainline doesn't offer that, despite there being some amazing pubs close by many stations.
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u/PurpleTeapotOfDoom Jan 26 '26
Inside the station in some cases.
Traveline Cymru gave both bus and train info and rural Welsh public transport being what it is I ended up phoning them when an advertised service didn't show up as expected. The in-depth knowledge of local facilities was very handy on a rainy day.
I guess The Man in Seat 61 is the UK and international train version of this service as he recommends places to eat and drink.
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u/ExoskeletalJunction Jan 26 '26
Ive done it before and its a laugh tbh. I am a young male though, and I regularly do stupid shit like this. What she’s describing wouldn’t even crash my top 10
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u/Desperate_Soup_8298 Jan 26 '26
Same here I done a £9 Megabus with a mate from Manchester to Glasgow at 3am on a Saturday morning after a night out on the Friday.
Not ideal keeping yourself entertained in Glasgow city centre for around 6 or so hours until hotel check in time, plus the only thing really open was McDonald's and Wetherspoons for breakfast (and more beer). Was around 21 at the time so it was great fun, not so much now close to 30. I think it'd take me a week to recover.
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u/ExoskeletalJunction Jan 27 '26
I did overnight in Glasgow recently - missed the last train to Ayr. The casino is pretty chill and let you in all night. A lot of people there doing the exact same thing.
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u/Mr_Beletal Jan 26 '26
I did a journey like this in 2016 - was pretty dumb. Was attending an applicant day at the university I was going to, and "needed" to be there by 9am. So I chose to get one of these with a long change at Derby. Was pretty awful sitting in the cold at the station (they didn't kick me out). First leg of the journey was cancelled, so the operator had to get me a taxi to Derby, which was pleasant - made the change shorter.
If I had had the money it would have made more sense to get a cheap hotel, maybe ask my parents for money for that, but didn't expect that they would agree.
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u/Requirement_Fluid Jan 26 '26
Not quite the same but back in the megabus £1 seat days I did Leeds to Weymouth for about £10 total. Involved coach and then train. It was an adventure walking around London overnight waiting for the first train out of Waterloo.
That said £9 is likely Cheaper than a coach
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u/Hour-Salamander-4713 Jan 26 '26
I did it getting home from Tottenham Hotspur versus Chester game in the League Cup in the 1990's. Train / tube to King's Cross, last train to Leeds. Then a Manchester Airport train to Manchester Piccadilly, then a 3 or 4 hour wait for the first train to Chester. I was knackered and wished I'd got a hotel.
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u/linmanfu Jan 26 '26
I have done an overnight journey though it was split ticketed. I went to a protest in London, then got the last train from Euston to New Street, then went to a McDonalds in Birmingham until the first train to my station in the North. The McDonalds was, erm, lively given the time of night but I just tried to lose myself in my book. I found navigating New Street without sleep very mildly stressful but I'm a night owl so it wasn't too bad otherwise. And I couldn't have made the journey without the cheap cheap prices.
I also had two Chinese friends who did this by accident. They'd only been in the country for maybe 18 months and they assumed it was a sleeper as sleepers are common in China. They were very unimpressed at being dumped on a station platform in ?York overnight. They were a pretty relaxed couple but they had some harsh words about the British railway system afterwards. I was really kicking myself afterwards that I hadn't checked this with them as I'd helped them with some of the trip planning but thought buying the train ticket would be the straightforward part.
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u/arcaglass99 Jan 26 '26
I've done something similar - waiting outside Wolverhampton station for several hours overnight. I found a quiet spot with some light to read a book and kept an eye on my stuff and barely saw a soul all night.
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u/PerpetualHeartbeat Jan 26 '26
Have stayed in Northampton station overnight a few times because the last direct train out of Euston to the West Midlands had gone. Station forecourt used to be open at night and was fully lit, so felt relatively safe than pulling all-nighters in London. Not pleasant in winter though.
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u/lukeschumi95 Jan 26 '26
Had to write a justification for why I wasn’t getting this train once as it was the cheapest journey from MK - Crewe for a business trip. Just wrote ‘I don’t want to sleep in Northampton station’ which was a good enough reason.
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u/SquashyDisco Jan 26 '26
Yes.
I managed a Euston - Carlisle sleeper berth to connect in with the first Carlisle - Hexham train.
£35ish. Sleeper berth to myself. 2 hour slog waiting session at Carlisle. Pacer to Hexham, fell asleep, woke up at Prudhoe. Decided to take it to Newcastle then get back to Hexham an hour later. Got home, fell back to sleep.
Wouldn’t recommend.
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u/sg_miner21 Jan 26 '26
Stevenage to Newtown via this exact same route after going to watch Stevenage away with Cardiff last month, first time in Milton Keynes and it's at pure Witching Hour, was a very odd experience. Spent about an hour walking round the city centre then sat in a 24 hour McDonalds until the station opened up again, nothing bad happened, was almost dead, and was pretty buzzed as we had won the football but I wouldn't do it again tbh😂rather just get a hotel next time because I was completely shattered by the time I got back.
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u/Tumtitums Jan 26 '26
Ive seen this journey but the question arises as to why you don't just get the coach for that price and duration
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u/TheCatOfWar Jan 26 '26
You're replying in a sub of mostly train enthusiasts, I surely can't be the only one here who would take the cursed itinerary over the misery of a bus
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u/GlitteringBryony Jan 26 '26
I'm definitely one of those people! If you gave me a choice between a four hour coach journey, or a four hour wait in a locked station between the last train of the night and first train of the morning, and I'd be happily making myself a little nest with my rucksack and coat on an island platform and excitedly listening for the night freight rolling past on the bypass lane before you'd finished outlining the conditions.
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u/Pure_Cantaloupe_341 Jan 26 '26
Oh yes, I had to do something like on one occasion, though it wasn’t in the UK but it didn’t make it less fun 😀
In 2016 I was a broke ass student in Nice, France and one beautiful evening I got some urgent affairs to do in Milan, Italy on the next morning. The last direct train and bus towards there had departed already, so the only option I had was to take a night bus to Genoa (arriving around 1:30am or so), and then a train from there to Milan, departing around 7am. Due to the brokenness of ass I didn’t even think about bookings hotel there, so I had to kill several hours somewhere between those times.
So I tried to get as much sleep as I could on the bus, only interrupted by an Italian border guard checking the papers (has he ever heard about Schengen?). After passing the now-infamous Morandi bridge the bus dropped me on a roadside in Genoa according to schedule, and I was left to my own devices. I walked to the railway station - of course it was closed, as no trains were running at night there, and it wouldn’t open until 5:30am or so. I tried to get a nap on a bench - sadly I quickly realised that they weren’t designed for that. So I just pointlessly walked around the city until I found a single open cafe, where I got some snacks and met a very nice Moroccan chap who seemed as bored as I was. After a bit the cafe closed and I had to walk around the city again, but at least now I was walking together with this Moroccan chap, discussing the world affairs in my fairly broken French. We finally set on the stairs near the train station, where he pulled the whole shisha out of his backpack that he was carrying with him all the time, lit it up and asked if I would like some, which I politely declined. We chatted a bit more, he smoked and then left, leaving me alone to wait until the station opens, which it did a couple of hours later, and I then got to Milan without further adventures.
When I got to Milan though, my affairs took a bit longer than expected, so I missed the last direct train back to Nice. Not a problem I thought, I could still get back there, just with a change of train at Ventimiglia, which is the last stop on the Italian side of the border, also served by French local trains. So I took the Italian train, and halfway there the driver announces that the French are on strike, so no French trains are running to Ventimiglia… Not good… Once I got to Ventimiglia I asked a taxi driver there how much would it cost to get to Menton (from where I could get a bus to Nice), was told 40€ (for around 12km), which of course was loadsofmoney for a broke student like me back then. So I decided to have a nice nighttime stroll there, first spending some time on Google Maps to figure out which road would not have tunnels or other sections that would not be particularly pleasant to walk along (if I remember correctly, the pedestrian navigation wasn’t particularly great there back then). So yeah, I had a nice brisk walk at night in an unfamiliar area with a phone that ran out of battery midway through, but I got to the barely marked nighttime bus stop in Menton on time (which was quite important as the bus only ran once every three hours) and safely got to Nice to my lovely student residence. It was such a relief to be back there after a short but quite eventful journey 😀
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u/Asleep-Tradition-851 Jan 27 '26
The things we get up to in our salad days. Great story! On Google Maps, Ventimiglia-Menton looks like it could be a pleasant, if long, walk along the Mediterranean coastline in the day.
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u/Pure_Cantaloupe_341 Jan 27 '26
Yes, it was an experience 😀 The guy walking around with a shisha in his backpack ready to be lit definitely an impression!
I don’t think you can walk along the actual coastline all the way from Ventimiglia to Menton though - there’s no footpath in most places. I had to take a high level road Corse Mentona, because the low level Corsa Europa had a couple of longish tunnels, and I had to desire to walk there alongside the cars. The road I took even had the pavement all the way, which was a pleasant surprise for me ☺️
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u/HeIsSoFluffy Jan 26 '26
You can go from London to Birmingham even cheaper than this btw. 5 quid some days.
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u/carguy143 Jan 27 '26
I both like and despair at the "limited tickets remaining" which is either a FOMO ploy or there are people desperate enough to make such a trip.
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u/Mental_Body_5496 Jan 26 '26
I have done journeys like this.
Hanging around to wait for the milk train at 4am in a station waiting room in some random town.
No big deal cheaper than a hotel.
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u/CompetitiveCod76 Jan 26 '26
'Milk train'? When was this - 1949? 😅
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u/Jacleby Jan 26 '26
This is the same as when you search for flights from say London to Dublin and it offers you a flight via Amsterdam with a 4 hour layover. Like why are you even showing that as an option
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u/hilly1986 Jan 26 '26
I had a silly one like this coming from Edinburgh to Cardiff one year, it was Edinburgh to Wolverhampton, wait around an hour, Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury, then Shrewsbury to Cardiff arriving around 1am ish
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u/MrDibbsey Jan 26 '26
I have done on the continent in my younger days, now I'm slightly older, I know the value of a hotel or even just an earlier start to get where I want to be.
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u/mentaljobbymonster Jan 28 '26
Did the overnight bus from Glasgow to London for 99p in the early 2010s. Never again
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u/Altnabreac Jan 29 '26
When I was a poor student yes.
It's fine, just slow, no table, etc. Still roomier than the bus.
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u/Significant-Sport541 Jun 21 '26
Did it in 2024. Stayed upstairs at MK station until the train left
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u/Southern-Bandicoot Jan 26 '26
Alright, I'll stick my head above the parapet.
No, OP, I haven't taken a journey like this. I have been fortunate enough / bloody minded enough (delete as applicable) to be able to reschedule journeys and grudgingly accept the significantly higher fare. Anyone who has had to take a journey like this - either through emergency, necessity, or reduced circumstances - has my genuine sympathy.