LNER Azuma train from London to York
 

Buy train tickets from London to York

Buy tickets from a train operator at official prices with no booking fee.  For faster booking, enter KGX to YRK

Bookings open 8-12 weeks ahead.

If you select E-ticket you can show the ticket on your phone or laptop.

What are Advance, Off-Peak & Anytime fares?

Can't find cheap fares?  See the advice here

If you prefer, you can collect your tickets from the self-service machines:  Touch collect tickets on the screen, insert your credit card, enter the reference & tickets will print.  You need the original credit card.

Ticket machines selling tickets to york

London to York from £22.50

An LNER train links London & York roughly every 30 minutes through the day, 188 miles in as little as 1h51, city centre to city centre at up to 125 mph.  This page helps you buy the cheapest tickets and get the most from the journey.

small bullet point  Train times

small bullet point  How much does it cost?

small bullet point  How to buy tickets

small bullet point  What are the trains like?

small bullet point  London Kings Cross station

small bullet point  What to see on the journey

small bullet point  York station

 

small bullet point  Travel tips, WiFi, luggage...

small bullet point  A little history

small bullet point  National Railway Museum

small bullet point  York Minster

small bullet point  Recommended hotel in York

small bullet point  Watch the Azuma video

Train times

How much does it cost?

How to buy tickets

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What are the trains like?

LNER introduced new Azuma trains in 2019-2020, replacing older Mk4 InterCity 225 carriages from the 1990s and a few even older InterCity 125 Mk3s.  The journey from London to York is all-electric at up to 125 mph.  See the Azuma video.  LNER run the main London-York service every half hour, although there are 5 trains a day between London & York run by open access operator Grand Central, booking systems show all trains.

An Azuma train at York station

An LNER Azuma train from York to London at York station platform 5.

Standard class & luggage rack on an LNER Azuma train   2nd class seats on an Azuma train

Standard class, showing luggage rack.  Larger photo.

 

Standard class seats on an Azuma.  Larger photo.

1st class seats on an Azuma train   Buffet counter on Azuma train

First class seats on an Azuma.  Larger photo.

 

Buffet counter on Azuma.  Larger photo.

Complimentary food & wine in 1st class   Azuma train seat reservation display   Luggage racks on an Azuma train to Edinburgh

Complimentary food & wine is served at your seat in 1st class on Mondays-Fridays.

 

An electronic display shows which seats are reserved and which are free.

 

You simply put your luggage on the racks.

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London Kings Cross

London Kings Cross station

Kings Cross station, showing Cubitt's elegant facade of 1852 which faces the Euston Road.  The ugly 1970s extension which sat in front of it for 40 years has been removed, opening up the area as a pleasant square occasionally now used for a farmers' market.  More information on the station's history.  You can find a plan of the station at www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations, enter KGX.

The new station concourse at Kings Cross

A spacious new concourse has been built alongside the original station, on the left hand side as you look at Cubitt's original facade.  This photo was taken from the balcony where you'll find various food outlets.  The ticket office is on the right.  The Harry Potter trolley is almost dead centre in the photo, and the excellent Parcel Yard pub is at the back. 

Access to/from the platforms is though automatic ticket gates, so have your ticket handy.  In this photo the gates are just out of shot to the right, go through them and walk behind the buffer stops to the platform for your train.

Kings Cross station clock   Platform 9 3/4 - the Harry Potter exhibit at Kings Cross

Above left, one of the station clocks, on the platforms inside the trainshed.

Above right, Harry Potter fans can have their photo taken on the concourse. Though JK Rowling was thinking of Euston when she came up with platform 9¾, as explained here.

Azuma train at Kings Cross station

One of the two magnificent arched roofs at Kings Cross, with platforms 8, 7, 6 & 5.

First class lounge

Anyone with a 1st class ticket over £10 for travel via the East Coast route can use the LNER first class lounge with complimentary tea, coffee, snacks & soft drinks.  The door to the lounge is to the left of the blue neon glow (actually a row of ATMs) in the centre of the concourse photo above.  The lounge is upstairs, accessed via a lift.  The lounge was refurbished again in July 2019, this photo is courtesy of Douglass Scott.  A first class lounge will open at York station in 2021.

Virgin Trains first class lounge at Kings Cross

The Parcel Yard pub

If you can't get into the 1st class lounge, head for the excellent Parcel Yard pub at the back of the concourse, a great place to have a meal or beer while waiting for your train.  Or for a special meal, the excellent upmarket Rails Restaurant is located the first floor of the Great Northern Hotel, with an entrance directly off the new Kings Cross station concourse.

Parcel Yard oub at Kings Cross   The Parcel Yard bar, Kings Cross

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What to see between London & York

The train leaves London Kings Cross

1.  Kings Cross.  The train leaves Kings Cross and immediately plunges into the short Gasworks & Copenhagen tunnels, then out into the suburbs.

Arsenal Football Stadium   Alexandra Palace, seen from the train

2.  Emirates Stadium (above left).  A few minutes after leaving Kings Cross, look out for Emirates Stadium on the right, the home of Arsenal Football Club and one of the largest football stadium in the UK after Wembley & Old Trafford.  See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Stadium.

3.  Alexandra Palace (above right) with its large radio & TV mast is on the left 10 minutes or so after leaving Kings Cross - it was from 'Ally Pally' that the BBC broadcast the world's first regular public television service in 1936.  See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Palace.

Countryside   And more countryside

4.  Suburbia soon gives way to open country, woods & fields as the train powers on at 125 mph.  It's a 4-track main line, but all trains have to squeeze onto just two tracks to cross the Welwyn Viaduct, which is something of a bottleneck!  The woods and fields eventually give way to the flat Cambridgeshire fenlands.

Peterborough cathedral from the train   Sign marking where Mallard set the world speed record for steam trains

5.  Peterborough (above left).  As you approach Peterborough & cross the River Nene 76 miles from Kings Cross, look out for the squat towers of Peterborough cathedral which are just visible over the city roofs on the right hand side of the train.

6.  Mallard sign (above right).  On 3 July 1938 on a stretch of the London-bound track, LNER A4 locomotive Mallard set the world speed record for steam trains, 125.88 mph, a record which still stands today.  Look out for this sign on the right half way between Peterborough & Grantham.

Arrival at York station

7.  York station, 188 miles from London.  As you approach York, you might glimpse the towers of York Minster which are just visible over the top of the station's beautiful 19th century roof.  York is home to the National Railway Museum, www.nrm.org.uk.

York station

York station

York station.  The York Tap is just visible on the right.  The Principal Hotel is just out of shot on the right.

York station clock   York station footbridge

The station clock (above left) and footbridge (above right).

Inside York station

The main platforms at York.  Most (but not all) trains from York to London leave from platform 3, seen here in the foreground.  Most (but not all) trains from London arrive at platform 5, the empty platform on the right here.

York Tap pub   York station concourse

The York Tap, recommended for a pint of real ale before your train back to London.  See yorktap.com.

 

Station concourse.  The main entrance & ticket office are behind the camera.

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Travel tips

LNER order food at seat   LNER order food at seat   LNER order food at seat

Have food & drink delivered to your seat:  1. Scan the QR code.  2. Enter car & seat.  3. Order!

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Watch the video

The video is London to Leeds, but the London-York route is identical as far as Doncaster, and it shows an Azuma train.

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A little history

National Railway Museum: www.nrm.org.uk

York is home to Britain's National Railway Museum (NRM), a few minutes walk from the station (see walking route from York station to the NRM).  It's a superb collection, which includes LNER's A4 Pacific locomotive Mallard, holder of the world record for steam traction, the prototype Intercity 125, prototype Deltic, and various royal trains.  For more information including opening hours, see www.nrm.org.ukPhoto courtesy of the National Railway Museum.

Inside York National Railway Museum

York tourist information: www.visityork.org

York is a great city to wander around, from the city walls, the Minster, and the little narrow street of small shops known as The Shambles.  For tourist information see www.visityork.orgSee walking route from York station to The Shambles, a 15-minute walk.

York Minster: yorkminster.org

No visit to York is complete without seeing York Minster.  It's a 13-minute walk, see walking route from the station to York Minster.  See yorkminster.org to plan your visit.

View of York Minster from my room at the Principal Hotel

View of York Minster from the Principal Hotel.

Recommended hotels Principal Hotel, formerly York Royal Station Hotel

York's 4-star Principal Hotel is one of my favourite hotels, formerly the North Eastern Railway's York Royal Station Hotel.  Built in 1878 and set in its own grounds right next to York station, it still has a secondary entrance directly from the station, off platform 3 next to the York Tap.  Indeed this was once the hotel's main entrance with reception originally located here, but the main entrance now faces the car parking area and hotel grounds on the opposite side of the building.  The Standard rooms are mostly in a modern annexe called The Sidings, so book a Superior grade room or above to make sure you're either in the original building dating from 1878 or the Klondyke Wing added in 1896.  As their name suggests, Minster rooms get a view of the Minster.  The city centre, the Shambles and York Minster are just a few minutes walk away.  The hotel has a restaurant that serves great food and wine, too.  Check the reviews and book the hotel.

Also consider the nearby Grand Hotel, York's only 5-star hotel, opened in 2010 in what was once headquarters of the North Eastern Railway, built in 1906.

The York Royal Station Hotel, now the Principal Hotel   Minster room at the Principal Hotel, formerly York Station Hotel

The Principal Hotel in its own grounds right next to York station.  Built in 1878, the Klondyke Wing (tall part at far end) was added in 1896.

 

Minster room, with view of York Minster.  This is the bedroom, it also has a sitting room.  Larger photo.

York station hotel grand staircase   York station hotel main lounge

The beautiful grand staircase.  Larger photo.

 

The main lounge.  Larger photo.


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