There was only four minutes between them.
‘It’s going to be really really tight'(Image: YouTube/Planes, Trains, Everything)
A travel enthusiast who wanted to ‘race himself’ from Edinburgh to London. Scott, who runs the YouTube account Planes, Trains, Everything, wanted to compare rail to air travel between the capitals.
He set off from Edinburgh on an LNER service, using a stopwatch to get a precise timing of how long it would take to reach the ‘retail heart’ of London. Heading back, he travelled on a British Airways flight from London City Airport.
Scott admitted that his race ended up being ‘really tight’. In the end, there was only four minutes between the two options.
Scott times himself from Black Sheep Coffee on Princes Street in Edinburgh, to Black Sheep Coffee just off Oxford Street in London. He described as travelling from the ‘retail heart’ of one city to the other.
In the clip, he says: “On paper its five hours exactly, per operator.
“I’ve got a stopwatch with me, but I do have some time to kill before this race starts.”
Scott makes his way to Waverley, and boards an LNER service south. The train takes four hours and 17 minutes, and only stops in Newcastle and York.
He arrives at King’s Cross with his stopwatch reading four hours and 34 minutes. Scott still needs to get on the tube, and reaches Black Sheep Coffee in Holborn with a total time of four hours and 53 minutes.
Scott resets his timer, and sets off on getting back to the Scottish capital – heading to London City Airport on the tube. He says: “This is the part I’m most worried about.
“I get lost, I either use the wrong train or get off at the wrong station and it all goes pear shaped.”
He arrives at London City Airport with his stopwatch sitting at just over an hour. Scott kills some time before boarding the flight, and eventually arrives in Edinburgh.
Scott continues: “It’s going to be really really tight. I estimated about five hours and it’s going to be very close to that.”
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He arrives at Black Sheep Coffee on Princes Street with his stopwatch sitting at four hours and 49 minutes. He added: “In regards to stress, the train was much more relaxing. Not so relaxing going through London City Airport.
“In regards to cost, I booked this about two months ago. By train it was £60 for a full adult fare, £95 for a full adult fare with British Airways.
“It is cheaper on train. It was a massive four minutes quicker to go by air.
“There’s nothing in it, it’s really up to whether you want a cheaper fare and to help the environment.”