Birmingham to Edinburgh by train
Birmingham New Street → Edinburgh Waverley
Trains link Birmingham (Birmingham New Street) and Edinburgh (Edinburgh Waverley) in about 4h 12m at best, with no changes needed.
- Fastest
- ≈ 4h 12m
- Typical
- ≈ 4h 43m
- Direct trains
- Yes
- Fewest changes
- 0
- Operators
- CrossCountry, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express
How long does the train from Birmingham to Edinburgh take?
The fastest trains cover Birmingham to Edinburgh in about 4h 12m; a typical journey takes around 4h 43m.
Is there a direct train from Birmingham to Edinburgh?
Yes: direct trains run between Birmingham New Street and Edinburgh Waverley.
Is the train or a flight faster from Birmingham to Edinburgh?
A typical flight works out roughly 1h quicker door to door (about 4h against 5h 05m by train, once airport time is counted), but the train emits about 3× less CO₂e, even on conservative official emission factors.
- Train, door to door
- ≈ 5h 05m
- Flight, door to door
- ≈ 4h (est.)
- CO₂e per passenger
- ~17 kg train · ~54 kg plane
Flight time and emissions are transparent estimates, not airline schedules: method, factors and all 109 compared pairs on Train vs plane in Europe.
Legendary routes through Birmingham or Edinburgh
- LNER Azuma London → Edinburgh
- Cambrian Line Birmingham → Aberystwyth
- Avanti West Coast London → Birmingham
- Belmond Royal Scotsman Edinburgh → Edinburgh
More trains from Birmingham
- Birmingham → Oxford ≈ 1h 05m · direct
- Birmingham → Nottingham ≈ 1h 12m · direct
- Birmingham → Bristol ≈ 1h 19m · direct
- Birmingham → London ≈ 1h 19m · direct
- Birmingham → Manchester ≈ 1h 28m · direct
- Birmingham → Liverpool ≈ 1h 32m · direct
More train routes in United Kingdom.
Journey figures are typical values sampled from public European schedule data; exact times vary by day. Always check the operator when booking.