Best route to Manchester airport via motorway

[biotechpete 10]

1 hour ago, dutch said:

Those northern trains are funny, they are really old ancient, outdated, for a country that claims to be on the top, it reminds me of journeys I made in India long time ago.

We are driving to M A next week, meet and greet parking. Last time we took motorway because of intense mist over the pennines but prefer more direct routes.

The direct trains from Sheffield to the airport are operated by transpennine express. The trains on the route are relatively new Siemens trains, the ones I have been on have been recently refurbished too. On a number of other routes to the airport there are even newer trains being introduced this year.

[dutch 68]

17 minutes ago, biotechpete said:

The direct trains from Sheffield to the airport are operated by transpennine express. The trains on the route are relatively new Siemens trains, the ones I have been on have been recently refurbished too. On a number of other routes to the airport there are even newer trains being introduced this year.

As far as trains is concerned and claims of development England lives in cloud cuckoo land.

[Mouserat 10]

TPE Advance tickets to Manchester Airport are Airport Advance singles:-

 

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/manchester-airport

 

That means,  as long as you get your ticket endorsed at the ticket office (and you had allowed an hour between your scheduled landing and train departure), you can get the next TPE train for up to three hours after your booked ticket (and longer if there is no train within the next three hours).   Advance tickets saved me nearly a third on Off Peak returns and half on an Open return last time I flew from Manchester.  Given that it's perfectly feasible to get return flights out of Manchester for £60, I don't buy the argument that if you can afford to fly, you can afford to pay double for your train fare.

[DerbyTup 10]

On 3/2/2016 at 1:53 PM, bush16 said:

Train is no good as fly at 8.00 in morning

It is if you go the night before and stay at an airport hotel.  

 

I'd check out the train times again if I were you.  The first one used to be about 5.20 in a morning - which is too late for an 8am flight I agree.  But there are even earlier trains than that now on some days.  There's one at 0345 for example that gets in at 5am.  That would be ideal.

 

If you are going to drive early morning then your first consideration is the weather at this time of year.  If there's no chance of snow or ice then you'd be very wise to go cross-country rather than by motorway. It's only about 35 mile from here to Manchester airport if you go across the Peak District - and at that time of morning you'll see no traffic at all, whether you go via Castleton, Chapel, Whalley Bridge, Pott Shrigley, Adlington, Dean Row, Styal (which is my preferred route), or Snake Pass, to Glossop then M67, M60, M56. 

 

If you are going by motorway then it's M1, M62, M60, M56 as you already know.

 

 

[Weredoomed 10]

On 08/01/2019 at 07:36, Cyclone said:

Open ticket means no allocated seat though.  It's not just the cost is it.

No it doesn't. I buy an open return for work but book a seat on the train I usually catch. I only get the open ticket in case I'm delayed for some reason and need to catch a later one. In that case I wouldn't have an allocated seat.

[Jack_Russell 11]

It's probably been mentioned before  but the Manchester Airport eastern link road is open, it runs from the A6  at High lane

straight through to the airport and at that time in the morning it's the quickest route.