How long, asks a traveller from York, should I allow to reach Manchester airport by rail for a 4.30pm flight? My view: plan to travel on a fast, direct TransPennine Express train, leaving at 12.20pm and arriving at 2.09pm. But since there is a significant risk that this service, like many each day, will be cancelled by the train operator, check on the day and be prepared to get to York station early for an 11.37am departure via Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly that gets in at 2pm; it uses three different train operators but none of them is TransPennine Express.
The questioner, though, was aghast at my answer: “I was planning to arrive there four hours ahead at least. They have terrible queues for security.”
