ScotRail will deliver a boost for customers throughout the country, with more seats, more services, and a brand-new station as it introduces its new timetable.
Announcing the changes to the timetable from 15 December 2019, the rail operator has confirmed the opening of Robroyston station, additional services in the north east of the country, extra seats between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and more peak seats on key services.
The new station in the north east of Glasgow offers new access to the railway network for local residents, while also providing an additional park and ride facility with 258 spaces.
A new timetable between Inverurie, Dyce and Aberdeen will provide more than 50 per cent more services and there will now be up to three trains per hour between these stations, plus more direct journeys across Aberdeenshire between Inverurie, Stonehaven and Montrose.
This follows the completion of the major improvements to the Aberdeen to Inverness line, with Network Rail successfully delivering more than 10 miles of new rail as part of a project to transform journeys for customers in this part of the country.
The route between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk High will now have eight carriages for every peak service, further increasing the number of seats available for customers travelling between the two cities.
The Borders will benefit from more seats in the busy morning peak, with two of the most popular morning services between Tweedbank and South Gyle having extra carriages.
Under Abellio, ScotRail has invested more than £475 million in new and upgraded trains, meaning there are more than 2,400 trains running every weekday.
This is an increase of 9 per cent from 10 years ago, and is helping to deliver more than 97 million customer journeys each year.
Further timetable improvements will be delivered in May and December 2020.
David Simpson, ScotRail Operations Director, said:
“The improvements we are making to our timetable from December will deliver even more benefits for our customers, delivering more seats, more services, and a new station in the north east of Glasgow.
“The £475 million investment in new and upgraded trains and the infrastructure improvements across the country are all part of building the best railway Scotland has ever had.”
Bill Reeve, Transport Scotland’s Director of Rail said:
“Passengers will welcome many of the changes up and down the country, particularly the additional services in the north east and the new Robroyston station just outside Glasgow. This shows our significant investment is delivering more seats and more services than ever before.”
Notes
Key changes to the timetable include:
Aberdeen to Inverness
More services between Aberdeen, Dyce (increases from 49 to 78 services per day, a 59% increase) and Inverurie (increases from 45 to 76 services per day, a 69% increase).
Includes additional peak time services:
- 06:53 from Inverurie to Montrose, arriving Aberdeen at 07:15.
- 07:58 from Inverurie to Montrose, arriving Aberdeen at 08:20.
- 16:26 from Aberdeen to Inverurie, which previously terminated at Dyce.
- 17:37 from Aberdeen to Inverurie, which will start at Montrose.
More services between Montrose and Inverurie (increases from five to 28 direct services per day).
The following key services have more seats for customers:
- 07:48 from Huntly to Aberdeen.
- 16:55 from Aberdeen to Inverurie.
- Glasgow to Lanark
More seats for customers throughout the day with more six carriage Class 385s, including the following peak services:
- 06:53 from Lanark to Glasgow Central.
- 17:50 from Glasgow Central to Lanark.
More than 4,500 additional seats per day.
- Glasgow to Cumbernauld and Falkirk Grahamston
Robroyston station opens with two trains per hour to both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The following key services have more seats for customers:
- 07:26 from Glasgow Queen St to Edinburgh via Falkirk Grahamston.
- 07:35 from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen St via Falkirk Grahamston.
- 16:37 from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen St via Falkirk Grahamston.
Glasgow to Stirling & Alloa
More peak services:
- 06:57 from Stirling to Glasgow Queen Street.
- 07:50 from Stirling to Glasgow Queen Street.
Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts
07:00 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh now has six carriages rather than three, in direct response to customer feedback.
Journey time improvements on some services between Shotts and Edinburgh, and between Shotts and Glasgow Central.
Edinburgh to Stirling and Dunblane
- The following key services have more seats for customers:
- 06:32 from Dunblane to Edinburgh.
- 16:49 from Edinburgh to Dunblane.
Fife
The following key services have more seats for customers:
- 06:30 from Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh.
- 16:08 from Edinburgh to Glenrothes with Thornton.
Borders
There will be more seats for customers throughout the day, with 1,500 added, including:
- 07:26 from Tweedbank to South Gyle – which will run with six carriages rather than three.
- 07:59 from Tweedbank to South Gyle – which will run with six carriages rather than three.
Only seven services, Monday to Friday, with two carriages, compared to thirteen in the current timetable.
Edinburgh and Glasgow to Aberdeen
More services between Montrose and Inverurie (increases from five to 28 direct services per day).