Getting you to the Edinburgh Festivals

We're really looking forward to helping you make the most of the Edinburgh Festivals 2023.

This year's Edinburgh Festivals run between 4-28 August 2023, and more than two million people are expected to travel to our Capital city to celebrate. Thousands of shows are set to take place across more than 250 venues in and around the city.

Travel advice

To support travel to and from the shows, we'll be operating extra late-night trains on routes out of the capital city throughout the Festivals.

Hundreds of extra carriages, providing tens of thousands of additional seats, are being used at times when they’re most needed, to and from Edinburgh.

Late-night services will operate every night, from 4 August to 27 August, from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High.

On Fridays, from 4 August until 25 August, we're running late-night trains from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level via Bathgate & Airdrie, Dundee, Glenrothes with Thornton, and North Berwick. And on Saturdays between 5 and 26 August, we have late-night trains back to Dundee, and to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level via Bathgate and Airdrie.

In addition, a late-night service runs from North Berwick to Edinburgh from Friday, 4 August to Sunday, 13 August, to support return travel from ‘Fringe by the Sea’. An extra late-night service is also in operation from Edinburgh to North Berwick on Sundays, between 6 and 27 August.

If you're heading to the Captil to enjoy the festivities, please plan your journey in advance and purchase your return tickets for travel through the ScotRail app as part of our mTickets system. Buying train tickets via the app means you can secure your tickets from the comfort of your home, or on the way to the station, and it will instantly become available on your mobile device.

Use the drop downs below to see the extra late-night trains throughout the Festivals.

  • 00:03 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street High Level
  • 00:33 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street High Level
  • 23:30 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street High Level
  • 23:56 Edinburgh to Dundee
  • 23:59 Edinburgh to Glenrothes with Thornton
  • 00:12 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level (will show as Saturday on the ScotRail app)
  • 00:10 Edinburgh to North Berwick (will show as Saturday on the ScotRail app)
  • 00:01 North Berwick to Edinburgh
  • 23:30 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street High Level
  • 23:56 Edinburgh to Dundee
  • 00:12 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level (will show as Sunday on the ScotRail app)
  • 23:20 Edinburgh to North Berwick