Scotrail confirms late-night trains during Edinburgh festivals
The operator says extra trains and carriages will operate from the 5th of August
Scotrail has announced there'll be extra late-night trains to and from Edinburgh as festival season kicks off in the capital.
From this Friday 5th until the 28th of August midnight services will run from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High.
More than two million people are expected to descend on Edinburgh during the festivals as Scotland’s capital city becomes an unparalleled celebration of the performing arts
What extra services are being added?
Extra late-night trains from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High from Friday, 5 August until Sunday, 28 August.
There will be services after midnight into Monday, 29 August, but no additional Festivals services on the evening of 29 August.
A late-night train will also run from North Berwick to Edinburgh between Friday, 5th August and Thursday, 14th August to support return travel from the Fringe by the Sea.
The additional late-night trains are:
00:03 - Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High.
00:33 - Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High.
00:01 - North Berwick to Edinburgh Waverley.
Extra carriages will also be added to key trains to and from the capital city from Tweedbank, Fife, Perth, Dundee, Stirling, Dunblane, and Glasgow Central throughout the event.
Warning to plan ahead for RMT strike action
Desptite the extra services, we're being urged to plan ahead with RMT strikes still going ahead this month.
The RMT union announced strike action for Thursday, 18th and Saturday 20th August across the UK's rail network, resulting from a pay dispute with Network Rail.
Scotrail is warning passengers of disruption to services in the days before and after strike action, on Wednesday, 17th and the days following them Friday, 19 and Sunday, 21ST August.
David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said:
“Festivalgoers should be aware of the potential of significant disruption during the festivals due to planned strike action by Network Rail members of the RMT trade union. We’ll let customers know our plans and travel advice in the coming weeks, should this planned strike action go ahead.
“This year’s Edinburgh Festivals are set to be special as they celebrate their 75th anniversary, and we’re thrilled to be able to, once again, play our part in making it a success.
“We’ll be doing all we can to help showcase Edinburgh, and Scotland, to the world, including running extra late-night services and adding more seats to trains to get people to and from the events.
“Our trains are going be extremely busy, so we’re encouraging everyone visiting the capital to plan their journey in advance, and to buy their train tickets before they board using our mTicket system on our mobile app."
ScotRail says it will confirm its plan and travel advice for customers for the days affected in the lead up to any strike action.