Rail passengers benefit from additional services as new winter timetable unveiled

Rail services across Scotland will be boosted as part of the new winter timetable announced by Transport Scotland.

These new services follow in the wake of the significant improvements to services on the Edinburgh-Fife-Aberdeen line introduced last December and in the summer timetable earlier this year.

The new timetable introduces additional services from Sunday 13 December, bringing benefits to thousands of passengers.

Operated by ScotRail, the new winter timetable will see:

• A new hourly fast service between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Shotts
• A new half hourly service between Glasgow and Kilmarnock
• Earlier morning services from Ayr and Gourock to Glasgow, allowing better connections to London
• Earlier morning services between North Berwick and Edinburgh to improve connections to London
• Earlier morning services between Dumfries and Carlisle to improve connections to London
• The introduction of an early morning Dumfries to Glasgow and late evening Glasgow to Dumfries services.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said:

"These new services demonstrate we are committed to investing in Scotland’s public transport infrastructure and creating the infrastructure necessary to promote sustainable economic growth.

"We are working hard to ensure communities across Scotland can benefit from access to the rail network and are investing significantly in extending services – both in terms of expanding infrastructure and plugging gaps in the timetable.

"We have attempted to strike the correct balance between enhancing connectivity and improving journey times and we believe these changes being introduced in December will mean even more people will have the opportunity to make the switch to public transport."

The new hourly service between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Shotts more than doubles the number of journeys running on that line.

The service is the first in an ambitious package of improvements between Glasgow and Edinburgh, as identified in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Journey times will also be cut between the principal stations on the route to both Glasgow and Edinburgh and additional services will operate in the evening in both directions, offering a more regular service for passengers.

The new services offer faster journeys for Lanarkshire passengers travelling to and from Edinburgh and for West Lothian passengers travelling to and from Glasgow.

Passengers in Ayrshire will welcome the new half hourly service between Glasgow and Kilmarnock, with 68 trains per day now calling at Kilmarnock, compared to 36 trains at present.

In south-west Scotland, the timetable has been amended to maintain connections with Stranraer ferry services, offering a wider spread of services from Kilmarnock to Ayr and beyond in the evening peak. These changes also deliver a better range of southbound services from Ayr, enhancing commuting opportunities.

Additional early morning and late evening services between Dumfries and Carlisle will be introduced, improving connections to London via Carlisle. The new early morning services from Dumfries will allow passengers to connect to a service arriving in London before 0930.

The early services from Ayr and Gourock into Glasgow will provide a connection with the 0630 Glasgow to London Euston service, while the additional North Berwick service to Edinburgh will provide a connection with the 0700 Edinburgh to London Kings Cross service.

Steve Montgomery, Managing Director of ScotRail said:

"I welcome these widespread enhancements, with the number of services increased and also changes to improve connections.

"These improvements will bring many benefits to our growing number of customers."