ScotRail is introducing more Inverness trains to – and from – Glasgow and Edinburgh.
There will also be more services between Glasgow and Dundee – and more trains calling at Broughty Ferry and Gleneagles.
An extra service will also be introduced for the morning peak between Elgin and Inverness; Alness will receive an extra call; Dunbar will be served by a new train from Edinburgh on Saturday nights, and there will be more services between Ayr and Girvan.
All are among enhancements in the winter timetable which begins on 11Â December.
The number of weekday Glasgow-Inverness services will increase from three to five, while Inverness-Edinburgh and Inverness-Glasgow will get an extra weekday service.
The timetable changes will also introduce five more Glasgow-Dundee and two more Dundee-Glasgow services.
In addition, ScotRail will provide an extra Dundee-Edinburgh morning peak hour service – the 07.38 Dundee-Newcraighall, which will make up for another train operator’s withdrawal of a 07.35 Dundee-Plymouth service in May.
The new Inverness services are:
- On weekdays, a 12.10 and 18.11 Glasgow-Inverness; an 09.41Â Inverness-Edinburgh, and a 17.22 Inverness-Glasgow
- On Sundays, there will be an 11.09 Glasgow-Inverness; a 15.50Â Edinburgh-Inverness, and a 10.44 and 15.20 Inverness-Edinburgh, and:
- There will also be a new 07.25 Elgin-Inverness service, and the 08.12Â Wick-Inverness will call at Alness.
The additional trains from Glasgow to Dundee will be at 08.06, 09.06, 16.11, 17.11 and 19.10, and the two more Dundee-Glasgow services will be at 12.15 and 15.15.
The timetable changes will also see more services for Gleneagles, with additional calls on weekdays.
The 08.06 Glasgow-Dundee service will call at Gleneagles at 08.56; the 09.06 Glasgow-Dundee will call at 09.53, and the 19.10 Glasgow-Dundee will call at 19.58. In addition, the 12.15 Dundee-Glasgow service will call at Gleneagles at 12.53; the 15.15 Dundee-Glasgow will call at 15.52, and the 17.22 Inverness-Glasgow at 19.52.
Broughty Ferry will see its current four daily calls increase to 13, with nine new services.
Steve Montgomery, ScotRail’s managing director, welcomed the Christmas timetable improvements. He said:
“We work closely with Transport Scotland to identify opportunities to provide additional services, improve journey times and meet the needs of communities across the country. This new, more frequent timetable will benefit our customers and help us meet the growing demand for rail travel.”
Transport Minister Keith Brown said:
“The Scottish Government has been clear in our commitment to invest in all forms of sustainable transport and I welcome the news that rail services are to be increased on key routes across the country this winter.
“Frequent, reliable rail services increase the range of options for travel between Scotland’s communities and open up new economic and educational opportunities for those living on and around these routes, as well as offering a greener alternative to the daily car commute.”
