With Christmas less than a month away, the ScotRail Alliance has said it will do everything it can to keep people moving during the holidays.
Releasing details of train times for the Christmas and New Year period, the ScotRail Alliance encouraged customers to plan their journeys now. The last trains of the day will depart earlier than normal on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and there will be changes to train times over the Christmas and New Year period.
The ScotRail Alliance has set up a dedicated webpage to provide customers with information on train times over the holidays. The website can be viewed at scotrail.co.uk/Christmas.
Important details include:
– As with previous years, no trains will run on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
– On Boxing Day a limited service will run in parts of the west of Scotland, and trains on some routes in and around Glasgow will be replaced by buses to allow major improvement works to take place. Signalling equipment and overhead power lines will be upgraded, and sections of track will also be replaced on the west coast mainline.
– All trains will run as normal between 27 and 30 December, with the exception of the Cumbernauld to Motherwell route, which is replaced by buses while improvement works take place.
– On Tuesday, 2 January a reduced service will be in place across much of the country, with trains starting from mid-morning.
Improvement works on the main route west from Edinburgh Waverley will be taking place:
• Edinburgh to Bathgate services will be replaced by buses
• Edinburgh to Dunblane services will start/terminate at Linlithgow instead of Edinburgh
• Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High services will be diverted
Graham Heald, the ScotRail Alliance’s head of customer experience, said:
“We will be working flat out to keep people moving during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“But with many of our customers taking time off work to be with their loved ones, the network is quieter between Christmas and New Year. That means it’s an ideal time to carry out vital improvement works while causing as little disruption to our customers as possible.
“There will be changes to train times, so we encourage our customers to plan their journeys now on our app or at scotrail.co.uk.”
– 80 percent of £million giveaway tickets gone in 5 hours
– Customers snapped up tickets at a rate of 3 per second
Over 80 percent of ScotRail’s free off-peak tickets were snapped up within 5 hours of launching the Million Pound Giveaway.
At its peak, three tickets a second were being given away – amounting to over 10,000 per hour.
The free tickets were available on routes across the country, including journeys linking Scotland’s ‘seven cities’, as well as the scenic routes to Fort William and the Kyle of Lochalsh.
Rob Shorthouse, ScotRail Alliance Communications Director, said: “Our million pound ticket giveaway is proving to be hugely popular. Our website suppliers told us that the first hour of the giveaway was more like the first hour of Glastonbury tickets going on sale. It was just incredible.
“We are building the best railway that Scotland has ever had. We are just delighted that so many people have taken up our offer to have a day out in our beautiful country on us.”
Image: ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes promotes the Million Pound Giveaway with team members from Edinburgh Waverley. (Credit: ScotRail Alliance).
– ScotRail becomes the best performing large train operator in the UK
– Performance for the four weeks to 19 August 2017 the best for that period in five years
– ScotRail pledges no complacency as it builds the best railway Scotland has ever had
ScotRail is the best performing large train operator in the UK, new figures published today reveal.
The new figures reveal that the ScotRail Alliance’s moving annual average (MAA) – the average performance for the year to 19 August 2017 – is at 90.9 per cent. This is ahead of the performance improvement plan target of 90.5 per cent, and ahead of the other large operators in the UK.
For the four weeks to 19 August 2017, 92.5 per cent of trains met the industry standard public performance measure (PPM) – the best performance during this period for five years, and well ahead of the 88.9 per cent for the same period last year.
‘Large operators’ are those which ran the most services over the last year.
The recent independent National Rail Passenger Survey, carried out by Transport Focus, revealed that nine out of ten customers are satisfied with ScotRail.
ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes said:
“The fact that we are the best performing large operator in the UK is down to the hard work of our people in the ScotRail Alliance, a partnership between Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail.
“Our customers have noticed the effort we are making to help them travel about Scotland hassle-free.
“Just last month the independent National Rail Passenger Survey by Transport Focus revealed that nine out of ten passengers are satisfied with ScotRail, equalling our best ever score.
“But we aren’t complacent. We’re working hard to build the best railway Scotland’s ever had. Our new and better trains will deliver faster journeys, more seats and better services for our customers.”
As Scotland prepares for the Pride Glasgow 2017 weekend on 19-20 August, five ScotRail trains will be displaying the rainbow flag in support of Scotland’s biggest LGBTI festival.
The trains will be in service on the Edinburgh – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk route, and other routes across the country.
The trains were unveiled by Managing Director Alex Hynes at Glasgow Queen Street station. The ‘Pride Trains’ are the latest demonstration of the ScotRail Alliance’s support for Pride Glasgow, following the flying of rainbow flags and banners at Glasgow Central and Queen Street stations in the run-up to the 2015 and 2016 events.
Around 40 ScotRail Alliance employees will join the 5,000-strong Pride parade on 19 August as it makes its way through the streets of Glasgow.
Queen Street Station has a large Pride banner hanging to demonstrate the ScotRail Alliance’s support for the movement, and members of the LGBTI community are being encouraged to consider careers on the railway through adverts in the Pride event magazine.
To help some LGBTI youth groups take part in the weekend’s events, the ScotRail Alliance has also offered free rail tickets to allow their members to travel to and from Glasgow.
Alex Hynes, ScotRail Alliance Managing Director, said:
“It’s great to see our trains fitted with the rainbow flag – a very visible symbol of the ScotRail Alliance’s support for the Glasgow Pride 2017 weekend and the wider LGBTI community.
“At the ScotRail Alliance we want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our customers. We’re building the best railway Scotland has ever had, and we need the best people to do this.
“I would encourage anybody attending Pride Glasgow to come and speak with us about the work the ScotRail Alliance is doing to celebrate diversity and promote equality.”
Alastair Smith, Pride Glasgow CEO, said:
“Pride Glasgow is excited about further developing the relationship with the ScotRail Alliance, so that together we can ensure that LGBTI people feel safe on our transport systems.
“We welcome the commitment the ScotRail Alliance has shown to challenging any form of discrimination on its services. We jointly believe that LGBTI people, their friends and families should feel safe as they travel, not just to the festival but all year round.”
– First weekend of Edinburgh festivals saw 340,000 people pass through Edinburgh Waverley station
– Customers are urged to plan their journeys in advance
– More services, late-night trains and extra carriages compared to the regular timetable
More than 340,000 people passed through Edinburgh Waverley station during the first weekend of the August Edinburgh festivals, the ScotRail Alliance confirmed today.
The number of people who passed through the station between Friday 4 August and Sunday 6 August shows the scale of the operation undertaken by the ScotRail Alliance to help the festivals run smoothly.
Looking ahead to this weekend (11-13 August), the ScotRail Alliance expects this to be the busiest weekend of the festivals. Customers are encouraged to plan their journeys in advance by visiting www.scotrail.co.uk, downloading the ScotRail app or buying a ticket at the station before boarding.
Highlights of the ScotRail Alliance’s August festivals programme include:
– Additional late night trains between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street (via Falkirk High) operating daily, departing from Edinburgh at 00.01 and 00.30.
– A major increase in the number of carriages between Glasgow and Edinburgh, particularly Friday to Sunday, both via the Airdrie/Bathgate line and via Falkirk High
– Many extra carriages between Edinburgh and Fife on Friday evenings and all day Saturday and Sunday
– An extra service running after midnight between North Berwick and Edinburgh, getting people to and from the Fringe by the Sea
The ScotRail Alliance’s Operations Director Perry Ramsey said:
“Once again Edinburgh’s festival season proves to be a huge draw for visitors coming to enjoy the events.
“We’re proud to play our part in getting people to and from Edinburgh. Where possible, we’ve cut back on any non-essential train engineering or maintenance, so that we have the maximum number of carriages available for use over this busiest weekend.
“We know that our trains will be very busy, so we are encouraging all customers to plan their journeys in advance by visiting scotrail.co.uk, downloading the ScotRail app, or buying a ticket at the station before boarding the train.
“We want everyone to enjoy their day, and smooth and safe travel to and from Edinburgh is all part of that.”
A new community heritage centre at Aberdour station opened last week.
The centre, run by the Aberdour Heritage Centre and Station Gardens group, is run by volunteers to provide visitors with more information about Aberdour and local attractions.
Features of the new centre include:
– An interactive touch table
– Exhibitions on the local area
– Bookable guided tours of the area
The centre occupies two formerly disused rooms in the main station building on platform one. The units have been fully refurbished for their new roles through support and funding from the ScotRail Alliance, the Stations Community Regeneration Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Railway Heritage Trust, the Fife Environment Trust and other local groups.
Pupils at Aberdour Primary School have plans for a children’s corner in the near future.
A whole host of events have already been planned for the centre, including drop-in sessions with local experts, and talks on the history of the village.
James Ledgerwood, head of economic development at the ScotRail Alliance, said: “It’s wonderful to see the hard work and dedication of the fantastic volunteers at the Aberdour Heritage Centre has paid off.
“The new centre and will undoubtedly be a great asset to the community, and it has been a pleasure to work with them to achieve their goal.”
Bill Rennie, chair of the Aberdour Heritage Centre and Station Gardens group said: “It’s been a real team effort. Many local volunteers and village organisations have helped with the renovation, which will breathe new life into Aberdour’s beautiful Victorian station.
“ScotRail has been incredibly supportive of the project during its execution. Our volunteers are now hoping to revamp the once famous station gardens.”
The ScotRail Alliance is proud to announce the creation of Scotland’s newest community rail partnership (CRP).
The Rail 74 partnership launches on Friday 2 June, on the route between Rutherglen and Hamilton Central. To mark the event, a piper will greet the train at Rutherglen, with volunteers from the CRP joining and raising awareness of the new group to passengers on the train.
The partnership brings together groups from across the community to improve and promote their local railway line. The partnership was made possible by Business in the Community Scotland, whose local Business Connectors worked with a wide range of local groups to establish the partnership.
The group intends to act as bridge between the line and the local community, and make the communities along the line a better place to work, live and do business.
The ScotRail Alliance has extensively supported the partnership, awarding £10,000 of funding to the partnership to facilitate their plans. The most visible of which will be large totem pole, hand-carved by groups ranging including young homeless people, mental health patients and primary schoolchildren.
James Ledgerwood, the ScotRail Alliance’s head of economic development said, “We know that railways are the lifeblood of many communities across the country.
“Community rail partnerships are an excellent way for us to work in partnership with local communities to maximise the wider opportunities our services can bring. Rail74 has some really exciting plans in place, and we look forward to working within them in there delivery.
“I know they have the drive and determination to make a real difference.”
Jane Wood, Director of Membership and Nations for Business in the Community, said: “We are delighted to see the hard work of our Business Connectors, Diane Whatelely and Suzie McCheyne come to fruition through this invaluable partnership.
There is an undeniable role for business within communities, building a fairer society and a more sustainable future for us all, and it’s great to see the ScotRail Alliance, HMRC and Scottish Gas play such an active role in the development of Rail 74.”
• New Smart Flexipasses designed for shift workers
• Massive expansion of current paper system – now available for 1350 journey options
• ScotRail aiming to have 60% of all journeys using queue-busting smart tickets by 2019
ScotRail today announced a massive expansion of its Flexipass ticket – meaning that shift workers can benefit from discounted rail travel in more parts of Scotland.
Flexipasses – where people buy 10 single tickets that can be used over one month from the first date of travel – offer the flexibility required by people who work irregular hours or shift patterns which mean that a season ticket is unsuitable for them.
Typically, a 10-journeyFlexipass costs the same as nine single tickets.
Prior to today, Flexipasses were only available as paper products. People can now buy their Flexipass at home, load them onto their smartcard and travel on 28 routes.
Changing how customers buy tickets and giving them flexibility is a major benefit offered by Smart ticketing. It has taken a huge infrastructure project involving eight suppliers delivering mobile device and back office upgrades to deliver this technology across the Scottish rail network. As a result, 60% of all ticket types will be available on Smart in 2017, signalling the move away from paper ticketing.
Popular off peak single, day and period returns are also available on the system and more customers are being encouraged to convert from traditional paper tickets to Smart.
A benefits package – offered in partnership with key high street brand names – where season ticket users can get a bit more value for money from their Smartcard journeys is also now in place.
The ScotRail Alliance’s Commercial director Cathy Craig said:
“These new smart Flexipasses are great news for the tens thousands of people who work shifts and irregular hours across Scotland. In the past people would have had to buy single tickets for each journey they made – or bought a season ticket that they didn’t get the best value from.
“Now they can load tickets on their smartcard and use them when they need to. It is a huge step forward in our efforts to transform the way people travel in Scotland.
“Our queue-busting Smart cards are now available for every route in Scotland and already thousands of people are enjoying hassle free travel through our stations. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be launching even more Smart products.
“With new trains on their way and stations being upgraded right across the country, this is a really exciting time for Scotland’s railway.”
The ScotRail Alliance today confirmed that extra services will be provided for Edinburgh spectators and runners on Sunday 28 May.
The extra trains are due to run between Edinburgh and Prestonpans from early afternoon onwards. All trains will serve Wallyford and Musselburgh stations, near to the finishing line.
ScotRail also advise that, due to platform extension works, a small number of services will start or terminate at Haymarket, rather than Edinburgh Waverley.
A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: “Please allow extra time for travel, and buy your ticket in advance, not on the day. The last trains of the day are likely to be busy, so please aim for an earlier service to avoid disappointment.”
The ScotRail Alliance is advising all customers who use Glasgow Central to check their journey before they travel on Scottish Cup Final day.
Trains will be considerably busier than usual, and extra services will be running to and from Hampden. Additional carriages will be added on key services to destinations across Glasgow, Ayrshire and Inverclyde.
As with all major events on the network, alcohol bans and queueing systems will be in place.
Celtic supporters are advised to use King’s Park station before and after game, while Aberdeen fans should use Mount Florida.
To allow for additional services to run to and from the game, many trains using the high level stations will depart from a different platform than usual, and may also arrive or depart at slightly different times. Affected routes include (in both directions):
• Glasgow – Ayr
• Glasgow – Barrhead/Kilmarnock/Carlisle
• Glasgow – East Kilbride
• Glasgow – Neilston/Newton
• Glasgow – Wemyss Bay
A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: “Don’t score an own goal, leave plenty of time to get to the game. Extra staff will be around to help – please follow their instructions to ensure that everything goes smoothly.”
“The last trains of the night are going to be very busy, too – so please plan to catch an earlier one.”
