With the introduction of ScotRail’s new timetable from Sunday, 21st May, Saturday services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh via Falkirk High will be increased to a 15-minute frequency in each direction from 08:45 to 17:15.

Following improvements in services last December in Clydesdale, Lanarkshire, and West Lothian, and between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Shotts and Carstairs. The new timetable builds on these improvements, with faster journey times on services between Ayr and Glasgow, whilst services to Ardrossan and Largs services will call at stations in the Garnock Valley to improve connectivity, and provide additional space for customers travelling to Troon while Calmac’s Arran services are diverted there.

There will be extra trains between Ayr and Kilmarnock with services retimed to provide better connections to Dumfries and Carlisle.

As a trial, there will be an increase in the number of Dundee to Edinburgh that call at Cupar from one to two per hour. A further trial during the summer will replace the poorly-used Edinburgh to Oban service with an additional return journey between Glasgow and Oban on Sundays.

Between Glasgow and Gourock, the small number of fast services that operated outside peak periods will be removed from the timetable to ensure that the core Inverclyde service of at least three trains per hour during the day operate reliably, with additional fast services at peak times.

On the Cathcart Circle in South Glasgow, there will be a small number of additional daytime services, which will be increased to an hourly service from December subject to sufficient drivers completing their training in time.

Because of the pandemic, driver training has been interrupted meaning that ScotRail are unable to operate as many trains as they would like, and the total number of weekday services will remain as in the December 2022 timetable at around 2,100 per day. ScotRail is recruiting as many trainee drivers as the programme can accommodate, but until the backlog in training is cleared it is limited in the number of services that it can operate.

With the new implementation of the new timetable, customers should check their journeys on the ScotRail website at scotrail.co.uk, mobile app, or social media channels as their train times may have changed. Timetables are also available for download from the ScotRail website.

David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said: “This is another step forward for Scotland’s Railway, as we continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

“The way people travel has dramatically changed in the past two years, and we are doing everything we can to provide the best possible service.

“The increased frequency between Edinburgh and Glasgow is a major milestone on the road to recovery, and we have essentially introduced entirely new timetables between Ayrshire and Glasgow, and Inverclyde and Glasgow.

“There is a lot of investment in Scotland’s Railway, with decarbonisation continuing and improvements across the network, and this new timetable is an important part of that.”