To accommodate the multitude of horse racing fans travelling to Ayr for this week’s Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Festival that will be held at Ayr Racecourse from Thursday. 21 until Saturday, 23 September, ScotRail is adding extra seats to train services between Glasgow Central and Ayr.

On Saturday, 23 September, to help trains run smoothly ScotRail will be adding extra carriages throughout the day between Glasgow Central and Ayr. Over all three days of the festival, trains to and from Ayr are expected to be much busier than normal and anyone intending to travel to Ayr on those days is urged to allow extra time for their journey.

Before racing starts there will be a queueing system in place at Glasgow Central, and a similar queueing arrangement will be in place after racing finishes. Customers can reduce their need to queue by using the mTicket system on the ScotRail app to purchase their return tickets to Ayr in advance.

The mTicket system allows anyone to purchase their tickets anywhere, including from the comfort of their home or on the way to the station, and it will become instantly available on their mobile device.

ScotRail wishes to remind passengers that carrying or consuming alcohol is prohibited on ScotRail trains and in ScotRail stations.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said: “ScotRail is looking forward to, once again, helping racegoers travel to see the latest renewal of Scotland‘s most famous flat race.

“To help make the festival a success, we’ll be laying on extra carriages on trains to and from Ayr throughout the day on Saturday.

“Trains will be much busier than usual, so we encourage people to plan their journey in advance and make sure they have their return ticket to Ayr before boarding.”