ScotRail has announced that they will provide extra coaches and additional seats on trains between Edinburgh and Tweedbank for fans heading to Melrose, Roxburghshire on Saturday 13 April.

The Melrose Sevens is a high energy fast playing rugby tournament that is held at The Greenyards, the birthplace of rugby 7s and home to Melrose Rugby Club.

The tournament lasts three days from Thursday 11th to Saturday 13 April, with the finals being played on the Saturday between 10.30am and 7.30pm on the 3G pitch.

With Saturday being the climax of the tournament, passengers wishing to travel to the finals are reminded to purchase their return tickets in advance using ScotRail‘s mobile app, which will enable the tickets to be readily accessed on their phone for when they will be needed for checking at ticket barriers or on the train.

Those wishing to buy their tickets in person from booking offices are advised to buy them on any of the days before they intend to travel.

This will allow customers to travel to the tournament on earlier services on the day of travel, to ensure they arrive in good time before their match starts.

Customers are also being informed that ScotRail has amended the timetable, meaning trains will arrive and leave at different times to usual on the Borders Railway route during the days the tournament is taking place.

This is to allow trains with additional capacity to run with the addition of extra trains and prevent overcrowding.

On the Saturday evening after the tournament has ended, an additional evening train will run from Tweedbank at 19.52, taking 59 minutes to return fans to the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

Additional ScotRail staff will be deployed to help fans as they make their way to and from the event, and customers are once again reminded that the drinking and carrying of alcohol on any of ScotRail’s services and at stations is strictly prohibited.

We’re looking forward to helping rugby fans travel to and from the Melrose Sevens this weekend. To help everyone’s journey run smoothly, we’re adding extra carriages to trains between Edinburgh and Tweedbank throughout the day

Customers should plan ahead and check their journey before they leave the house as we’ve made some changes to train times to better support the event We’re also asking fans to leave extra time for travel and to buy their return tickets for travel in advance.” 

David Ross, ScotRail Communications Director