The network of transportation in Aberdeen is extensive and diversified, like that of many comparably sized cities.
As an ancient city, Aberdeen maintains historic infrastructure features such as the Brig o' Balgownie and the Bridge of Dee. The advent of cars since has seen the creation of higher-capacity, modern infrastructure such as the Anderson Drive dual carriageway and the Haudagain Roundabout.
Airport and heliport
Aberdeen Airport, in the neighbouring town of Dyce, serves primarily UK and European destinations for passenger and freight flights. It is also the busiest helicopter terminal in the world, serving the many North Sea oil offshore installations. Via commercial airlines, connections are available via London Heathrow and Amsterdam airports to many worldwide destinations. The IATA airport code for the airport is ABZ. A regular airport bus service (route 727 operated by Stagecoach Bluebird) connects the airport directly with the city centre at Broad Street and the bus and railway stations at Union Square.
Railway
Historical Aberdeen was connected to the railway network from the south with the opening of Aberdeen Ferryhill railway station in 1850. Three years later, the Deeside Railway opened and the following year the railway was extended to Guild Street. From the north, the Great North of Scotland Railway opened its terminus at Kittybrewster in 1854. A new terminus, Aberdeen Waterloo, opened two years later. The two railways weren't connected until 1867 when the Joint station opened at the site of the present day Aberdeen railway station.
Aberdeen formerly had a suburban rail service affectionately known as the "subbie" which operated between Culter and Dyce. The service to Dyce began on 1 July 1887 and the service to Culter began seven years later. These services were withdrawn on 3 April 1937.
As with many parts of the UK rail network, several lines out of Aberdeen were closed in the 1960s. For example, the Deeside Railway which ran west of the city to Ballater opened in 1853 but the Beeching Report led to the closure of the line in 1966. The line is now a popular walk and cycle route, the Deeside Way. Further lines running north to the commuter town of Ellon and to Peterhead were also closed around this time.
Present day There are two railway stations in Aberdeen. The main city-centre station is located on Guild Street, adjacent to Union Square which offers a covered interchange with the bus station. The only other station in Aberdeen City is Dyce to the north.
ScotRail services connect Aberdeen to six of the seven other Scottish cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, and many intermediate destinations. These services make use of the Dundee–Aberdeen line and Aberdeen–Inverness line. There are no direct train services between Aberdeen and Dunfermline. High-speed inter-city services operated by London North Eastern Railway connect Aberdeen to London via Edinburgh in just over seven hours on the East Coast Main Line. A regular stopping service, also run by ScotRail, serves Aberdeen along with all stations between Inverurie and Montrose. Inter-city services operated by CrossCountry connect Aberdeen to south-west England and numerous intermediate destinations such as Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol and Exeter. In addition, the Caledonian Sleeper service makes an overnight journey to/from London Euston six days a week.
Buses
Historical
Bus services form the main public transportation system in Aberdeen since the closure of the tram network. Most city buses are operated privately by FirstGroup via their subsidiary First Aberdeen (First's global headquarters are located in the city, on King Street). When bus services in the UK were privatised in the 1980s, those in Aberdeen were the subject of a management buy-out. The resulting company developed into FirstGroup following a number of mergers and acquisitions over the years. First Aberdeen has been criticised by local politicians and in the media for taking advantage of its monopoly with high fares and mediocre service.http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1361692 High bus fares prompt call for inquiry into monopoly The company has defended its frequent fare rises as being necessary due to high running costs and cuts to government subsidies. Bus firm 'forced' to increase fares
There was formerly a limited night bus service, the night bus network having been cut back in October 2018. Night buses were discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Night buses were reintroduced in December 2022.
Former routes No.StartEndWithdrawnNotesDubfordAberdeen Royal InfirmaryDecember 2022Withdrawal proposed in 2019.15Beach Retail ParkAiryhall or CraigiebucklerJuly 2022Via Footdee. On withdrawal, the Airyhall to Union Street portion was replaced by the new route 15 while Craigiebuckler was taken over by new route 11A. Footdee was left with no service.Guild StreetDyce railway stationDecember 2022Via Aberdeen Airport. Introduced in 2019.
Present day First Aberdeen have the largest share of routes in the city. They operate a hub-and-spoke network - the majority of routes begin at an outskirt or suburb, run through the city centre (often via at least part of Union Street) and then out to another suburb. For example, route 1 runs from Danestone in the north, to the city centre along Union Street, then out to Garthdee in the south-west. Services run at intervals from approximately every 15 minutes (during the day) to every 30 minutes (in the evening and on Sundays). Many of the routes date back to those formerly operated by trams. When the tram system was closed in the 1950s, the same routes were replaced by diesel buses. Many of these same routes, with minor alterations, still run today. Stagecoach Bluebird also operates two cross-city routes; their route 59 operates between Northfield and Balnagask via the city centre and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary & route 727 which operates between Aberdeen Bus Station and Aberdeen Airport.
Aberdeen bus station is the terminus for Stagecoach services to outlying villages and towns. Services include the Jet 727, a frequent service linking the bus station at Union Square to Aberdeen Airport, the X7 Coastrider, and the Buchan Express. The city is the northern terminus of the X7 which runs to Dundee via many towns along the route. These services and other Stagecoach buses that start at the bus station also pick up and drop off passengers within the city itself.
Longer-distance and inter-city buses also operate from several places in the City centre, such as the bus station at Union Square or nearby Union Street. Frequent services to other Scottish cities are operated by Scottish Citylink, Ember and FlixBus. Local companies often assist on Scottish Citylink routes. For example, Central Coaches (Aberdeen) can often be seen running the M92 route from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.
A night service from Aberdeen bus station to surrounding settlements was reintroduced for December 2022 and will run on Friday and Saturday nights up to Christmas. The services, operated by Stagecoach, are funded by Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen Inspired and are free of charge. Night Buses then returned again in 2024 and 2025, being operated by both First Bus and Stagecoach Bluebird.
In 2023, multiple bus gates were installed in the city centre. These resulted in improved reliability of bus service and reductions in journey time. A trial of free bus services during weekends took place funded by operational savings resulting from the bus gates.
Current intracity routes All current intracity routes apart from the 9U and 32 operate via Union Street. All routes are operated by First Aberdeen apart from the 14, 59 and 727.
No.StartEndNotesDanestoneGarthdeeDubford or Bridge of Don Park and RideGarthdeeAshwood ParkGarthdeeMastrickCove BayBranded “Thistle Line” until the introduction of new vehicles on the line, causing the branding to be lost.9UHillhead of SeatonAberdeen Royal InfirmaryExclusive to University of Aberdeen students, staff, and visitors. Travels directly between Hillhead, Sir Duncan Rice Library, and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.Woodend or CraigiebucklerNorthfieldRoute 11A was introduced in July 2022 to serve Craigiebuckler. The two routes split at Anderson Drive.HeathryfordTorryScatterburnSeaton or Hillhead of Seaton (evenings and weekends)14Bridge StreetKingswellsOperated by McGills since November 2024. Previously service X14 operated by Stagecoach Bluebird.CountesswellsBalnagask Introduced in July 2022.Dyce Shopping Centre or BucksburnFaulds GateBranded “Northern Lights” until the introduction of new vehicles on the line, causing the branding to be lost onboard all vehicles except one. Following the withdrawal of route X27 in December 2022, route 17K was introduced at peak times to serve Kirklees Industrial Estate. Service N17 & N18 were also introduced in 2025.Dyce Shopping CentreRedmossTillydronePeterculter Operated by the world's first hydrogen double deckers from January 2021.Hillhead of SeatonUnion TerraceFormerly operated to Tillydrone but was cut back to Old Aberdeen in the 1960s, and subsequently extended from Old Aberdeen to Hillhead of Seaton. The southern terminus was formerly Marischal College. The route was extended to Balnagask to take over part of the former route 5, which was withdrawn. From 3 July 2022, the route was cut back to Union Street with the portion to Balnagask now operated by route 15.HeathryfordSheddocksleyBranded “Sunshine Line” until the introduction of new vehicles on the line, causing the branding to be lost. Service N23 was introduced in 2025 linking Aberdeen with Kingswells.32DubfordOldmachar AcademyRuns once each way per day. Introduced in December 2022 following the withdrawal of route 8.59NorthfieldBalnagaskOperated by hybrid buses from 2012 to 2022. Operated by fully electric vehicles from 2022.727Aberdeen bus stationAberdeen Airport24 hour service. Operated by fully electric double deckers from 2022.
Hydrogen buses
Ten Van Hool A330H hydrogen-powered buses were introduced in 2015 as part of a scheme to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology. They ran until 2020, and one was subsequently gifted to the Grampian Transport Museum. On 28 January 2021, fifteen hydrogen-powered double-decker Wright StreetDeck Hydroliner buses, funded by Aberdeen City Council, the Scottish Government, and the European Union, entered service with First Aberdeen. In February 2022, the StreetDeck Hydroliners were temporarily taken off the road due to an unspecified technical issue. Diesel buses loaned from First Glasgow were used in their place, and the affected batch of Hydroliners returned to service in mid-2022, coinciding with the delivery of 10 more StreetDeck Hydroliners.
The buses are refuelled at a facility located in Aberdeen City Council's Kittybrewster depot. The energy company Vattenfall announced, at the beginning of 2022, a proposed demonstrator project to use one of its existing offshore wind turbines to produce hydrogen on the platform itself, and then pipe it to a storage area close to Aberdeen. The production rate from the 8.8MW turbine is targeted to reach 0.18 cubic metres of hydrogen per hour.
Future
Improvements to buses in Aberdeen are planned as part of a project dubbed in January 2022 as "Aberdeen Rapid Transit". Initially anticipated to cost around £150 million, in June 2025 it was reported that the options being explored cost between £167 and £323 million.
Roads There are six main roads into and out of the city:
The A92 runs north to the Blackdog interchange, where it joins the A90 for Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The A947 exits the city at Dyce and goes on to Oldmeldrum and Turriff, ending at Banff. The A96 links to Elgin and Inverness in the north-west, passing through Inverurie, Huntly and Keith. The A944 exits the city to the west, passing through Westhill before following Donside to Alford, Strathdon and Corgarff.