The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line is a main line railway linking Glasgow and Edinburgh, via Falkirk; it is the principal route of the four rail links between Scotland's two biggest cities. It hosts the flagship ScotRail Express service between and .
History
The route has historic significance as it was Scotland's first inter-city railway, opening on 2 February 1842 as the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.Robertson (1983). Chapter 3, Section II: The essential link: Edinburgh to Glasgow, Pp 99-120. It later became a key constituent of the North British Railway.Awdry (1990); Page 128.
Electrification The line was electrified in the 2010s. It was anticipated that electric Class 380 trains would start running from May 2017, followed by new Class 385s from September 2017. However, delays to the electrification project meant the Class 380s did not run until December 2017 and the 385s until July 2018.
Route
Places served
The route serves the following places, with Ordnance Survey grid references for each station:
Places Grid references Glasgow Lenzie Croy Falkirk Polmont Linlithgow Haymarket Edinburgh
Services Three train operating companies run services on the line:
ScotRail:
The timetable for Express services between and sees two trains per hour; these call at , , , and . At peak hours, two additional trains per hour call at , , Falkirk High and Haymarket.
There are a total of four trains per hour between Croy and Glasgow Queen Street, and four trains per hour between Edinburgh Waverley and Polmont. These additional journeys are provided by commuter services between and Glasgow Queen Street, and and Edinburgh Waverley, respectively. The latter of these services makes an additional call at , providing another connection to the Edinburgh Trams and a direct link to Edinburgh Airport. There are also several ScotRail inter-city and regional services which operate non-stop across portions of the line towards , and .
London North Eastern Railway:
Two trains per day operate in each direction across the section of the line between Edinburgh Waverley and Polmont, these being the services running between and Inverness or .
Lumo:
On weekdays there are two westbound trains from which operate between and , intermediately calling at and . There is also one eastbound train on weedays. There are no Lumo services on this line on Saturdays. On Sundays there is one train in both directions.
Rolling stock
1950s/60s As part of a review by the British Transport Commission report in 1952, the services were provided by the 1956 batch of diesel multiple units, entering service in 1957.
1970s In 1971, the stock was changed to diesel locomotives, fitted for Blue Star multiple working, with a rake of Mark 2 carriages. Initially, a mixture of Class 25, Class 27 and Class 37 powered the train in pairs, at each end, through wired and piped to provide top and tail working. This settled down quickly to a dedicated pool of Class 27 locomotives.
1980s In 1979, the pairs of Class 27s were replaced by single Class 47/7s at one end of a rake of Mark 3 carriages, with a DBSO control car operating as a push-pull train using the TDM system. Also during this period, InterCity 125s operated through services from Glasgow Queen Street to London King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line, and to various West Country destinations on the Cross Country Route.
At this time, the service operated on a half-hourly frequency, with all trains stopping at Haymarket and Falkirk High, with alternate trains stopping at Polmont and Linlithgow. Some peak hour trains stopped at Bishopbriggs, Lenzie and Croy. Sunday trains served .
In 1984, the Polmont rail accident resulted in 13 deaths and 61 injuries. A train hit a cow on the track; part of the cow's leg was trapped in the bogie of the train, lifting it off the track. It led to a debate about the safety of push-pull trains.Stead, Jean. "'Push pull' trains to be altered after death crash inquiry / Call for safer trains after derailment in Scotland". The Guardian, London. 22 February 1985.
In the late 1980s, the DBSO control cars were planned for replacement with s in four- and six-car formations. However, due to delays in deliveries and the need to release the DBSOs to the Great Eastern Main Line, s were used for a short period, prior to being put into use on the Far North Line.
1990s/2000s Delivery of the s in 1999 displaced the Class 158s for other duties, including the Far North Line. Other motive power can be seen as a result of operational considerations including Classes 156 and 158.
Present day Since electrification of the line in 2017, services have been operated by s. Since October 2018, InterCity 125s have been also introduced on long-distance services that use parts of the route. On 14th December 2025, Lumo were introduced to the line operating the .
See also Glasgow to Edinburgh Lines Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
References Citations
Sources
External links