Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line

This article is about the Aberdeen to Edinburgh railway. For other uses of Aberdeen Line, see Aberdeen Line (disambiguation). For other uses of Aberdeen, see Aberdeen (disambiguation).

Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line
The Forth Bridge between North Queensferry and Dalmeny
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Edinburgh Fife Angus Aberdeenshire Scotland
Termini	Edinburgh Aberdeen
Stations	29
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Abellio ScotRail CrossCountry Virgin Trains East Coast
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	100 mph (160 km/h) maximum

Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line
Legend
Aberdeen to Inverness Line Inverurie Dyce Aberdeen (NorthLink ferry to Orkney and Shetland) Portlethen Stonehaven Laurencekirk Montrose Arbroath Carnoustie Golf Street Barry Links Monifieth Balmossie Broughty Ferry Dundee Tay Railway Bridge over Firth of Tay Invergowrie Leuchars Cupar Springfield Highland Main Line Perth Moncrieffe Tunnel Highland Main Line Glasgow to Aberdeen Line Ladybank Markinch Fife Circle Line Kirkcaldy Kinghorn Burntisland Aberdour Dalgety Bay Fife Circle Line Inverkeithing North Queensferry Forth Railway Bridge over Firth of Forth Dalmeny South Gyle Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line / North Clyde Line Glasgow to Edinburgh via Shotts Line / West Coast Main Line Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley( St Andrew Square) North Berwick Line East Coast Main Line

The Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line is a railway line linking Edinburgh with Aberdeen via the Forth Bridge, the Tay Bridge and Dundee. Also it serves as an extension to the East Coast Main Line and the Cross Country Route. Passenger services are operated by Abellio ScotRail, CrossCountry and Virgin Trains East Coast.

Route

Part of the route is shared with other services:

• Fife Circle Line between Edinburgh Waverley and Markinch
• Glasgow to Aberdeen Line between Dundee and Aberdeen

This line is not electrified by means of overhead power cables (with the exception of the Edinburgh Haymarket to Edinburgh Waverley section). The number of stops on a typical journey between Aberdeen and Edinburgh is also partly responsible for the amount of time travel takes between the two stations.

Historical

The route comprises the following historical railway lines:

• Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway between Edinburgh and Saughton Junction
• Forth Bridge Connecting Lines of the North British Railway between Saughton Junction and Dalmeny Junction
• Forth Bridge Railway between Dalmeny Junction and Inverkeithing South Junction
• Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway between Inverkeithing South Junction and Inverkeithing Central Junction
• Aberdour Line of the North British Railway between Inverkeithing Central Junction and Burntisland
• Edinburgh and Northern Railway between Burntisland and Leuchars North Junction
• Tay Bridge and associated lines of the North British Railway between Leuchars North Junction and Dundee
• Dundee and Arbroath Railway between Dundee and Arbroath
• North British, Arbroath and Montrose Railway between Arbroath and Kinnaber Junction (north of Montrose)
• Aberdeen Railway between Kinnaber Junction and Aberdeen

In detail

Place	Station	Ordnance Survey grid reference	Notes
Edinburgh	Edinburgh Waverley	NT257738	East Coast Main Line and Cross Country Route services join the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line at Waverley See Edinburgh Waverley railway station for other lines Bus link and Tram Links to Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh (Haymarket)	Haymarket	NT239731	See Haymarket station for other lines Bus link and Tram Links to Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh (South Gyle)	South Gyle	NT189722	Local services only
South Queensferry (Dalmeny)	Dalmeny	NT138779	Local services only
Forth Bridge	None	NT135792
North Queensferry	North Queensferry	NT131808	Local services only
Inverkeithing	Inverkeithing	NT131833	Fife Circle Line connection; Bus link to Edinburgh Airport
Dalgety Bay	Dalgety Bay	NT149840	Local services only
Aberdour	Aberdour	NT190854	Local services only
Burntisland	Burntisland	NT232856	Local services only
Kinghorn	Kinghorn	NT269868	Local services only
Kirkcaldy	Kirkcaldy	NT275916	Fife Circle Line connection
Markinch	Markinch	NO299015	Fife Circle Line connection, also serves Levenmouth and Glenrothes
Ladybank	Ladybank	NO306096	Connection for Perth
Perth	Perth	NO112230	Highland Line connection
Invergowrie	Invergowrie	N034299	Local services between Perth and Dundee
Springfield	Springfield	NO349119	limited service
Cupar	Cupar	NO376143
Leuchars for St Andrews	Leuchars	NO449206
Tay Bridge	None	NO391277
Dundee	Dundee	NO402298	Glasgow to Aberdeen Line connection.
Dundee (Broughty Ferry)	Broughty Ferry	NO462309	limited service
Monifieth (Balmossie)	Balmossie	NO484317	limited service
Monifieth	Monifieth	NO497322	limited service
Carnoustie	Barry Links	NO542337	limited service
Carnoustie	Golf Street	NO557342	limited service
Carnoustie	Carnoustie	NO566345
Arbroath	Arbroath	NO638409
Montrose	Montrose	NO711579
Laurencekirk	Laurencekirk railway station
Stonehaven	Stonehaven	NO863861
Portlethen	Portlethen	NO923967
Aberdeen	Aberdeen	NJ941058	Terminus of ECML services from London King's Cross, Caledonian Sleeper services from London Euston and Cross Country Route services from Penzance; Aberdeen to Inverness Line connection; NorthLink ferry to Orkney and Shetland.

Services

File:Montrose viaduct 170454.jpg

A northbound Class 170 crosses the viaduct at Montrose

2015

There is an hourly service between Edinburgh and Aberdeen (17 trains in total) for most of the day. Most services are provided by ScotRail (8 of which extend to Inverurie, one continuing on from there to Inverness). 4 services are provided by Virgin Trains East Coast which provide services to/from Aberdeen of which 3 run to London King's Cross while 1 runs to Leeds. CrossCountry provides 1 train per day to Aberdeen from Plymouth while one runs from Aberdeen to Penzance and to Edinburgh. On Sundays, a limited service is provided by ScotRail who run 5 trains per day, Virgin Trains East Coast run 4 and CrossCountry run 1 service.