ScotRail is encouraging fans travelling to see Scotland play Ireland in the Six Nations rugby match this weekend to plan ahead. Scotland host Ireland at BT Murrayfield on Sunday, 12 March, at 3pm.
To help fans travel to and from the match, ScotRail is adding more seats to trains, where possible, throughout the day on routes in and out of Edinburgh Waverley.
Rugby fans are also urged to allow additional time for travel, particularly on their journey home, due to limited access at Haymarket station caused by the ongoing redevelopment of an adjacent building, which has restricted access to the station and reduced its capacity.
This means that ScotRail is unable to provide its normal queuing system after the game, and the station will not be accessible via the ramp at the rear of the station. Passengers travelling from Haymarket will be required to use the main entrance. As a result, customers should expect longer waiting times for the train home. ScotRail is warning that some passengers may be held outside of the station or be redirected to Edinburgh Waverley to catch their train home.
Fans are asked to consider travelling straight to Edinburgh Waverley after the final whistle to reduce their need to queue. Edinburgh Trams operate a fast and frequent service between the entrance of the stadium and St Andrew Square tram stop – a short walk from Edinburgh Waverley. Edinburgh City Centre is also accessible from BT Murrayfield by a number of Lothian Bus services (1, 3, 12, 22, 25, 26, 30, 31 or 33).
Scotrail is also urging its passengers to buy their return tickets for travel through the mTicket system on the ScotRail app, either from home or on the way to the station, where it will instantly become available on their mobile device.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail Head of Customer Operations, said: “Scotland have been really impressive in their year's Six Nations, so we're looking to forward to this weekend's match and helping fans travel to and from the game.
“We'll be doing everything we can to help make our customers' journey a seamless one, including adding more seats to trains to and from Edinburgh throughout the day.
“However, customers should plan ahead as services will be busy and access at Haymarket station continues to be limited for fans travelling home after the match so customers should consider heading straight to Edinburgh Waverley to catch their train home.”
Would it be easier for ScotRail if passengers lined up on lines and shuffled along , pretending they were on a train so they (ScotRail) didn’t have to run trains at all.