Regular passengers on services between Glasgow Central and East Kilbride will be able to benefit from more frequent, quieter and greener electric trains that will soon be operating services when the timetable changes on Sunday, 14th December, in a move that assists ScotRail with its Decarbonisation Programme.

Electric traction will form 75% of the services between Glasgow Central and East Kilbride, following successful trials as the new class 380 Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) replace some of the older Class 156 Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) that run in a four-car formation.

The Class 156 units, which run in six-car formations, will remain in use and will form the remaining 25% of services on the route.

Extra services will also be added to the Glasgow to East Kilbride timetable during the evenings. These will be at 20:21, 21:17 & 22:18 for Glasgow Central to East Kilbride services, and 20:58, 21:57 & 22:57 for East Kilbride to Glasgow Central services. These will run Monday to Saturday.

This, in turn, will lead to an increase in train length and seating capacity on services from Glasgow Central to Newton, Neilson and the Cathcart circular routes.

The 07:24 Neilson to Glasgow will now be formed of six coaches, not four. The 08:13 & 08:52 Glasgow Central to Glasgow Central Cathcart circulars will both be formed of six coaches, not three, and the 17:20 Glasgow Central to Newton service will be formed of six coaches, not four.

Trains serving the Scottish capital at Edinburgh Waverley will also see changes to existing services.

Trains on the Edinburgh to North Berwick, Dunbar and Tweedbank routes will see all the times to all services revised to fit in and around the timetable changes made on the East Coast Main Line.

Edinburgh to Dunbar stopping services will increase from one to two trains per hour, Monday to Saturday, something not seen before. Off-peak, extra evening services will also run, offering an hourly service from Prestonpans, Longniddry and Drem.

Some late-night trains heading to and from Fife will be amended to allow for electrification works between Burntisland and Thornton Junction.

Some trains running on Monday to Thursday and Sunday nights will be retimed and rerouted via Dunfermline with extra stops at some of the stations on that route. Passengers who usually board these trains via the usual route of Kirkcaldy will need to be aware of these changes.

Passengers are reminded they can always check their journeys on the ScotRail app, via the website and on social media platforms.

“This timetable marks another important milestone for Scotland’s Railway, as we introduce electric trains on the East Kilbride line following the successful completion of the electrification project.

The move to electric trains will mean smoother, quieter, and more sustainable journeys for customers, while our additional evening services will offer greater flexibility for those travelling later in the day.

Across the network, we’ve made a range of changes to deliver more services, improve capacity where it’s needed most, and to support ongoing investment in the decarbonisation of Scotland’s Railway.”

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail Service Delivery Director