ScotRail has launched a social media campaign aimed at persuading passengers to avoiding an in-demand tourist train.
The national train operator is telling travellers: “DON’T catch the 10:51 from Inverness to Edinburgh.”
The mid-morning service from the northern city to the capital is one of several on the 187-mile southbound link via Pitlochry, Perth and Stirling.
ScotRail says on Twitter: “It’s a really busy train with no way to add more carriages, so we’re making it cheaper to get the 8.45am and 9.42am.
“Just buy an Advance single ticket direct to Edinburgh and change at Perth/Stirling.”
In its social media message, ScotRail says: “Trains from Inverness to Edinburgh travel through some of Scotland’s most majestic scenery – such as the Drumochter Pass in the Highlands between Dalwhinnie and Blair Atholl. These trains are often very busy with tourists and travel groups.
“The 10.51am from Inverness to Edinburgh Waverley, which runs from Monday to Saturday, is a particular challenge.
“We’ve looked at increasing the number of carriages on the 10.51 but all our available fleet are currently being utilised. So we’ve made more lower price tickets available on alternative services.”
Today’s service is shown by Real Time Trains as consisting of only three carriages.
Nicky Gardner, co-editor of Europe by Rail, said: “It highlights the lack of resilience in the entire rail ecosystem in Britain.
“The lack of extra trains for special events, or to accommodate peak holiday traffic on popular summer routes, is a real problem.
“Even if a spare train were available to run an extra morning service from Inverness to Edinburgh there would be real problems pathing it down the Highland main line to Perth, because of the long sections of single track which so drastically reduce capacity on that route.
“So the lack of resilience is partly due to lack of trains, partly down to track infrastructure.”
Research by The Independent has found little or no difference in prices on the day of travel. Checking on the morning, all three trains are priced at £50 one way. Only the earlier 7.55am direct service is cheaper, at £36.40.
But looking a week ahead, Advance tickets on the alternative services are less than half price. Buying further ahead cuts the price to £18.30. This represents a 63 per cent discount on the standard fare, though with restrictive conditions: the Advance ticket can only be used between the two stations on one specific train, while the day single can be used on any train with unlimited breaks of journey.
The alternative trains take 26 and 10 minutes longer, respectively – but ScotRail seeks to make this a positive, saying: “You’ll arrive in Edinburgh earlier, giving you more time to explore.”
The Highland line is conspicuous by its absence from ScotRail’s web page promoting “Great Scenic Rail Journeys”.
