The Edinburgh–Dundee line is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

linking

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

with Dundee via the

Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

and the

Tay Bridge The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site. Plans for a bridge over the Tay ...

. A branch runs to Perth. Passenger services are operated by ScotRail,

Caledonian Sleeper ''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom, the other b ...

, CrossCountry and London North Eastern Railway.

Route

Part of the route is shared with other services: *

Fife Circle Line The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rat ...

between Edinburgh Waverley and

Markinch Markinch (, (Scottish Gaelic: Marc Innis) is both a village and a parish in the heart of Fife, Scotland. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the village has a population of 2,420. The civil parish had a population of 16,530 (in 2011).Cens ...

The majority of the line is double track. Between the junction with the

Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line is a mainline railway line linking Glasgow and Edinburgh via Falkirk in Scotland. It is the principal route out of the five rail links between Scotland's two biggest cities, hosting the flagship "Shutt ...

and Edinburgh Waverley, the line is quadruple-tracked.

Historical

The route comprises the following historical railway lines: *

Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and ...

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 *

Edinburgh and Northern Railway The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extreme ...

between Burntisland and Leuchars North Junction * Tay Bridge and associated lines of the North British Railway between Leuchars North Junction and Dundee

In detail

Electrification

Currently, the only electrified section is that in

shared with the lines to Glasgow. Work to electrify the section between

Dalmeny railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Dalmeny Railway Station - geograph.org.uk - 1305658.jpg , caption = Dalmeny railway station in 2009, tracks towards the Forth Bridge visible behind its entry arch, the Forth Road Bridge is to th ...

and the junction with the Glasgow lines began in June 2022 and is expected to be completed by December 2024.

Services

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

LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...

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, LNER run 4 and CrossCountry run 1 service. On Monday-Saturday there is an hourly regional service from Edinburgh to Dundee, serving smaller Fife stations.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edinburgh-Aberdeen line Transport in Edinburgh Transport in Fife Transport in Angus, Scotland Transport in Aberdeenshire Railway lines in Scotland Standard gauge railways in Scotland