ScotRail has issued travel advice for rugby fans travelling to Scottish Gas Murrayfield to see Scotland play rivals England in the Six Nations this weekend.
The national team take on England in their second home match of the campaign, following a dramatic encounter with France, at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Saturday, 24 February, at 4.45pm.
To help fans travel to and from the match, ScotRail is adding more seats to trains on routes in and out of Edinburgh throughout the day, including between Edinburgh Waverley and Fife, Perth, and the Borders Railway.
Rugby fans are being urged to plan ahead and 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. The building work has restricted access to Haymarket and reduced the capacity within the station by half.
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 located at the rear of the station. Any customers travelling from Haymarket will be required to use the main entrance.
As a result, customers should expect longer waiting times for the train home, and some customers will be redirected to Edinburgh Waverley to catch their train due to the limited space available within Haymarket station.
Fans are asked to consider travelling straight to Edinburgh Waverley after the final whistle to reduce their need to queue, or postponing their travel home until later in the evening.
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 Scottish Gas Murrayfield by a number of Lothian Bus services (1, 3, 12, 22, 25, 26, 30, 31 or 33).
Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said:
“ScotRail is looking forward to helping fans travel to Scottish Gas Murrayfield to watch Scotland take on England this weekend, and we’ll be doing all we can to make their journey a seamless one.
“To support the event, we’re adding more seats to trains to and from Edinburgh throughout the day, but customers should plan ahead as services are expected to be busy.
“We’d also encourage customers to travel straight to Edinburgh Waverley to catch their train home after the game due to the limited access and capacity at Haymarket station.”