Edinburgh to Glasgow by train

The station trap

Glasgow has two main stations and both have trains from Edinburgh, but they are not equivalent:

The Queen Street express is the one nearly everybody wants. The Central route goes the long way round via Carstairs and takes around twenty-five minutes longer for the same city pair. Both will appear in results for “Edinburgh to Glasgow”, so it is worth reading the arrival station rather than sorting by price alone.

Frequency changes how you travel

With departures every fifteen minutes at peak and every half hour otherwise, this is one of the few British intercity routes where turning up without a booked train is completely normal. If you miss one there is another shortly, which removes most of the argument for a fixed Advance ticket.

That does not mean ignore the fare. An Off-Peak ticket still costs less than an Anytime one, and travelling outside the morning and evening commuter peaks is both cheaper and considerably more comfortable.

Both ends are central

Edinburgh Waverley sits in the valley between the Old and New Towns, directly below the castle. Glasgow Queen Street opens onto George Square, in the middle of the city. Neither end needs onward transport for a typical visit — you walk out into the centre.

Train or bus?

Coaches run this corridor frequently and cost less, but take around an hour and a half and are exposed to motorway traffic. For a fifty-minute train running every fifteen minutes into the centre of Glasgow, the rail option is hard to argue with unless the fare difference genuinely matters to you on the day.

Getting the fare down

British fares reward planning more than almost any other network. The cheap Advance fares are released around twelve weeks before travel and sold in limited batches at rising prices — buy early and you pay a fraction of the walk-up fare, buy on the day and you pay the lot. The catch is that an Advance ticket is valid only on the train you booked.

Two other things are worth knowing and neither is a trick: a railcard costs around £30 a year and takes roughly a third off most fares, and split ticketing — buying two tickets covering consecutive parts of the same journey, staying in the same seat — is entirely permitted and frequently cheaper than the through fare.

Our guide to train travel in the UK goes through ticket types, railcards and split ticketing in full.

Common questions

Do I need to book in advance?

Not usually. Trains run every fifteen to thirty minutes, so turning up and travelling is normal on this route. Travelling outside the commuter peaks still costs less.

Why do some journeys take much longer?

Because they go to a different station. The express to Glasgow Queen Street takes about fifty minutes; services to Glasgow Central run via Carstairs and take around an hour and a quarter. Check the arrival station before booking on price alone.

Which Glasgow station do I want?

Queen Street for the fast service and for George Square in the city centre. Central is a major station too, but on this route it means the slower routing.

Is a return cheaper than two singles?

Not necessarily in Britain, and often the reverse. Price both before you buy — two singles frequently work out cheaper, especially if one leg is off-peak.