ScotRail

Facts

Current operator since

1 April 2022

London terminals

None: its trains run within Scotland, and south to Carlisle

Type

Intercity, suburban and rural train operator

Depots

Craigentinny in Edinburgh (Hitachi, for the Class 385s), Shields Road in Glasgow (the Class 320s)

Main routes

Edinburgh to Glasgow by four routes (via Falkirk High, Airdrie and Bathgate, Shotts, or Carstairs); Glasgow and Edinburgh to Stirling, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness; Aberdeen to Inverness; Inverness to Wick, Thurso and Kyle of Lochalsh; the West Highland lines to Oban and Mallaig; Glasgow to Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Stranraer and, via Kilmarnock and Dumfries, Carlisle; Edinburgh to Fife, North Berwick, Dunbar and Tweedbank; and the suburban lines around Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Stations managed

360

Operator

ScotRail Trains Ltd, publicly owned and overseen by Scottish Rail Holdings, a public body accountable to Scottish Ministers. It took over when the franchise, run by Abellio ScotRail since 2015, passed into public ownership on 1 April 2022.

Routes 42 routes · 343 stations

Fleet

History 9

1. 1 April 2015Abellio, of the Netherlands, starts running the ScotRail franchise as Abellio ScotRail; 70 Hitachi electric trains (Class 385) are ordered that month.
2. 24 July 2018The first Class 385s carry passengers, between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh.
3. 10 October 2018The first High Speed Train enters service with ScotRail, on the intercity routes.
4. December 2019The last of the 70 Class 385s is accepted into service.
5. 17 March 2021The Scottish Government announces that ScotRail will pass into public ownership when the franchise ends.
6. 1 April 2022ScotRail Trains Ltd, owned by the Scottish Government, takes over the trains.
7. 2 June 2024The Levenmouth line reopens, with new stations at Leven and Cameron Bridge and an hourly train to Edinburgh via Kirkcaldy.
8. 1 September 2025The Scottish Government announces that peak fares are removed for good: the same fare at any time of day.
9. 19 March 2026ScotRail confirms that 22 Class 222s are to replace its HSTs from late 2027, the last HST leaving by December 2028.

Sources 17

How we source figures →

• TOC key statistics: ScotRail, April 2025 to March 2026, Office of Rail and Road, 6 August 2026 (3,130 route km, 360 stations managed, 90.8 million journeys, 2025–26)
• Table 6314: rolling stock vehicles by traction type and operator, Office of Rail and Road, 20 November 2025 (649 electric, 271 diesel and 117 loco-hauled vehicles, March 2025)
• About ScotRail (archived), ScotRail, 2 October 2026 (ScotRail Trains Ltd, Scottish Rail Holdings, public ownership from 1 April 2022, more than 2,200 trains a day, peak fares)
• ScotRail to move to Scottish Government ownership, Transport Scotland, 17 March 2021 (public ownership announced)
• Scottish Government will take over ScotRail services on 1 April 2022, Transport Scotland, 9 February 2022 (transfer on 1 April 2022)
• Train times: the route timetables, May and September 2026 (archived), ScotRail, 1 October 2026 (main routes (the timetables ScotRail publishes))
• TfL Unified API: Line Route Sequence, Transport for London (Powered by TfL Open Data) (routes and station order)
• Fun facts: Scotland's newest train stations (archived), ScotRail, 12 November 2024 (stations opened since 2019, missing from TfL's data; Reston)
• Levenmouth Railway Link (archived), ScotRail, 26 August 2025 (Leven and Cameron Bridge)
• Maintaining the 385s, Rail Engineer, 3 April 2020 (Craigentinny depot; 385 fleet)
• Class 320, Eversholt Rail (Shields Road depot; 320 fleet)
• ScotRail, Wikipedia, accessed 5 October 2026 (fleet counts (last resort))
• Development of Class 385 semi-customised/standard commuter rolling stock for global markets (Hitachi Review vol. 66 no. 2, archived), Hitachi, 2017 (history)
• Hitachi's Class 385 enters service, Rail Engineer, 24 July 2018 (history)
• First HST enters service on ScotRail, Railnews, 11 October 2018 (history)
• ScotRail announces plans to replace high speed trains, ScotRail, 19 March 2026 (history)
• ScotRail confirms Class 222 leasing deal to enable withdrawal of HSTs, Rail Business UK (Railway Gazette), 19 March 2026 (history)

unverified route strips and stations: from TfL's route data, which lacks the six stations opened since 2019 (Robroyston, Kintore, Inverness Airport, East Linton, Leven and Cameron Bridge, so there is no Levenmouth strip); where two routes share both ends only the longer is drawn, which leaves out the Fife Circle via Dunfermline (Rosyth to Cardenden) and Drumry and Drumchapel; and some names are TfL's, such as Queens Park (Glasgow), stations: counted from TfL's route data; ScotRail manages 360 (ORR), including Reston, where only other operators' trains call, fleets of the 156, 158 and 170, and the split of the 320s (Wikipedia, checked against ORR's totals of 649 electric and 271 diesel vehicles in March 2025), HST sets: 25 (Wikipedia gives 9 four-coach and 17 five-coach sets, one four-coach set lost at Carmont in 2020; ORR's 117 coaches fits 8 and 17), depots: only the two named in the sources are listed