ScotRail unveils new Fife timetable in countdown to new Leven Rail Link

It comes after ScotRail put two options up for consultation which proposed improvements for services between Edinburgh, Fife, Perth, and Dundee - and for the return of rail services to communities in Levenmouth for the first time in 50 years.

Option A suggested providing Leven with two trains per hour to Edinburgh via Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline as an extension of existing services.

But, people went with Option B which will see an hourly service from Leven to Edinburgh via Kirkcaldy, reducing journey times between Edinburgh and north Fife and Dundee, and providing more evening services across Fife. Around 42% voted in favour of this schedule which will be introduction in 2025.

The timetable will include services to the new stations at Cameron Bridge and Leven which form part of the reopening of the Levenmouth rail link.ScotRail said it benefits will include 36 more services for Kirkcaldy every day; seven additional daily services for Dunfermline; journey times from North Fife to Edinburgh reduced by an average of three minutes and an increase in the number of seats provided between Fife and Edinburgh from just under 16,000 in each direction each day to more than 19,000.

Commuters will also see eight per cent more seats from Fife to Edinburgh in the morning peak and 12 per cent more from Edinburgh to Fife in the evening peak.

Further improvements will be in introduced in 2025, when a second train per hour to Leven is added as an extension of the Edinburgh to Glenrothes with Thornton via Dunfermline service.

Scott Prentice, ScotRail strategic planning director, said: “We are delighted that so many people took the time to submit responses. We are absolutely committed to making improvements, and while we know there is some way to go, this phased approach will ensure that we operate a reliable train service across all of Fife when the Levenmouth line reopens.

“Rail travel remains one of the easiest and sustainable ways to get around Scotland, and we will continue to look at ways of making it an even more attractive mode of transport.”