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Edinburgh to St Andrews by train bus via Leuchars
How to travel by train from Edinburgh to St Andrews by train and connecting into a bus from Leuchars station
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Routes
From Edinburgh Waverley to Leuchars
Journey Summary
from 56 mins
Daily
Travel Information
Frequent buses meet the trains at Leuchars station and the transfer into the centre of lovely St Andrews takes around 10 minutes.
In most hours* on Mondays to Saturdays there are two departures per hour from Edinburgh to Leuchars.
(1) a slightly faster train, by around 10 minutes, which will be heading to Aberdeen - the Inter7City services are used on most of those departures.
(2) a slower train which will be heading to Arbroath or Dundee; the Turbostar trains are used for those departures and on this route, first class is not available when travelling by these trains.
On Sundays the service is less frequent, particularly before noon.
However, in some hours, the trains which depart Edinburgh for Leuchars have travelled from destinations further south.
These include Azuma trains operated by LNER which originate in Leeds and London and a daily train operated by CrossCountry.
These non ScotRail trains are usually scheduled to depart Edinburgh at:
10:28 on Mon-Sat (LNER)
14:28 on Mon-Sat (LNER)
14:33 on Sunday (LNER)
18:13 daily (Cross Country)
18:33 on Mon-Sat (LNER)
18:36 on Sunday (LNER)
20:32 on Mon-Fri (LNER)
What can be worth be keeping in mind is that because these trains don't commence their journeys in Edinburgh, they are more likely to have a delayed departure.
Mon-Sat = 2 x trains per hour
Sunday = 12 x trains
Tickets
Book Early and Save: No
ScotRail does not place discounted Advance tickets on sale for train journeys from Edinburgh to Leuchars, so you wil pay the same price per departure whether you book ahead online, or purchase tickets at the station just prior to boarding.
Though you can save money by travelling at less busy times when Off-Peak tickets will be available, so on this route you can save money by not departing from Edinburgh between 16:20 and 18:20 when Mondays to Fridays are working days.
Because if you do depart Edinburgh at those times only the more expensive type of Anytime tickets will be available
ScotRail offers ticketing deals when Adults travel with children or in groups
Though there's no need to book ahead online to obtain these discounts - you will be charged the same prices when booking these ticket at the station just before boarding .
If you will be booking these deals at the station it can be less confusing to book in person at a ticket counter, rather than using a ticket machine.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| ScotRail | * |
On this journey
Journey Features
Good to Know
All trains also depart from: Edinburgh Haymarket station.
If the starting point of your journey is at the western end of the city centre, you can save time by heading to Haymarket station rather than Edinburgh Waverley, in order to board these trains.
For much of the journey between Edinburgh and Leuchars the railway line is beside the coastline of East Fife.
Though the sea views on this journey can only be seen on the right-hand side of the train when facing north.
Though the views from the train as it travels by the shore are superseded by one of the most stunning train journey experiences which can be found anywhere in Europe!
Namely the views from the Forth Bridge, which occur around 12 -15 mins after the train has departed from Edinburgh,
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