Related Content
Content
Edinburgh to Perth by train
How to make the beautiful train journey from Edinburgh to Perth
Share
Routes
From Edinburgh Waverley to Perth
Journey Summary
1hr 16min - 1hr 20min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Inverness or Perth
On Mondays to Saturday in most hours of the day, either a Turbostar train will depart from Edinburgh, OR the next train to leave (in four of those hours) will be an Inter7City train, which will be travelling on to Inverness; though the Turbostar trains are still used on some Inverness services).
Which of these two types of train you will be taking doesn't impact on the ticket price and journey time, or the route you will be following.
Though most of the Turbostar trains used on this route don't have First Class or on-board catering, but the Inter7City trains tick both of those boxes and they have a better on-board ambience.
Though the train which is usually scheduled to depart from Edinburgh at 16:32 on Sunday and 16:34 on Monday to Saturday is the train which will have travelled from London and is operated by LNER.
It takes a different (less scenic) route between Edinburgh and Perth, as it travels via Stirling, though it is the fastest service of the day; but it's only a few minutes quicker than the fastest trains on the usual route via Kirkcaldy.
An Azuma train is used on this service which travels via Stirling.
As will be seen, there are far fewer departures on this route on Sundays, so if you will be travelling on that day of the week and plan to purchase tickets at the station just before boarding, it can be worth looking up the departure times before heading off to Edinburgh Waverley.
Monday to Saturday = 1 x train per hour
Sunday = 7x trains
Tickets
Book Early and Save: No
ScotRail does not place discounted Advance tickets on sale for train journeys from Edinburgh to Perth, 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
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
All trains also depart from: Edinburgh Haymarket
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 Perth on the route via Kirkcaldy, 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.
However, from May 2022 all of the trains which travel beyond Perth to Inverness will be taking the less scenic route via Stirling).
Newsletter
Sign up to receive the latest travel news stories and to hear about what we've been working on for you.
See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
This is one of more than 1000 journey guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
