Scotrail warns Eagles fans over 'skeleton service' from Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket amid rail strikes

ScotRail has urged passengers heading to see the Eagles perform in Edinburgh this week to plan their journey well in advance due to the “skeleton service” it is running amid rail strikes.

The band is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a tour of UK and Ireland, taking in Dublin, Edinburgh and London over the course of a week.

Fans will see the legendary band take the stage at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium on Wednesday, June 22.

With five decades of huge hits including Hotel California, One of These Nights and Life in the Fast Lane, it is set to be a memorable night.

However, attendees will face major disruptions if travelling via train after the concert, due to mass strike action by Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union members across all journeys.

Due to the strikes on 21, 23 & 25 June by RMT members of Network Rail, we will only be able to run a skeleton service on 5 routes in Scotland today. These limited services will start at 07:30 and end at 18:30.

Please plan ahead to ensure you know when your last train will run.
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) June 21, 2022

National operator ScotRail is running services on just five routes after industrial action commenced on Tuesday, which is set to shut down the UK’s rail network on June 21, 23 and 25.

The operator urged fans to “plan in advance”, as services across Scotland on Wednesday will be disrupted following Tuesday’s action due to signal boxes across the country opening at different times during the day.

It added that signal boxes are “key pieces of infrastructure” across the rail network to control train movements and are critical to safe operation of the railway.

Eagles are due to be on stage shortly after 8pm, however gates at Murrayfield will open from 5pm. ScotRail urged fans to arrive at the venue early as trains are expected to be busy.

The rail operator also encouraged passengers to double-check their journeys and “consider their travel options”, as there will be a very limited number of trains departing Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket after the gig ends at 10.30pm.

These services are:

10.46pm Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street (10.50pm from Haymarket)
11pm Edinburgh Waverley to Kirkcaldy (11.04pm from Haymarket)
11.14pm Edinburgh Waverley to North Berwick
11.18pm Edinburgh Waverley to Dunfermline Town (11.22pm from Haymarket)
11.30pm Edinburgh Waverley to Stirling (11.34pm from Haymarket)
11.46pm Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street (11.50pm from Haymarket)

Scotrail also warned that Thursday will see widespread disruption due to the second day of strike action by Network Rail RMT members.

This is expected to directly affect concert-goers who stayed overnight in Edinburgh after the concert, and see journeys severely impacted.

Several other concerts taking place in Scotland this week are also set to be impacted by both the disruptions and timings of last trains, including Liam Gallagher in Glasgow on Sunday, Biffy Clyro in Edinburgh on Saturday, and Barry Manilow’s concert in Glasgow and Phoebe Bridgers’ Barrowlands gig – both taking place on Thursday.