15:00 Edinburgh to Dundee 16th February 2026

[gomango]

Hello all, today I travelled on the 15:00 Edinburgh to Dundee which was operated by a inter7city HST, I'm assuming that is not the normal allocation as it was a standard class only service,

As it was a standard class only service the first class section was free to sit in. The gaurd was even encouraging people to sit in the first class section of the HST which was good to see, as I've seen Scotrail locked first class sections of unclassified trains a few times,

Im assuming this is not the normal allocation for this train as as I've only ever seen the HST's on Edinburgh-Aberdeens not the Dundee Semi Fast services, Im assuming this service is normally a class 170 or class 158?

Link to the service:
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:Y39070/2026-02-16/detailed

 

[Avenger20]

1500 Dundee is indeed usually booked a five car DMU however due to line closure from Dundee to Aberdeen, there are changes to the booked work. We've seen local 1Lxx services use HSTs during these blockades of late - good way of using all available resources.

 

[185143]

Encourage people to sit in 1st for free, see it's a substantial upgrade compared to 170s, then when they next use an Inter7City service on a scheduled route, may well be tempted to upgrade.

Or otherwise, they get to enjoy a much nicer journey than normal. Win win all round surely.

 

[kkong]

Hello all, today I travelled on the 15:00 Edinburgh to Dundee which was operated by a inter7city HST, I'm assuming that is not the normal allocation as it was a standard class only service,

I was on the same service 3 hours earlier, also an I7C set, which surprised me too.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:Y39046/2026-02-16/detailed

 

[gomango]

1500 Dundee is indeed usually booked a five car DMU however due to line closure from Dundee to Aberdeen, there are changes to the booked work. We've seen local 1Lxx services use HSTs during these blockades of late - good way of using all available resources.

Yeah did notice that all Aberdeen trains were also terminating at Dundee yesterday, does anyone know why the work was Sunday and Monday instead Saturday and Sunday?

Encourage people to sit in 1st for free, see it's a substantial upgrade compared to 170s, then when they next use an Inter7City service on a scheduled route, may well be tempted to upgrade.

Or otherwise, they get to enjoy a much nicer journey than normal. Win win all round surely.

I'm certainly tempted to upgrade the next time I'm on a I7C set as did not realise how good the seats were until yesterday, Also only £15 to upgrade at some times so is not too bad a price in my opinion

I was on the same service 3 hours earlier, also an I7C set, which surprised me too.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:Y39046/2026-02-16/detailed

Yeah a few trains were I7C sets i think, the one i was on went on did the 16:38 Dundee to Edinburgh and then one more round trip on the Dundee Semi Fasts before doing a all stopper service to Perth at 22:33!

The 17:40 Dundee to Edinburgh was also a I7C set Dundee to Edinburgh semi fast and it stops at Springfield, this must be very rare, if not the first time it has ever happened.

Link to the service:
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:Y39070/2026-02-16/detailed

 

[mcmad]

Yeah did notice that all Aberdeen trains were also terminating at Dundee yesterday, does anyone know why the work was Sunday and Monday instead Saturday and Sunday?

Presumably to avoid clashing with the Scotland - England 6 Nations game at Murrayfield on Saturday.

 

[gomango]

Presumably to avoid clashing with the Scotland - England 6 Nations game at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Of course that will be why totally forgot about the rugby

 

[Avenger20]

Incredibly impressive that thought was taken to avoid clashing with a high demand day. I've never known such common sense!