Opening week of Edinburgh Festival sees huge increase in station footfall

The number of people passing through Waverley Station on the first week of the Edinburgh Festival reached over 800,000.

More than 800,000 people passed through Waverley Station on the first week of the Edinburgh Festival.

It represents a significant increase in people travelling by rail to and from city during the opening week of the festival compared to last year.

Network Rail is working with train operators to keep passengers moving throughout the event – in its 75^th anniversary – which runs until 29 August.

In the first seven days of this year’s festival, 806,136 people travelled through Waverley, up from 446,936 during the first week in 2021.

Chris King, Interim Station Manager, Network Rail, said: “We’re very proud to be playing an essential part in the city hosting the highly-anticipated 75^th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival.

“We saw huge numbers passing through Waverley during the first week and expect that to continue over the coming weeks.

Trains will be very busy, so passengers are advised to plan their journeys before travelling.

We wish everyone travelling to and from the festival a safe and pleasant journey.”

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