Edinburgh by train

05 June 2026

I am familiar with a few rail routes into Edinburgh. Let me describe a couple. There is the route from the north which passes over the Forth rail bridge, with its beacon red steel beams flashing by the window. Before this you arc around the coast giving you a view of Arthur’s seat across the Firth of Forth. The bridge is intimidatingly industrial, even if some of the surrounding towns are dilapidated. In fact, this area being dilapidated contributes to the aura of a defeated giant. There is also the route from the East, hugging the coast all the way from Newcastle, seldom ever more than eyesight from the silvery North sea. Lindisfarne– a holy island the plundering of which marked the beginning of the Viking age– and the Bass rock– home to the largest colony of northern gannets in the world – provide shapes of soft comfort rising from choppy waters through the window screen. At the same time as gifting this comfort, they are intimidating. Brooding. If you happen to be making this journey on a sunny evening, there is a particular light, a warm glow somehow brightly faint, that I have rarely found elsewhere. Because of the right to left curve as you travel North towards Edinburgh, you are shielded from seeing the city itself if you choose the sea view. It always feels as though you are being smuggled in due to the unceremonious arrival into the depths of Waverley station.