Spirit of Scotland travel pass diary - day one (Carlisle, Edinburgh, and Dundee)

This piece was going to be a video.

I’d even recorded the introduction, waving my Spirit of Scotland travel pass at the camera at Carlisle station, with multiple takes required as passengers wandered into my shot on the noisy platform. My forays into the world of YouTube are infrequent enough that I have yet to master the art of continuing to record direct into the camera regardless of the level of chaos in the background. I’d tried to seek out the relative calm of an empty platform one, only to be interrupted by an idling light engine on the far track.

After boarding a TransPennine Express service towards Edinburgh, I had an epiphany. I was on holiday. I put my gimbal away in my rucksack. The video could wait. One of the joys of writing – as a hobby at least – is that it can be done at your own convenience.

My day had started inauspiciously a couple of hours earlier, with the cancellation of my booked Avanti West Coast service from Wigan to Carlisle. For once, though, this had worked out in my favour. I’d only booked the earlier train to save a few quid on the advance fare, and the cancellation allowed me to board my preferred - slightly later – service, as well as claim back my fare via delay repay. Small victories.

I’d booked my travel towards the Scottish border in advance, but I needed to pick up my ticket for onward travel. I’ve had some funny looks over the years when buying rover and ranger tickets over the counter, but the booking office team at North Western didn’t flinch for a second when I asked for a ticket that isn’t valid anywhere even vaguely near Wigan.

The Spirit of Scotland travel pass is one of the great bargains of British rail travel. For £149 for four days, or £189 for eight days, you can get unlimited off-peak rail travel throughout Scotland (prices correct at time of writing – January 2024). The ticket is also valid on the Edinburgh trams and the Glasgow subway, and on selected coach routes in the Highlands and beyond. It also provides discounts, including on ferry travel with Northlink and Stena Line - although sadly it no longer offers travel on Caledonian MacBrayne. As I write, Scotrail’s current trial of removing peak fares entirely is ongoing, making the ticket even more valuable.

You can buy the pass online as a mobile ticket, but on this occasion I preferred the paper pass, as it made for a much better video prop. Never mind.

I’m generally an impulsive traveller with a rail pass, but I did have a plan - for the first three days at least. I was following the Storm north. Not the weather – the forecast, ironically enough, was set pretty fair for late November in Scotland – but the ice hockey team. The fixture list had thrown up a rare Scottish “triple header” weekend, with matches on consecutive nights in Dundee, Kirkcaldy, and Glasgow (well, Renfrewshire). I was one of over 100 Storm fans making the journey north, by train, car, and coach. Beyond the Sunday night match, I had no itinerary other than a desire to visit somewhere new. For that matter, I had no real plan for the remainder of the match days, although I had at least sorted my initial accommodation – two nights in the Sleeperz hotel in Dundee (conveniently located literally above the station) and Sunday night in Glasgow at one of the city centre Premier Inns.

As I trundled through Carstairs before heading east towards Edinburgh, I started to formulate a plan, for day one at least. I needed to get to Dundee at teatime to check into my hotel before the hockey match, and there was a Scotrail service to Dundee that matched up tightly but nicely with an Edinburgh sunset. I had time – just - to get down from Calton Hill, grab a bite, and get on the train.

What about the afternoon, though? A glance at the news earlier in the week had given me my answer. It had been a while since I'd been to Edinburgh Zoo and I’d noted earlier in the week that the departure of Yang Guang and Tian Tian, the zoo's two giant pandas, was imminent. Decision made. I hopped off the train at Haymarket and straight onto the tram, which is included in the Spirit of Scotland pass price, for a quick two-stop trip to Balgreen.

Leaving the tram, I stayed entirely on brand by walking along the old Corstorphine railway branch towards the zoo. To get to the zoo, you leave the path at the former Pinkhill railway station, which is remarkably intact considering it closed all the way back in 1968. I was really surprised to see the booking office on the road bridge above the old station still standing despite being seemingly unused. Having survived this long, I hope a use can be found for it before it is inevitably demolished or vandalised.

Sadly another hope of mine – watching the penguin parade – was dashed by avian flu, with the zoo rightly taking no risks with the health of their animals, their visitors, or their employees. However, Yang Guang and Tian Tian were in playful mood, both perched next to the huge glass viewing windows in their enclosures and joyfully unaware of their fame or of the long journey home they would soon be facing. Yang Guang and Tian Tian returned to China on 4th December 2023.

On leaving the zoo, I make a mental note not to forget it is on a ruddy big hill. I’ve visited Edinburgh Zoo four times as an adult, and I never remember. My step count is on to a winner for the day, though.

I forgot to make a note of which one was Yang Guang and which one was Tian Tian

By late November the Christmas markets in Princes Street Gardens (and, well, every other town and city in the western world) are already in full flow, so I hopped off the return tram into the city centre for a nosy. By now it was mid-afternoon on a Friday and the markets were just about quiet enough to be pleasant. I had been to York earlier in the month on a Saturday afternoon, and even six weeks before Christmas, the markets there had all the pleasure of rush hour on the Northern Line. I’d considered a potter into the National Gallery, as Landseer’s extraordinary Monarch of the Glen is a delight to look at “in the flesh”, but my bulging rucksack and limited time made it a non-starter.

Whilst the short winter days have plenty of drawbacks, you can at least grab a sunset before heading off to your evening activity. I hauled myself up Calton Hill, a place I’d previously watched the sun rise but never set. Unsurprisingly, one or two other locals and visitors had miraculously hit upon the same idea. Beautiful, but not a relaxing place amongst the crowds. I paced around trying to find the right spot to take a few snaps, quietly pleading with those nearby not to step into the shot whilst no doubt inadvertently wandering into the focus of someone else trying to capture an identical vista. No, after you, I insist.

I’ll let you judge whether I nailed it. I was pleased. I’m not sure the giant fairground ride next to the Scott Monument really enhances the view though.

Edinburgh Castle at sunset from Calton Hill

On a trip like this, the constant dashing eventually wears you down, but this was day one, so I skipped down the steps back towards Waverley station, successfully banking enough time to buy a sandwich and a drink before my train to Dundee. It was a Scotrail Inter7City for my final rail journey of the day, which meant I got to marvel at two triumphs of British engineering; I watched the last remnants of the day’s sunset retreat over the water, as my High Speed Train crossed the Forth Bridge. The bridge, completed in 1890, is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the most distinctive structures in the country. By the time we’d trundled through Fife and towards the Firth of Tay, the orange glow had receded and darkness had fallen.

Best picture I could manage through the window of a moving train

The V&A in Dundee contains one of my favourite examples of curiously British understatement. In late December 1879, the first rail bridge over the Tay collapsed after being buffeted by a violent storm, taking a local passenger train down with it into the icy waters, with the loss of everyone on board. The museum prefaces (or prefaced – it’s been a while since I visited) their piece on the disaster with - and I paraphrase - "not all designs are successful". I couldn’t help but think of this as I pass over the “new” bridge, opened in 1887 to a much more thorough specification.

Unbeknownst to me as I dash up the escalator at Dundee station to check in, the Manchester Storm team – along with the supporters’ coach and plenty of other fans making their way north – are stuck in an almighty traffic jam somewhere between the Scottish border and Tayside. By the time I’ve hopped on the local bus (sadly not included in the travel pass) up to Dundee Ice Arena, the match start has been delayed to accommodate the team’s late arrival.

Considering this was a Friday night match far from Manchester, the away following for the game was tremendous, although sadly the support doesn’t propel Storm to victory. After Storm take a late first-period lead, Dundee Stars score twice early in the second period, grab a third on the counterattack, and finally ice the game with a goal into the empty net late in the final period. It’s a long way to go to watch your team lose. I consoled myself with a couple of pints in a pub near the hotel ahead of an early Saturday start.