TRAIN OPERATOR GNER, in conjunction with Virgin Cross Country and First ScotRail, will be running dozens of direct services to Carnoustie for The Open Golf Championship, which takes place at the course from Thursday to Sunday, July 19-22.

GNER services running on Scotland’s east coast main line normally run non-stop between Dundee and Arbroath and do not call at Carnoustie, which is regularly served by First ScotRail local trains.

In a bid to assist the thousands of spectators expected to flock to the 2007 Open, GNER is arranging for almost all of its Aberdeen services to call at Carnoustie during the four-day event.

The company is also running extra trains linking Carnoustie with Aberdeen, Edinburgh and other stations on the east coast main line to London.

In addition to its own services, GNER is also working with rival operators Virgin Cross Country and First ScotRail to provide enhanced services and the result will be that, with few exceptions, every train between Edinburgh or Glasgow and Aberdeen will call at Carnoustie.

Train services in the area are expected to be busy throughout the four days and GNER passengers planning a trip to the Open are advised to book their journeys as soon as possible.

Booking can be made online at www.gner.co.uk—where full details of the enhanced timetables can also be viewed—or by calling 08457 225225 or visiting any staffed railway station.

Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, has written to First ScotRail managing director Mary Dickson saying she is alarmed that only one service will stop in Broughty Ferry, a bustling suburb with a population of 25,000, many of whom will be heading for Carnoustie.

Only one train would stop at Broughty Ferry—at 17.34pm—when the day’s play is almost over.

“Many people coming to the championship, golfers, staff and spectators…who are staying in Broughty Ferry would prefer to go by train, a seven-minute journey, than take their cars.

“We should be trying to encourage this.”

She said it seemed Broughty residents would have to travel first into Dundee and then in the opposite direction if they wanted to travel by rail to Carnoustie, and has asked the operator to reconsider the schedule.