ScotRail will open a Rail Learning Centre at Edinburgh Waverley station on Monday 19 October.

Karen Whitefield MSP, convener of the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee, will officially open the facility which encourages railway staff to expand their skills.

Other centres, also established in partnership with Rail Union Learning, are up and running at Ayr, Dumfries, Dundee, Inverness and Stirling stations and at two Glasgow depots, Yoker and Shields Road.

All focus on providing staff with a means to develop new skills and expand their knowledge. They offer a classroom environment suitable for individual study and have computer facilities and library books.

Courses are free and designed to be shift friendly. They range from literacy and numeracy to IT, foreign languages, cookery – and even sign language, aimed at helping customers who are hard of hearing. The voluntary pupils will be able to respond to hand signs such as “What time is the next train?” to “What platform does the train to Stirling leave from?”

Karen Whitefield said: “The old idea that we leave learning behind when we finish school or college is long gone – lifelong learning is here to stay, bringing real benefits for both workers and their employers.

“I would like to congratulate ScotRail and Rail Union Learning for successfully introducing learning opportunities in the workforce. There is no doubt that access to education and training is crucial in determining an individual’s life chances.”

Steve Montgomery, ScotRail’s managing director, said: “We are committed to helping employees and their families to access learning opportunities to develop new skills and expand on their knowledge.

“Staff are key to raising standards and broadening learning will have a positive impact on them as well as the company.”

Jim Baxter, Scottish Union Learning Fund project worker for ASLEF, said: “This is yet another great example of trade unions and employers working in partnership for the benefit of all workers. These centres break down the barriers to lifelong learning by helping us to deliver free and shift friendly learning in the workplace.”

Other guests included Kevin Lindsay, district organiser with ASLEF and Thomas Walker, development officer for Scottish Union Learning.

The opening marks the start of a week-long tour of the Scottish network by ScotRail directors on the fifth anniversary of FirstGroup being awarded the Scottish rail franchise.

ScotRail last month was named Passenger Operator of the Year at the prestigious National Rail Awards – for the second year in a row.

The award recognised ScotRail’s record high customer satisfaction ratings and punctuality and reliability ratings; passenger growth of more than 20% in the last five years, and the largest expansion of services in the past decade.

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RAIL LEARNING CENTRE TO OPEN AT EDINBURGH WAVERLEY

Buy Cheap Train Tickets To Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh’s main railway stations are Waverley and Haymarket which are in the city centre.

Rail passengers can get between airport and station by taxi  or by bus. The Airlink 100 service calls at Waverley and Haymarket stations. Journey times are 25 to 30 minutes in normal traffic.

A night bus, the N22, also runs between Waverley station and the airport.

Alternatively, the AirDirect 747 bus links the airport with Inverkeithing rail station in Fife. Combined train and bus tickets are available to or from any rail station in Scotland.
Rail services to Edinburgh.

So, until then sit back, relax, avoid the jams and take the train to Edinburgh Airport with Travel Geeks, you can look, plan and book your Cheap Train Tickets to Edinburgh Airport  simply and securely online avoiding the usual hassle involved buying Cheap Train Tickets at the station itself.

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For more information including live train times, availability, arrival times, and departure times or to buy Cheap Train Tickets please input your details in the Travel Geeks quote box.

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Edinburgh Airport, How To Get To Edinburgh Airport By Train

The Edinburgh Waverley railway station is commonly known to the locals as just “Waverley”. It is the main railway station in the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh.  The station covers an area of over 25 acres (101,000 m²) in the city centre.

It is known to be the second largest mainline railway station in the United Kingdom when we talk about the area. The largest being London Waterloo. The station is located in the northern terminals of the East Coast Main Line. It is also the terminal of the Edinburgh branch of the West Coast Main Line. The Edinburgh Waverley is the second busiest railway station in Scotland. In this station, only Glasgow Central  is handling a larger percentage of passengers going in and out of the station.

It is located in the narrow, steep valley between the medieval city of Old Town and New Town which is an 18th century town. The Princess Street is the premier shopping street in the city and it runs along past the station.

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Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station

British Transport Police spoke with the man and issued him with the first £40 on-the-spot-fine to be handed out in the country for being drunk and incapable at the train station.

One witness said: “You couldn’t have made it up. The timing was hilarious. The officers basically escorted the man down the escalators and past the minister at just the very moment he was busy launching the fines themselves.

“The bloke was issued with a £40 fine on the spot. The fines were actually introduced a couple of days ago, this was just the official launch.

“It was an amazing coincidence really that it took until that very moment to issue the first one.”

MacAskill himself seemed completely unfazed by the incident as he pressed ahead with the launch.

He said: “The public should be able to travel on our rail network without fear of being affected by loutishness, drunkenness and other unacceptable behaviour.

“British Transport Police officers will now have the same powers as all of Scotland’s police forces to take action against anyone indulging in such behaviour, helping them free up more time for preventing and tackling more serious crimes.

“The introduction of fixed penalty notices for our police forces has already helped them take swift and visible action against antisocial behaviour in our communities.

“The Scottish Government fully supports our police and other law enforcement agencies in delivering instant justice for our communities through these on-the-spot fines.”

Vandalism, urinating in public, breaches of the peace and being drunk and incapable are just some of the disorder offences covered by the new on the spot fines which have been introduced to cut paperwork for BTP officers.

BTP Chief Superintendent Martyn Ripley, area commander for Scotland, added: “We record in the region of 2000 offences of this nature each year and estimate at least 25% will be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty.

“We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour of any kind. Passengers and rail staff should be able to travel and go about their normal duties without any kind of inconvenience.”

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Anti-Social Behaviour Campaign Tackles Drunks on Trains