WEST FIFERS heading for Christmas shopping and festive frolics are set to benefit from more seats on trains leading up to Yuletide.

With the party season beginning to get into full swing, ScotRail have announced that they are adding extra carriages to the busiest services on key routes across the central belt and beyond every Friday night and during weekends until Christmas.

They include trains from Edinburgh to Glenrothes, on services via both Dunfermline and Dalgety Bay, and from Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen, some of which call at Inverkeithing, but the rail operator has advised customers to buy tickets before they board as services are still expected to be busy.

In addition, ScotRail have released information on services over the festive period, which will see trains depart earlier than normal on both Christmas Eve and Hogmanay, while other train times will see changes.

No trains will run on Christmas Day or New Year's Day and Phil Campbell, ScotRail's head of customer operations, said: "The lead up to Christmas is always a busy time of year, and that's why we'll be adding more seats on key routes to help everyone get where they want to be.

"Whether customers are heading to the Christmas markets, a night out, or just picking up presents, we hope they have a great time.

"But trains will be busier than usual so we encourage people to plan their journey in advance at scotrail.co.uk/christmas, and make sure they have their ticket before boarding."

Details of festive changes can be found at www.scotrail.co.uk/christmas.