In the mid 1980s I went to university in Edinburgh and regularly took the train back and forth from my home near Inverness.
Initially, trains always went across the Forth Bridge, then latterly they followed a new route through West Lothian, bypassing the bridge.
Does anyone know why this route change happened? Seems a longer and more roundabout way.
Originally it was because the Glenfarg line was closed the original Perth route, so all Edinburgh-Perth trains then went via Stirling, Inverness trains already appear to have done this. They then re-opened the Ladybank-Perth line in the mid-70s and so Edinburgh-Inverness trains went this way, being shorter and quicker than going via Stirling of course.
Then in I believe 1984 possibly earlier, they switched back to running Edinburgh-Inverness trains via Stirling though in the 1984 timetable one is still down as 'via Kirkcaldy' - the Ladybank route essentially.
By 1986 all are routed via Stirling and this continued through the 1980s. I think the switch back to the Ladybank line came with Sprinterisation and greater frequencies.
It should be noted that even when Edinburgh-Inverness trains were routed via Stirling in the 1980s, there were still local Edinburgh-Perth trains which ran via Ladybank.