Film crew hire/Edinburgh/Logistics
Shoot logistics in Edinburgh. The Low Emission Zone, parking, the trams, Waverley, the airport and August.
There’s nothing to pay for Edinburgh’s Low Emission Zone: a van that doesn’t meet it is sent a £60 penalty. A dispensation puts a working van on a yellow line for £16, the car park at Castle Terrace stops at 2.08 metres and the Omni Centre’s at 2.00, nothing drives into Waverley, and work by the tram line needs Edinburgh Trams’ own permit, 21 days ahead. Here’s how each of those works, with the trains, the Forth bridges, the airport and August. Charges checked October 2026.
Low Emission Zone · first penalty
£60
Yellow-line dispensation · per vehicle
£16
Working by the tram line · notice
21 days
King’s Cross to Waverley
4 hr 10 min
On this page
01 Clean air
The Low Emission Zone: a penalty, not a charge
Round the clock, with cameras on the plates and no way to pay your way in. From the City of Edinburgh Council’s Low Emission Zone pages, checked October 2026.
Where
The city centre. The boundary runs from Tollcross in the south to Palmerston Place in the west, along Queen Street in the New Town to Picardy Place, around Abbeyhill and onto Holyrood Road, along the Pleasance in the east, then back along the Meadows to Tollcross. The boundary roads themselves aren’t in it, so any vehicle can drive round the edge, and on the council’s map Haymarket station is just outside.
When
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Cameras read the plates, and penalties have been sent out since 1 June 2024.
What meets it
Petrol cars and vans to Euro 4, diesel cars and vans to Euro 6, and buses, coaches and HGVs to Euro VI. Anything zero-emission meets it. Low Emission Zones Scotland’s checker takes a UK registration and gives the answer, but it doesn’t show exemptions.
Penalties
£60 for a car or van, then £120, £240 and £480 for each repeat, and back to £60 once the vehicle has stayed out for 90 days in a row. Paid within 14 days, it’s halved; left past 28, it goes up by half.
Bigger vehicles
A minibus, coach or HGV climbs the same steps and goes on to £960 for a fifth penalty.
One a day
No more than one penalty per vehicle per day, midnight to 23:59, however often it goes in and out.
Registered abroad
A vehicle from outside the UK has to meet the same Euro standards. There’s nothing to register in advance and the checker can’t look it up, so the owner confirms it with their own national vehicle authority before the trip.
Exemptions
There isn’t one for filming. The national exemptions cover Blue Badge and disabled passenger vehicles, historic vehicles, showman’s vehicles, and emergency and military ones. A historic vehicle was built or first registered at least 30 years ago, is out of production and is kept in its original state, so an unmodified period picture car can drive in; if the checker doesn’t show it as exempt, its owner sends the council the V5C and a photo. The council’s policy is no local exemptions: it can grant a time-limited one in exceptional cases, through a panel that meets once a quarter, and its guide for event organisers says that, generally, none will be granted.
On a quote
We only book vans and cars that meet the zone, and we check every registration before it’s booked, the crew’s own vans included. A picture car goes through the checker too, and if a historic one doesn’t show as exempt, its V5C goes to the council weeks before the shoot, not the day before. The same penalties apply in all four of Scotland’s Low Emission Zones.
02 Parking
A yellow line, a bay or the whole street
Dispensations and suspended bays go through the council’s Parking Operations team and its contractor, NSL; road closures go on Film Edinburgh’s application, and Film Edinburgh can co-ordinate the bays too. From the council’s parking charges, its filming page and Film Edinburgh’s fees, checked October 2026.
| What | Cost | Notice | How it works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispensation, one location | £16 a vehicle | At least 24 hours | A working vehicle parks on a yellow line in the agreed streets, but not where a loading ban applies. One vehicle per dispensation. |
| Dispensation, several locations | £16 a vehicle a day | At least 24 hours | The same, for a unit that moves during the day. |
| Dispensation, a week | £40 a vehicle | At least 24 hours | For a vehicle that’s needed all week. |
| Suspended bay | The bay’s pay-and-display rate, £4.20 to £9.00 an hour by zone, for every hour it’s suspended | Three working days | Pay-and-display, permit and shared-use bays only, and only in the bay’s own hours: not evenings or overnight. |
| Road closure, under five days (TTRN) | £675, with 3.5 hours of a Road Events Officer’s time | At least two weeks | Through Film Edinburgh. What the council prefers for an evening, a night or a whole street, yellow lines included. |
| Road closure, five days or more (TTRO) | £1,980, plus advertising, usually £1,500 to £3,000 | At least ten weeks | Through Film Edinburgh, with 28 hours of officer time included. |
| Parking attendant, or a removal truck with one on board | £23 or £55 an hour, Monday to Saturday, 07:00 to 23:59 | At least a week | To clear the bays before the call. More at night, on Sundays and on public holidays. |
The rules on the day
Bays only in their hours
A suspension holds a bay only while the bay’s own restrictions run. For an evening, a night, several days or a whole street, the council prefers a traffic regulation order.
Clearing them first
The council tries to clear every suspension before it starts, but says the sheer number means it can’t always manage it. Its car pound opens 08:00 to 18:30, Monday to Saturday, so for an early call or a Sunday the attendant and the removal truck are booked a week ahead.
Parliament Square
Parking there can sometimes be arranged, even at short notice, if there are staff free and no event on.
Paying
By card when it’s booked. On a longer job the council can collect the charges and invoice at the end of the month.
On the pavement
A crew of under ten filming without closing anything still tells Film Edinburgh first, keeps the pavement clear, stays off crossings and junctions, and moves on if a council officer or the police ask.
Holding the bays
Because the council can’t promise every suspension is clear on time, a runner holds the bays from first thing on a street day and sends anything that isn’t a working vehicle on to a car park. Where the call is early or the street is busy, we book the council’s attendant as well.
03 Off the street
Car parks and unit bases
Edinburgh’s city-centre multi-storeys are private, from the station’s own to the ones in St James Quarter and under the Omni Centre, and the council keeps the list. Heights from each operator’s own page, checked October 2026.
| Car park | Operator | Spaces | Height limit | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holyrood Road, EH8 9UL | NCP | 297 | 2.15m | 24 hours |
| Castle Terrace, EH1 2EW | NCP | 750 | 2.08m | 24 hours |
| Omni Centre, EH1 3AN | Q-Park | 1,000 | 2.00m | 24 hours |
| Capital Square, EH3 8BP | Q-Park | 166 | 1.95m | 24 hours |
What a van needs to know
Two metres, give or take
Holyrood Road and Castle Terrace take a vehicle a little over two metres; the Omni Centre stops at 2.00 and Capital Square at 1.95. A high-roof van gets a dispensation or a suspended bay instead.
Through the zone, or round it
The council marks eight of the eleven city-centre car parks on its list as reached through the Low Emission Zone: St James Quarter, the Omni Centre, Castle Terrace, the station’s own, Quartermile, Capital Square, Princes Exchange and Blackfriars Street. Holyrood Road, Semple Street and Nicolson Square aren’t marked.
The biggest
St James Quarter has 1,570 spaces, and Waverley has its own multi-storey, free for up to 40 minutes. For either, we ask the operator for the height before the van’s booked.
What jobs elsewhere have taught us
Know the height
On a City of London job in 2026 the gaffer’s van was a Transit L3H3, 2.8 metres high, which clears none of the four car parks above. A 2.02-metre van was too tall for the car park under One Canada Square, in London; in Edinburgh it would fit Holyrood Road and Castle Terrace, but not the Omni Centre or Capital Square.
Unload, then move
At One Canada Square in October 2024, the vans unloaded in the estate’s loading bay and moved on. On Cannon Street, in the City of London, in September 2025, the kit went in through an underground car park off Dowgate Hill and straight into the lift.
Ask the building
At Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in London, in November 2023, the call sheet’s note read: parking a challenge, loading bay accessible. From a New Town office to a hall at the EICC, we ask about loading and the height limit before the van’s booked.
Unit bases and the parks
Council land goes through Film Edinburgh
Its application asks for the number and type of vehicles on site, a parking plan, traffic management drawings, and how toilets and litter will be handled. On the road, a site cabin is £137 a unit for under a month and a portaloo £21 a week, plus VAT (2026–27).
Calton Hill and the gardens
Driving onto Calton Hill, into Princes Street Gardens or Bonaly Country Park is £140 plus VAT, and £79 more out of hours, in a 4×4 insured for off-road driving, with the evidence on the application.
Holyrood Park
Historic Environment Scotland charges for base units and road closures in the park on top of its location fee, which starts at £300 for up to two hours.
Who books it
A bigger unit needs someone to book the base, the bays and the traffic management. That’s the production manager’s job, and you can book one with the crew from the Edinburgh crew page.
04 The tramway
The trams: Authority to Work
One line, from the airport to Newhaven by way of Haymarket, Princes Street and Leith, under wires that are always live. Working near it needs Edinburgh Trams’ own permit. From Edinburgh Trams’ Authority to Work page and its guidance, checked October 2026.
When it applies
Working within ten metres of the tramway, you may need an Authority to Work, and the guidance lists what does: any person, kit, machine or load that could come into the hazard zone around the rails and the wires, deliveries to a site included; a ladder within 2 metres of the nearest rail, measured horizontally; scaffolding or a crane within 5 metres of a rail or the wires; anything placed above the overhead line; and a road or pavement taken in a way that sends traffic or people on foot onto the tram line.
Junctions and the airport
Work that changes traffic through a junction with signals the trams use needs one, and so does work at or near Edinburgh Airport.
The wires
750 volts DC, and live at all times unless an isolation has been agreed. In the city centre they’re fixed to the buildings rather than to poles, and the fixings can’t be touched without agreement. Metal near them, from fencing to a welfare cabin, may need earthing.
Applying
Online, on Edinburgh Trams’ Permit+ portal, at least 21 calendar days before the work, with a method statement, a risk assessment and, where it applies, a traffic or pedestrian management plan. It comes on top of every council permit, not instead of one.
On the day
Before work starts, the person in charge rings the tram control room, on a recorded line, to sign on to the permit.
Drones
Film Edinburgh’s drone guidelines say flying from or near the tram network needs the permit too. The rest of the drone rules are in the locations guide.
On a shoot
A cherry picker near the wires for a high angle over Princes Street, a stepladder for the camera within two metres of a rail, or a unit that takes the pavement and walks people into the road: each needs Edinburgh Trams’ permit as well as Film Edinburgh’s. So a street day on the tram line is planned at least three weeks out, and the cherry picker goes on the Film Edinburgh application too, at £63 a day per location plus VAT.
05 Vehicles
Vans, drivers and the roads in
Crew vans come with the crew or from a hire firm, and every one is checked against the Low Emission Zone before it’s booked. Hire details from Film Edinburgh’s production guide and the firms’ own pages, checked October 2026.
The airport and Sighthill · film and TV
Arnold Clark Car & Van Rental
A film and TV department with its own account manager, and Edinburgh branches at the airport, on Eastfield Road, and at Sighthill, on Bankhead Drive (Film Edinburgh’s production guide). Estate cars, nine-seaters, Luton vans, 4×4 pick-ups and SUVs, and Trainspotting 2 is on its list of productions. Ask for each van’s Euro standard before it’s booked.
Car club · the council’s partner
Enterprise Car Club
For anything that doesn’t need a specialist or a large vehicle, the council’s Low Emission Zone guide for event organisers points to its partner, Enterprise Car Club, which hires cars and vans.
Gaffers and grips
The crew’s own vans
Gaffers and grips usually bring their own kit van, which saves a hire and a driver. We ask each one for the van’s Euro standard, and its height, before it’s booked.
From outside Edinburgh
Crew coming in
We book crew who live in or near Edinburgh first. When the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from elsewhere in Scotland (Glasgow is about 45 minutes by train), the north of England or London, and the travel and mileage are on the quote before anything is booked.
The roads in
From Fife
The Queensferry Crossing carries the M90 and all general traffic. The Forth Road Bridge beside it is a public transport corridor, for buses, taxis, motorbikes up to 125cc, cyclists and people on foot, so a crew car or van from Fife takes the Crossing. The Forth Bridge is the railway.
In a wind
The Crossing’s wind shielding keeps it open in much higher winds than the old road bridge, and the overhead signs show any restriction. You can’t stop on it or on its approaches.
Who drives
On a small job the driver is often the production assistant. For Swanson Studios’ three days in Portsmouth, London and Oxford in 2023, we brought a production assistant and driver, two vans, the hotels and the pick-ups from Heathrow. Travel and mileage go on the quote at cost, each on its own line.
06 By train
Trains into Edinburgh, Waverley and Haymarket
Waverley, under the Old Town, takes the trains from London, Manchester and most of Scotland; Haymarket, at the west end, has its own tram stop and no car park. Times from the operators and Trainline, stations from Network Rail and National Rail, checked October 2026.
| Station | Trains | Arriving with kit |
|---|---|---|
| Waverley (EDB) | About 4 hours 10 minutes from London King’s Cross on LNER’s fastest trains, about 3 hours 10 minutes direct from Manchester Piccadilly on TransPennine Express, and about 45 minutes from Glasgow Queen Street. Network Rail manages it. | No vehicles inside since June 2014. Drop-off and pick-up on Market Street, left of the entrance, and on Calton Road, each for up to five vehicles; taxi ranks on Waverley Bridge and East Market Street; the station’s own multi-storey, free for up to 40 minutes. Step-free to every platform, with ten lifts. |
| Haymarket (HYM) | ScotRail manages it, with trains to Glasgow, Fife, Aberdeen, Inverness and London, and a tram stop at the station. | No car park and one drop-off and pick-up point. Step-free to every platform, with lifts, and just outside the Low Emission Zone. |
Kit on the train and the tram
From King’s Cross
LNER allows one large case, one carry-on and one small bag each, nothing bigger than 90 x 70 x 30cm, and only what you can pick up yourself: its staff won’t lift it for you.
From Manchester
TransPennine Express takes three items each: one on your lap and two up to 30 x 70 x 90cm.
From Glasgow
ScotRail carries three pieces free, two of them large. Anything more costs half the adult fare, up to £5 single or £10 return, and can’t be more than a metre long.
Overnight
The Caledonian Sleeper boards in London from 22:30 and you’re out of your room at Waverley by 08:00, with luggage included in the ticket, on the timetable that runs to 12 December 2026. It puts a crew member on set for an early call without a hotel the night before.
On the tram
Luggage is carried at the staff’s discretion, larger items go in the racks, and anything excessively cumbersome stays off.
What goes by train
A camera operator with a bag of batteries, cards and drives, or a director and a producer, yes. Lighting, stands, track and carts come in a van.
Travelling isn’t filming
Filming at Waverley needs Network Rail’s permission: £750 an hour for up to ten crew, two hours minimum, plus VAT, and some areas may be off limits while the platforms are expanded (checked October 2026). It’s on the crew page, and the rest is in the locations guide.
07 Flying in
Edinburgh Airport, and into town
A tram from the terminal, a charged drop-off zone, and trains north from Edinburgh Gateway. From Edinburgh Airport’s and Edinburgh Trams’ own pages, checked October 2026.
Into the city
The tram stop is next to the terminal, along a covered walkway, and the city centre is under 35 minutes away, Newhaven about 55. Trams run every 7 minutes between 7am and 7pm. It’s the only stop in the Airport fare zone, so the ride needs an Airport ticket.
By road
About 20 minutes’ drive from the city centre. Taxis and private hire wait at the East Terminus, across the plaza from the terminal, and the Airlink 100 bus runs into town.
Dropping off kit
The charged pick-up and drop-off zone, on the ground floor of the multi-storey, is £8.50 for up to 10 minutes, then £1 a minute, by card only, and takes cars, motorbikes and minibuses. The free zone is a 10-minute walk away, free for 30 minutes, with no shuttle.
On by train
Edinburgh Gateway, on the tram line, has trains to Fife, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness; Edinburgh Park has trains to Glasgow, Falkirk and Stirling.
By bus
Straight to the terminal: Stagecoach’s JET 747 and 787 and Ember’s E1 from Fife, and Citylink’s AIR 900 from Glasgow.
From further
The airport’s destinations include New York, a flight of about 7 hours 50 minutes, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Philadelphia and Toronto.
From abroad
Kit flying in comes on an ATA Carnet: here’s how bringing film equipment into the UK works. And here’s how overseas teams book an Edinburgh crew, or a UK production service company if you need one. Flying a drone near the airport? Permission inside its flight restriction zone takes at least three working days: the drone rules.
08 Hotels
August, and where crews stay
August
The Fringe, the International Festival and the Tattoo fill the Old Town. In 2026 the Fringe ran for 25 days in 306 venues and issued over 2.8 million tickets, with its busiest day ever on Saturday 15 August, and 334 street performers worked the Royal Mile and the Mound Precinct (the Fringe Society). The 2027 Fringe runs from 6 to 30 August.
Shooting in it
When Baby Reindeer filmed mid-Fringe, Film Edinburgh pointed the production to a reduced crew on the Royal Mile. For anything bigger than a small crew in the Old Town, we’d plan another month.
Rooms
The Fringe Society itself points to the rising cost and falling availability of rooms in the city, and tells its performers that staying outside the centre is usually much cheaper and still 15 to 20 minutes away. For an August shoot we book the rooms when we book the crew.
The visitor levy
Since 24 July 2026, overnight stays anywhere in the City of Edinburgh carry a 5% visitor levy for up to five nights in a row, all year round, on bookings made from 1 October 2025. It goes on the quote with the room.
City-centre days
Stay within walking distance of Waverley or Haymarket, so anyone arriving by train walks straight in, and send the van to a car park that takes its height.
Glasgow crew
Glasgow is about 45 minutes away on the fastest trains, with 186 a day, so crew who live there can go home at night rather than need a room.
On the quote
Hotels we book go on with everything else, under the same 10% booking fee and 2% insurance. The national picture is in our UK guide to travel, hotels and vans.
Want the Edinburgh logistics sorted?
Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We’ll check every van against the Low Emission Zone and book the dispensations, bays, hotels and food with the crew, each on its own line. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
09 Questions
Shoot logistics in Edinburgh: questions
Do crew vans have to meet Edinburgh’s Low Emission Zone?
Yes, inside the zone. Edinburgh’s Low Emission Zone covers the city centre, inside a boundary from Tollcross to Palmerston Place, Queen Street, Picardy Place, Abbeyhill, Holyrood Road, the Pleasance and the Meadows, 24 hours a day. There’s nothing to pay to drive in: a petrol car or van below Euro 4, or a diesel below Euro 6, is sent a £60 penalty, then £120, £240 and £480 for repeats, halved if paid within 14 days (checked October 2026). The boundary roads themselves aren’t in it. We only book vehicles that meet it, and check every registration first.
Is there a Low Emission Zone exemption for filming in Edinburgh?
No. The national exemptions cover Blue Badge, historic, showman’s, emergency and military vehicles, and a historic vehicle is one built or first registered at least 30 years ago and kept in its original state, so an unmodified period picture car can drive in. The council’s policy is no local exemptions: it can grant a time-limited one in exceptional cases, through a panel that meets once a quarter, but its guide for event organisers says that, generally, none will be granted. Checked October 2026.
How do I get a parking dispensation or suspend a bay in Edinburgh?
Through the council’s Parking Operations team and its contractor NSL, and Film Edinburgh can co-ordinate both. A dispensation lets a working vehicle park on a yellow line: £16 a vehicle for one location or for a day, £40 for a week, with at least 24 hours’ notice. A suspended pay-and-display, permit or shared-use bay costs its hourly rate, £4.20 to £9.00 by zone, for every hour, needs three working days and only holds in the bay’s own hours. For evenings, nights or a whole street, it’s a road closure through Film Edinburgh: £675 plus VAT for under five days, with two weeks’ notice. Checked October 2026.
Where can a crew van park in Edinburgh city centre?
In the private multi-storeys, if it’s low enough: Holyrood Road takes up to 2.15 metres, Castle Terrace 2.08, the Omni Centre 2.00 and Capital Square 1.95 (operators’ pages, checked October 2026). Eight of the eleven city-centre car parks on the council’s list are reached through the Low Emission Zone; Holyrood Road isn’t. For St James Quarter or the station’s own, ask the operator for the height. A high-roof van needs a dispensation or a suspended bay instead.
Do I need a permit to film near the Edinburgh trams?
Often, yes. Working within ten metres of the tramway may need Edinburgh Trams’ Authority to Work permit, and it does for anything that could come into the hazard zone around the rails and the 750-volt wires, which are always live; a ladder within two metres of a rail; a crane or scaffold within five metres; or a pavement taken so that people walk onto the tram line. Apply on its Permit+ portal at least 21 calendar days ahead, with a method statement and a risk assessment. It’s on top of Film Edinburgh’s permission. Checked October 2026.
Can you drop off kit at Edinburgh Waverley?
Not inside: Waverley has been closed to vehicles since June 2014. Drop-off and pick-up are on Market Street, left of the entrance, and on Calton Road, each for up to five vehicles; the taxi ranks are on Waverley Bridge and East Market Street, and the station’s own multi-storey is free for up to 40 minutes. Haymarket has a drop-off point but no car park. Filming at Waverley is separate: Network Rail charges £750 an hour for up to ten crew, two hours minimum, plus VAT. Checked October 2026.
How do crew get from Edinburgh Airport to the city?
By tram: the stop is next to the terminal, the city centre is under 35 minutes away, and trams run every 7 minutes between 7am and 7pm, on an Airport-zone ticket. By road it’s about 20 minutes, with taxis at the East Terminus. Dropping kit at the terminal costs £8.50 for up to 10 minutes, then £1 a minute; the free zone is a 10-minute walk away. Checked October 2026.
Is it harder to shoot in Edinburgh in August?
In the Old Town, yes. The Fringe, the International Festival and the Tattoo fill it: the 2026 Fringe ran for 25 days in 306 venues and issued over 2.8 million tickets, and the 2027 Fringe runs from 6 to 30 August. When Baby Reindeer filmed mid-Fringe, Film Edinburgh pointed it to a reduced crew on the Royal Mile. Rooms cost more and are harder to find, and since 24 July 2026 overnight stays carry a 5% visitor levy for up to five nights. For anything bigger than a small crew, we’d plan another month.
Can you sort the logistics with the crew?
Yes. Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We check every van against the Low Emission Zone, then book the vans, dispensations, bays, hotels and food with the crew, each on its own line of the quote, with travel and mileage at cost. Anything by the tram line goes in for its permit at least three weeks ahead. On a crew hire, everything we book carries the 10% booking fee and 2% insurance. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Around the crew
More for Edinburgh shoots
01
Kit rental
Kit houses in Leith and out towards the airport, the crew’s own kit, and what comes from Glasgow or London.
02
Locations and permits
Film Edinburgh, Historic Environment Scotland, Waverley, the kirkyards, the trams and the drone rules.
03
Studios and set builds
FirstStage in Leith, smaller studios for interviews and product, and set builds.
