Media centre

Monday 22 Feb 2021

Customer update: Service alterations for Highland and West Coast rail routes

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Scotland’s Railway will be withdrawing services on some routes on Tuesday while high winds and extreme rainfall sweeps across the country.

Services on the West Coast Mainline will be withdrawn between Glasgow and Carlisle throughout Tuesday, while a revised timetable will be in place on the Highland Mainline where services will be suspended between Perth and Pitlochry.

Customers who must travel between Scotland and England are being advised to travel via Edinburgh on the East Coast Mainline.

On the Highland Mainline, ScotRail will run between the Central Belt and Perth and between Inverness and Pitlochry, with a replacement bus service operating between those stations.

The changes are being put in place as a precaution against potential flood damage to the infrastructure in areas where we expect to see high winds and heavy rain falling on already saturated land.

Additional engineers are being deployed across the network to inspect lines, repair damage and reopen routes as quickly as possible for passengers and freight customers.

Safety inspections will also be carried out on the West Coast Mainline on Wednesday morning before it reopens to services.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland route director, said: “The safety of our passengers and workers is our top priority and we will be withdrawing some services as a precaution until the worst of the weather has passed.

“We will not run services in these areas until our engineers have thoroughly inspected the network for any damage.

“We will be monitoring the weather conditions closely throughout the day on Tuesday and have specialist teams ready to deploy quickly to deal with any issues.”

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast, said: “Due to adverse weather conditions affecting our Anglo Scottish route, we will be operating an amended timetable on our Scotland route – with no trains to or from Motherwell, Glasgow and Edinburgh and changes to our services between Preston and Carlisle on Tuesday 23 February until midday Wednesday 24 February.

“Customers travelling to or from Motherwell, Glasgow and Edinburgh are strongly advised to postpone their journey until Wednesday 24 February or alternatively get a full refund with no admin fee.

“We are working closely with Network Rail and TransPennine Express as well as monitoring the latest weather conditions. We recommend customers check the Avanti West Coast website before making their journey.”

Services on other routes are scheduled to operate as planned, but the extreme conditions may cause damage elsewhere and passengers should only travel if the journey is absolutely necessary.

Customers can check their travel plans with National Rail Enquiries, or with their individual train operator.