High winds and heavy rain set to affect Scotland’s Railway

Thursday 29 Sep 2022

High winds and heavy rain set to affect Scotland’s Railway

Region & Route:: Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Yellow weather warnings have been issued for high winds and heavy rain on Friday 30 September.

Network Rail will impose speed restrictions on some lines on Friday as heavy rain and winds of up to 65mph get set to hit Scotland.

Speed restrictions will be in place on the West Coast Main Line, parts of the Dundee – Aberdeen line, West Highland Line and the Highland Main Line.

Inverness - Wick, Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh, Stirling - Dunblane, Port Glasgow - Wemyss Bay, Glasgow Central - Stranraer and Glasgow Central - Carlisle via Barrhead, Kilmarnock and Dumfries will also be affected.

The speed restrictions will be in place for safety reasons as high winds can blow trees and debris on to the tracks and cause damage to overhead power lines, while heavy rain can lead to flooding.

Karl Grewar, Head of Integrated Control, Network Rail Scotland, said: “A spell of heavy rain and strong winds will arrive overnight on Thursday into Friday in Scotland with some disruption expected on the railway.

“For safety reasons, we’ll impose speed restrictions from 07:00 on Friday on several routes for 24 hours. Our control room team will be monitoring the weather in real-time and if conditions improve, we’ll remove these sooner.”

Passengers are being urged to check their journey before travelling. For more information on any changes to services, check www.nationalrail.co.uk or with individual train operators.

Notes to Editors

Speed restrictions will be imposed on the following lines:

West Coast Main Line
The West Highland Line, including the Oban and Mallaig branches
Inverness – Wick
Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh
Dundee – Aberdeen
Highland Main Line, between Pitlochry and Blair Atholl
Stirling – Dunblane
Port Glasgow – Wemyss Bay
Glasgow Central – Stranraer
Glasgow Central – Carlisle via Barrhead, Kilmarnock and Dumfries

Press office contact

Eddie Harbinson - edward.harbinson@networkrail.co.uk

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Eddie Harbinson
Media Manager
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edward.harbinson@networkrail.co.uk

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