MORE HIGHLAND LINES REOPEN AS REPAIR WORK CONTINUES

Thursday 2 Nov 2006

MORE HIGHLAND LINES REOPEN AS REPAIR WORK CONTINUES

Region & Route:: Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

From next Wednesday, 8 November, train services will resume between Inverness and Kyle and Inverness and Tain. Until then a limited service is running between Kyle and Garve and between Inverness and Dingwall; a bus service is providing connections between Dingwall and Garve. Significant works are still underway at Ardgay and on the Wick line at Watten, between Georgemas and Wick, where a railway bridge has been virtually destroyed by floods and landslides. Repair work is underway and will take a few weeks to complete. Replacement buses are operating from Dingwall to Wick via Thurso. David Simpson, Route Director for Scotland, said: “Over the past week our teams have carried out a phenomenal amount of work to repair the railway in areas affected by extreme weather. We have completed work at all locations between Dingwall and Garve, and Dingwall and Tain, so that trains can start running again next week. We will continue to work around the clock until all Highland lines are running normally." The work being carried out by Network Rail includes repairing bridges, relaying track, removing trees and shifting tonnes of rubble that landed on the railway during last month’s storms. Service information is available from First ScotRail (www.firstscotrail.com or 0845 601 5929) or National Rail Enquiries (www.nationalrail.co.uk or 08457 48 49 50).

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