Media centre

Tuesday 9 Dec 2014

Route cancellations as rail network prepares for storm

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Due to severe weather conditions forecast for tomorrow a limited number of train services will be withdrawn on Wednesday (December 10) as a safety precaution.

No trains will run on the following lines tomorrow:

• Inverness-Kyle/Thurso/Wick
• Ayr-Stranraer
• Kilwinning-Ardrossan/Largs
• Dumbarton Central-Helensburgh Central
• Glasgow Queen St-Oban/Fort William/Mallaig (this includes the Caledonian Sleeper)

These routes are likely to bear the brunt of the 70mph winds and high tides forecast to hit the north and west of Scotland over the next 48 hours.

Replacement bus services will be considered, but are dependent on road conditions.

Network Rail will have hundreds of engineers out across the network ready to react quickly to problems on the lines, removing trees and fixing equipment where necessary. The company will also be monitoring its system of over 120 weather alarms across the network to help track the passage of the storm.

With winds of up to 70mph expected, railway infrastructure could be affected as severe winds can blow debris and trees onto tracks and damage equipment such as overhead electric power lines and signals.

David Dickson, Network Rail route managing director for Scotland, said: “Safety has to be our first consideration during severe weather and we are withdrawing a limited number of services until the worst of the storms have passed.

“We will be monitoring conditions on the ground closely throughout the night and into the morning and will have teams in place across the country to react quickly to any damage caused by the weather.

“We are working closely with the train operators and other industry partners to do everything we can to reduce disruption, while also operating a safe network for passengers.”

ScotRail has confirmed that tickets for travel tomorrow (Wednesday) on the affected routes will be honoured today (Tuesday) and Thursday.

Kenny McPhail, deputy managing director of ScotRail, said: “We’re letting people know as soon as possible to give people time to consider alternatives travel options. It’s worth noting that, while replacement buses may be available at key locations, they cannot be guaranteed due to likely road conditions, so if you can bring forward or postpone your journey please do so.”

The train operator also confirmed that the northbound Sleeper to Fort William will terminate at Edinburgh tomorrow morning (Dec 10) and that the southbound evening service to London will start there too.

Mr McPhail added: “We will have extra staff on the ground to assist, and will have more people manning social media to respond to customer queries.”