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Wednesday 20 Dec 2023

Storm Pia brings service changes to Scotland’s Railway

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Train services on some lines across Scotland will start later than usual tomorrow morning (Thursday) as a safety precaution following Storm Pia.

With winds of up to 80mph expected across parts of the country overnight, some rail lines will need to be inspected before passenger services can begin to run.

High winds can blow trees and other debris on to the tracks blocking lines and potentially damaging trains.

On Thursday the following lines will only open once safety inspections have been completed:

• West Highland line – including the Oban and Mallaig branches
• Kyle of Lochalsh line
• Far North line
• Inverness-Inverurie.

Speed restrictions will also be in place across the Highland Mainline, as well as some central belt, south-west Scotland and cross-border routes.

Additional engineers will be deployed to help deal with any damage found and engineering trains will be used to quickly inspect those lines closed by the high winds.

Passengers are being advised to allow more time for their journey and to check with their train operator before travelling.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland’s route director, said: “The safety of customers and colleagues is our first priority and that’s why we’ve stopped some trains from running on Thursday morning and slowed others down.

“High winds can cause trees and other debris to fall on to the track with the potential to damage our infrastructure and block lines. It’s important that we assess the impact of the severe weather before reopening lines and removing restrictions.

“We will reopen the affected routes as quickly as we can for our customers, but are urging passengers to check their journey before traveling.”

David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said: “Services on some routes will be significantly impacted by Storm Pia, and in addition to some cancellations on the routes most impacted, customers can expect short notice changes to their journeys.

“We will be working closely with our colleagues at Network Rail Scotland to ensure we are able to keep people moving as much as possible, but customers should also expect that their journeys will take longer than usual.

“We realise that many people will be travelling to see family and friends as Christmas approaches, and we would urge them to check their journey before they travel, on the ScotRail app, website, or social media channels.”

For more information on any changes to services, check www.nationalrail.co.uk or with individual train operators.