Media centre

Thursday 24 Feb 2011

TRACK REPAIR WORKS FOR FAR NORTH LINE

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

• Network Rail engineers working to repair damage to infrastructure caused by passing freight train

• ScotRail providing rail replacement bus services between Helmsdale and Tain to minimise disruption for passengers

Network Rail engineers are currently working to replace track and signalling equipment on the line around Dalchalm to repair damage caused by a passing freight train.

The exact cause of the damage is currently under investigation by specialist engineers, but it is believed to have been caused by a piece of loose equipment dragging beneath one of the train wagons.

Train services between Wick and Inverness are being disrupted as a result of the incident, which occurred at around 17:30 on Wednesday, February 23. Repair works are expected to take until Saturday morning to complete.

Until normal working is resumed, services from Wick to Inverness will terminate at Helmsdale and restart from Tain. A replacement bus will run direct from Helsmdale to Tain to connect into the train to Inverness. A minibus will also operate from Helmsdale calling at stations to Tain then set down only as required to Inverness.

Services from Inverness to Wick will terminate at Tain and restart from Helmsdale. A bus will operate from Tain to Helmsdale to connect into the train to Wick. A minibus will also operate from Tain calling at all stations to Brora and as required at stations to Wick.

David Simpson, Network Rail route director for Scotland, said: “Our engineers are working hard to restore a full service as quickly as possible and we are liaising closely with ScotRail and our other industry partners to keep disruption to a minimum.”

A ScotRail spokesperson said: "We apologise to our Far North line customers for any inconvenience caused due to circumstances beyond our control.