Train service restored on the Anniesland branch line following engineering works: 5 July New points in place and line re-opened

Friday 6 Jul 2018

Train service restored on the Anniesland branch line following engineering works

Region & Route:
Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Services on the line between Anniesland and Glasgow Queen Street, via Ashfield, will operate as normal from Sunday July 8 with work to repair a track defect now complete.

A routine inspection by Network Rail engineers identified a defective set of points at Cowlairs to the north of Glasgow Queen Street which meant trains have been unable to cross over onto the Anniesland branch line since 13 June. Services on the West Highland Line were also being diverted with extended journey times.

The unique design of the affected junction meant that a new piece of track was custom designed, built and installed to fix the fault.

Working overnight following close of service on the busy Edinburgh-Glasgow line, engineers manually removed the defective rails and replaced them with the new bespoke sections.  The signalling was then reinstated to allow control from the signalling centre to be restored.

David Dickson, Network Rail infrastructure director said: “It is excellent news that this work has been completed and the normal timetable can now be reintroduced on services to Anniesland and on the West Highland Line from Sunday. 

 “The fault was identified as part of our regular inspection and monitoring regime, but the equipment that needed to be replaced was a complicated piece of track that had to be specially designed and built before it could be installed.

“We appreciate that this has been inconvenient for customers and the team has worked hard to put plans in place to keep services moving while we completed these vital repairs.”

The first service from Glasgow Queen Street to Anniesland via Ashfield on Sunday will be at 0933, and the first service in the opposite direction will be at 0957.

Notes to Editors

Notes to Editors

A track defect was identified by Network Rail engineers on a junction to the north of Glasgow Queen Street which meant trains could not ‘cross over’ onto the Anniesland branch line.

Services on the line between Anniesland and Glasgow Queen Street, via Ashfield, were diverted via Partick from Wednesday, June 13,

Working overnight following close of service on the busy Edinburgh-Glasgow line, engineers manually removed the defective rails and replaced them with the new points.  The signalling was then reinstated to allow control from the signalling centre.

The unique design of the affected junction means that a new piece of track had to be custom designed, built and installed to fix the fault.

Stations impacted on by the disruption included Ashfield Possilpark & Parkhouse, Gilshochill, Summerston, Maryhill, & Kelvindale

Services on the West Highland Line had continued to operate into Glasgow Queen Street via an alternative route but with as additional 30 minutes on the journey time

Customer Refunds

Customers with a valid season ticket purchased before the beginning of the disruption (on 12 June) will be entitled to a partial refund to cover the affected period.

Customers will have 28 days from the end of the disruption to claim the refund. It may take up to seven days for a refund to be processed.

Customers will receive a pro-rata refund based on the amount of days affected for the Season ticket validity they hold. The refund will be in the form of vouchers which can be exchanged for cash at any ScotRail ticket office.

To claim, customers should contact the ScotRail customer relations team by email, customer.relations@scotrail.co.uk, or by writing to:

ScotRail Customer Relations, PO BOX 27129, GLASGOW, G2 9LH

  • Customers with valid paper season tickets should include a photo of their ticket with their claim.
  • Customers with expired season tickets should deface the ticket, so that it can no longer be used, and

 include a picture of it, or post the original with their claim.

  • Smartcard customers should include their 18 digit Smartcard number with their claim.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Owen Campbell
NR Press Office 0141 555 4108 / 07515 617073
Owen.Campbell1@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk