ScotRail services on Far North Line face 2 months of night-time disruption during £1.6m track replacement works between Inverness and Tain, confirms Network Rail Scotland
£1.6m worth of engineering works will cause two months of disruption to late night train services on the Far North Line, passengers have been warned.
Network Rail Scotland engineers are set to begin working on stretches of the line between Inverness and Tain from October 7 until at least late November.
The work, which will be carried out on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, will result in the cancellation of the last train north from Inverness - the 9.29pm departure - and the last train south from Tain at 10.45pm on those days.
Bus replacement services will run instead of those trains on those nights, but it also means the final train from Inverness to Tain (and further north) on those evenings will depart at 6.31pm and the last rail journey in the opposite direction will depart the Easter Ross town at 7.47pm.
The early closure of the line to rail traffic is to enable workers to replace rails and sleepers at several locations on the route - including Merkinch, Alness and Dingwall.
Network Rail Scotland explained that the work will help improve and maintain service reliability.
Blair Cockburn, project manager at Network Rail Scotland, said: “The investment we’re making on the Wick line will extend the lifespan of the track while helping to keep services reliable for passengers.
“By gaining access to the track earlier than would normally be the case each evening, we’ll be able to maximise productivity through the working week and deliver the project quicker than would otherwise have been the case.
“We are encouraging passengers to plan ahead if travelling during the project and we thank them for their patience and understanding while we complete these vital works.”
Daytime and weekend services (including Fridays) will not be affected.
Network Rail Scotland has confirmed the work will run until at least Thursday, November 28, although at the time of writing Network Rail’s online engineering works calendar was also showing disruption on the route from Monday to Thursday, December 2 to 5 - suggesting it may run for two months.
Passengers can check their journeys at www.scotrail.co.uk.
