Disruption expected on train lines going south
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RAIL passengers have been urged to check their journey before setting off this autumn as disruption is expected between the central belt and Inverness.
The ScotRail Alliance has warned that some services between Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Highland capital will be affected until December 8 as the latest phase of upgrading work begins in central Scotland.
Weekend services between Glasgow and Inverness will be affected, with some being diverted via Fife or operating on part of the route only.
Services between Edinburgh and Inverness will be affected on November 26 and 27, December 4, and December 11, with trains operating only between Edinburgh and Perth and replacement buses running between Perth and Inverness instead.
The work is part of a Scotland-wide focus to improve the rail network.
Jacqueline Taggart, ScotRail Alliance customer experience director, said: "We are going through a massive period of change on Scotland’s railway.
"The work that we are carrying out over the next few months will bring about a revolution in rail – with more and better trains, more services and more seats than ever before.
"However, while we transform the railway, there is inevitably going to be some impact on services. We are doing everything we can to minimise this, and to keep people moving."
An interactive webpage giving more detailed information about disruption to specific services is available at www.scotrail.co.uk/improvements
Meanwhile Scotrail Alliance has also insisted they are committed to the Far North Line connecting Inverness to Sutherland and Caithness.
After criticism over figures released last week that showed just a quarter of trains arriving in Wick did so on time the rail operator blamed a variety of causes including ongoing industrial action, the recent major infrastructure works at Glasgow Queen Street and the ongoing electrification project.
Slightly more than 56 per cent of trains arriving at Tain were also late, though almost exactly the same proportion arriving in Inverness were on time.
The Scotrail Alliance said that rolling stock is being revamped, a new signalling system is being introduced, and miles of old track is being replaced on the line to try and improve reliability.
