Storm Gertrude will affect trains on Friday morning

Scotrail advise that due to the approaching storm some train services will not run at all on Friday morning, and others will operate on a restricted basis.

The Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk High service will operate half hourly and the Edinburgh to Dunblane service will run every hour.

These routes are likely to bear the brunt of the winds of up to 90mph – high tides forecast to hit the north and west of Scotland over the next 48 hours.

 

Due to the extreme weather, bus replacements are expected to be extremely limited.

 

For safety reasons it will be necessary to inspect the above rail lines for damage before reintroducing train travel.

 

While this work will be done as quickly as possible, it will not commence until after the peak of the storm has passed.

 

Phil Verster, ScotRail Alliance managing director, said: “We will be withdrawing some services until the worst of the storm has passed.

 

“The safety of our passengers and workforce is our top priority and we cannot run services on these lines until our engineers have thoroughly inspected the network for any damage.

 

“In order to get the most up to date information about their journey, customers should check our website or app before setting out to travel. Leaving more time for travel is also advised.

 

“We will be monitoring the weather conditions closely throughout the day and have specialist teams ready to deploy quickly to deal with any issues caused by the storm.

 

“We are also working closely with our industry partners to limit disruption while maintaining a safe network for passengers.”

 

Other lines and services are scheduled to operate normally tomorrow, but the extreme conditions may cause damage elsewhere and passengers should allow extra travel time, or consider postponing any non-essential trips.

 

The ScotRail Alliance will have hundreds of engineers out across the country ready to react quickly to any problems identified on the lines – removing trees and fixing damaged equipment such as overhead electric power lines and signals.

 

Customers who have purchased a ticket for 29 January, can travel on relevant ScotRail services from today (28 Jan) up to and including Friday 5 February.

 

For those with weekly or longer season tickets who cannot complete their journey on 29 January as a result of cancelled or part-cancelled services, ScotRail will add an extra day onto season tickets.  More details will be confirmed in due course.