Buses to replace some trains in Central Scotland as electrification project gathers pace

Published: 30th August 2016

Electrification work sees timetable changes in evenings and Sundays

Passengers need to check their train times if planning to travel on some ScotRail evening and Sunday services after 4 September. That’s because engineering work is reaching a new phase in preparation for electrification between Edinburgh and Glasgow through Polmont and Falkirk.

ScotRail says that the routes affected by changes, in addition to the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line, will link Perth, Dunblane and Stirling with Edinburgh and also Glasgow with Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Alloa.

Some trains will start later on Sunday mornings and some will only operate on part of their normal route five nights a week, basically between Sunday and Thursday evenings, with buses replacing trains for parts of journeys after about 20:30 hours on affected evenings.

Normal services apply at other times, including on Friday and Saturday evenings. Some other changes affecting Dunblane trains will be announced later.

No change at Christmas

Normal timetables will operate over the Festive period between 8 December and 7 January. Normal services will also apply on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line throughout Sunday 25 September.

Otherwise the alterations will apply from 4 September 2016 until 31 March 2017.

One year away

The aim is to deliver electric trains on the main line between Edinburgh and Glasgow by the autumn of 2017, although originally it was hoped that some electric trains would be running before the end of 2016.

They said:

David Dickson, infrastructure director of the ScotRail Alliance, said that electrification would mean “faster, longer, greener trains” offering more seats and shorter journey times.

Mr Dickson apologised for disruption during work in the meantime.

He added: “We understand the inconvenience this work will cause our customers and every effort has been made to minimise disruption as much as we possibly can. We are urging people to check their journey now and certainly before they set off. All of the information that people will need to plan their journey during these improvement works is already available on the ScotRail app and website. We will of course have extra staff on hand at key stations to assist customers.”

External Links

• ScotRail