TRAIN stations were left deserted in the aftermath of Storm Isha as severe winds brought Scotland’s rail network to a standstill – with even more chaos expected tomorrow.
We told how Scots were issued with an amber and rare red wind warning by the Met Office as monstrous gusts topped 100mph on Sunday night into Monday morning.
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Fatal Storm Isha claimed the life of a pensioner after his car was hit by a fallen tree in Grangemouth on Sunday night.
Network Rail said their engineers are working hard to repair rail infrastructure and restore services following a night of damage.
But as soon as lines begin to operate again, the rail provider warns of more travel chaos with Storm Jocelyn set to roar in off the Atlantic tomorrow morning.
Passengers are also now being advised that more disruption to journeys is expected over the next 48 hours as Storm Jocelyn arrives.
With winds of up to 65mph to hit Scotland tomorrow night, the decision has been taken to close the network early on Tuesday with a controlled ‘shutdown’ of services starting from 7pm.
Services will also start later on Wednesday as inspections of railway lines for damage are required before trains can run.
Chainsaw teams and specialist overhead line engineers from Network Rail have been clearing trees and repair damaged power lines on multiple routes.
There was chaos on the railway amid nationwide cancellations as trees and debris were blown onto lines.
Glasgow Central was a ghost town today with all services cancelled across the country.
Passengers waiting for Avanti services to London Euston queued outside as they waited for the first train south to depart following disruption.
The following routes have been inspected and reopened for train operators over the course of today:
- East Coast Mainline
- West Coast Mainline
- Aberdeen–Dundee
- Perth–Dundee
- Perth–Stirling
- Dundee–Edinburgh via Kirkaldy
- Edinburgh–Tweedbank
- Edinburgh–North Berwick
- Glasgow Central–Prestwick
- Ardrossan Harbour–Glasgow Central
- Largs–Glasgow Central
- Glasgow Central –Paisley Canal
- Glasgow Central–Barrhead
- Ayr–Prestwick
- Bathgate–Edinburgh.
A huge tree sparked a fire after it was blown onto electric wires at Gartcosh, near Cumbernauld.
Another tree blocked the Cathcart Circle at Crosshill station in Glasgow’s south side.
Rail bosses confirmed there were over ten trees on one stretch of track between Easterhouse and Garrowhill in the east end of Glasgow.
Limited services returned to the lines at around 1 pm amid further ‘danger to life’ warnings issued for tomorrow as Storm Jocelyn is predicted to batter western Scotland.
Network Rail are still working to tackle significant issues on various lines where falling trees have damaged the overhead line equipment used to power electric trains, including:
- At Croftfoot in Glasgow
- Between Easterhouse and Garrowhill
- At Gartcosh
- Between Holytown and Bellshill.
At Queen Street station, work is under way to remove a fence that was blown over and is overhanging the railway.
Team have also been working to remove a metal shed that was blown on to the line at Bellgrove, a garage roof that was blocking the line at Kirkwood and an advertising board that fell on to the line at the Exhibition Centre in Glasgow.
Liam Sumpter, route director, Network Rail Scotland, said: “Storm Isha has caused a huge amount of damage across Scotland’s Railway.
“My thanks go to our teams, who’ve been working around-the-clock to remove fallen trees and debris while carrying out both minor and major repairs to damaged infrastructure.
“While we are continuing to re-open routes when it is safe to do so, we unfortunately expect even more disruption in the coming days as Storm Jocelyn arrives in Scotland.
“If you’re planning on travelling by train this week, please check the status of your journey with your train operator.
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“We’re also urging lineside neighbours to make sure that garden furniture and equipment is secure as in high winds, this can blow on to the railway, causing damage and disruption.”
For more information on any changes to services, check www.nationalrail.co.uk or with individual train operators.
