Rail passengers in the north continue to face delays until the weekend as engineers continue to repair damage to the Highland Main Line in Perthshire.
Commuters and visitors travelling on the line face a disrupted timetable until at least tomorrow, with services from Inverness to the Central Belt being affected and some scheduled trains being replaced by a bus service.
The disruption arose after engineers discovered extensive damage to the Dunkeld and Birnam line shortly after 10pm on Monday, with three rails and a number of sleepers believed to be badly damaged.
ScotRail passengers forced to endure more disruption as line closes due to damage
A Network Rail spokesman said: “There are some alterations to the service with not every train running the full route [or] calling at all stations as we’re still carrying out some works on the track which limits how many trains can run through the Dunkeld area.”
As part of the altered timetable, the 7.10am and the 10.11am services from Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness will now terminate at Perth, with buses in operation to ferry passengers to the north.
Meanwhile, passengers aiming to travel on the 10.45am service and the 2.47pm service from Inverness to Edinburgh will be faced with the same choice.
Highlands & Islands Regional MSP Rhoda Grant said more money must be spent in preserving the Highland Main Line.
She said: “It is unfortunate to hear that once again there are disruptions between Inverness and Perth.
“I have long been an advocate for better and more punctual train services in the North and this is a prime example as to why more money needs to be invested into the North’s railways to reduce these rail closures.”
A ScotRail spokesman said: “We have been able to reintroduce some services on the line, with replacement buses also still running.”
Meanwhile, London North Eastern Railway customers were also left facing a second day of disruption to the 7.55am service following a fault with the train’s power car.
Passengers were left with no choice but to make the three and a half hour journey to Edinburgh by bus and then connect with services heading south of the border.
A spokesman from LNER said: “We would like to apologise to customers booked to travel on the 7.55am Inverness to Kings Cross service, for the disruption they experienced this morning. Due to a fault on the power car, rail replacement had to be organised to take customers to intermediate stations and to Edinburgh to join the service down to London.”
