Scots passengers face months of rail travel chaos with disruption to major line

TRAIN passengers are set to face three months of disruption as the West Coast main line undergoes essential upgrades.

The overhaul will be carried out by Network Rail as part of a vital programme of work to upgrade Carstairs Junction.

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The line is set to close between March 4-19 during the first phase of a three-month programme.

This will mean trains will be diverted and journey times extended between March and June for all services between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Carlisle.

The work is part of a £164m Scottish Government investment to modernise the key junction for passenger and freight services.

It will also see the creation of Scotland’s largest freight loop, capable of accommodating 775m-long freight trains to help more businesses move goods off the road and onto rail to help achieve the Government’s Net Zero targets.

During the first phase of the project, there will be no direct services to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh on the West Coast main line through Carstairs.

Phase two of the work, taking place between Monday, March 20 and Friday, April 21, will see part of the junction re-opening.

This will allow some trains to run directly to Edinburgh – and via diversion routes to Glasgow – on weekdays, however, journey times will be longer than normal.

The final phase, between Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, June 4, will see most services return to normal during weekdays with the junction fully closed each weekend.

During the later phases of the project, there will be no direct services between Glasgow Central or Edinburgh and Carlisle on the West Coast main line each weekend.

The closure of the junction will affect cross-border operators including, Avanti West Coast, Caledonian Sleeper, CrossCountry Trains, London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express, who will be operating via diversionary routes or offering alternative journey options during this time.

Services operating on the East Coast main line during this time are also likely to be busier than normal.

There will be no ScotRail services to or from Carstairs for the full three-month period.

ScotRail will run a range of alternative journey options throughout with Carstairs station re-opening on Tuesday, May 30.

Liam Sumpter, Route Director, Network Rail Scotland, said: “Carstairs Junction is coming to the end of its life cycle and with the volume of freight and passenger trains passing through each week it’s important that we modernise this part of the network.

“By completing this crucial upgrade work we will improve the capabilities and reliability of this strategically important junction, providing better future journeys for passengers and more capacity for freight.

“There’s never a good time to close such an important line but this is a huge and extremely complex piece of work that will safeguard the future of the route for years to come.

“We appreciate that this will cause some inconvenience and would like to thank customers for their patience during this time.”

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