Lightning strikes on rail line

There was disruption to train travel earlier this week after a nighttime lightning storm hit the Highland Mainline.

Lightning struck a number of points on the line between Perth and Inverness in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday, July 24.

One of the lightning strikes impacted on the operation of the Dunkeld and Murthly level crossing. And further north on the line, a number of signalling systems were hit by lightning.

Engineers from Network Rail were immediately sent out to the Highland Mainline to reset the signalling system and replace any blown fuses.

Most of the work was resolved by 10am, with the work to fix the Dunkeld and Murthly level crossing fixed by 10.30am on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said:“The weather over the course of the morning has caused several signalling and level crossing barrier failures across the network including on Highland Mainline.

“Engineers were quickly on site to fix the equipment damaged by lightning strikes in order to get services moving again.

“We apologise for any inconvenience to passengers and thank them for their understanding as we dealt with challenging weather.”

Some train services on Wednesday morning were cancelled or delayed because of the lightning strikes’damage.

A spokesperson for ScotRail said:“We’re sorry to our customers who had their journey disrupted this morning.

“Engineers worked as quickly as possible to fix the signal faults and get services back to normal.

“Anyone delayed by 30 minutes or more is entitled to claim money back through our delay repay guarantee on our website or mobile app.”

Power at the Loch of the Lowes visitor centre near Dunkeld was also knocked out by the storm.