Floods close lines
FLOODING and high winds closed the Highland Main Line in Scotland and the northern section of the West Coast Main Line in late February.
The Highland Main Line was closed due to high water levels between Dunkeld and Ballinluig, with the Inver and Dalguise viaducts particularly affected.
The route closed at around midday on February 19, reopened for around half a day on February 22, and then closed again.
This meant that during that weekend the north of Scotland was cut off by rail, as the railway north of Montrose was closed for repairs to Bridge 328 near Tewel (see below).
Trains on the Highland Main Line were only able to run between Inverness and Pitlochry and PerthCentral Belt until February 25, when they restarted with the 1024 Pitlochry-Glasgow Queen Street.
With severe weather warnings in place, Network Rail took the decision to close the West Coast Main Line to prevent further problems, with services between Glasgow Central and Carlisle suspended all day on February 23 and almost until midday on February 24.
During this period, Network Rail was able to unblock a culvert and stabilise a high-risk landslip site at Beattock, and to stabilise a highrisk landslip site at Ravenstruther (near Carstairs). Both had caused delays the previous week.
Additional NR staff were deployed to assess any damage and to carry out repairs, to ensure both the HML and WCML could reopen as quickly as possible.
In the interim, Avanti West Coast ran an hourly Preston-Carlisle service while also introducing special ticketing arrangements with TransPennine Express.
The first southbound Avanti
West Coast train was the 1133 Glasgow Central-London Euston on February 24.