THE GREAT AUGUST WASHOUT
++ Flash floods cause travel chaos across country ++ Trains halted and roads closed ++ 56-hour weekend weather alert issued
PARTS of Scotland ground to a halt yester- day as torrential rain and floods forced roads and railways to shut.
The country’s busiest rail route bore the brunt of the disruption as the closure of the Edinburgh to Glasgow line on Wednesday continued.
Thousands of commuters and tourists going to the Edinburgh Festival were advised to avoid the route altogether as tracks remained submerged.
Forecasters also warned of more disruption, with a new 56-hour warning for severe downpours in place until Sunday.
The chaos came after Edinburgh was hit by a month’s worth of rain in 30 minutes, and tracks through the Winchburgh Tunnel were left under more than two feet of water.
ScotRail said engineers were trying to pump the water from the tunnel in West Lothian, after which the track would need to be inspected for damage.
Trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk High and Falkirk Grahamston were cancelled, as well as services between the capital and Dunblane.
Passengers were advised to use much longer routes via Airdrie, Bathgate and Shotts, which were unaffected by the floods.
Actress Claire Knight was one of thousands of commuters furious
at the closure of the line. She tweeted: ‘Shocking service from @ScotRail. All trains cancelled between Edinburgh and Glasgow. No replacements. Enormous queue. The staff seemed totally unprepared. Had to get a taxi home.’
Kieran Brown tweeted: ‘Appreciate flooding out of your control @ScotRail but after pulling teeth for info at 6am, replacement bus has dumped us at Edinburgh Park – where trains to Waverley are cancelled.’
ScotRail also came under fire after it dispatched a Mercedes van to transport passengers on its rail replacement bus service in Linlithgow.
Erin Jenkins tweeted: ‘The replacement “bus” a little missold maybe? 16 seater?’
ScotRail said: ‘We’re utilising every replacement bus we can get our hands on.’
Lisa Black was travelling from Bathgate to Edinburgh and to board the packed trains. She tweeted: ‘Packed train with 3 carriages from Bathgate to Edinburgh Waverley at festival time. Where’s the 6 carriages as promised @ScotRail?
‘Not good when you’re travelling with a buggy either.’
A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘We’ve been doing everything we can to keep customers moving while engineers work round the clock to pump out the Winchburgh Tunnel.
‘With it being peak tourist season, replacement transport is limited, so we’d encourage customers to make alternative arrangements where possible.’
Ferry operator Cal Mac began cancelling sailings last night, in anticipation of high winds today on the West Coast.
The downpours have led to the Perth Highland Games, due to take place on Sunday, being cancelled.
Motorists also endured travel woe after roads were flooded. In Dunfermline, Fife, police warned motorists to take care as water levels came up to car bonnets.
Organisers of the Pittenweem Arts Festival said the car park was closed and would remain so until the end of the festival on Sunday due to flooding.
More disruption is on the way after the Met Office issued a 56hour warning for severe thundery downpours, covering most of the country this weekend.
They are due to start today and it will be 6am on Sunday before the monsoon stops. The West has been told to expect up to an inch of rain driven by winds up to 50mph today.
While the North and East may escape the gales, rainfall is expected to be even higher, up to 2.3 inches.
The storms are being fuelled by high temperatures in the South of the UK.
Leading bookmaker Coral has made this month odds on, at 4-5 (cut from 6-4), to be the wettest August since records began.
Spokesman Harry Aitkenhead said: ‘We’ve had a soaking wet start to August and the forecasts are showing no let-up. We are on course for a record-breakingly wet month.’
While the country braces itself for yet more rain, workers continue to try to repair the damage already caused.
Yesterday, Network Rail announced that the line between Ardlui and Crianlarich will not reopen until Thursday, August 22. It has been closed since Sunday, August 4, after heavy rainfall caused the slope supporting the track to give way at several points in Glen Falloch.
Engineers will have to use thousands of tons of material to rebuild the supporting slope before they can repair the track.
The flooding also damaged ballast under the track on the Oban branch line, near Tyndrum.
The recovery works are further complicated by the remote location of the sites and the ongoing weather conditions.
ScotRail services are running between Glasgow Queen Street and Arrochar to Ardlui and between Crianlarich and Fort William / Mallaig. Buses are operstruggled
‘Shocking service from ScotRail’
‘Working around the clock’
ating between Arrochar and Crianlarich, and to Oban.
Some train services are set to be introduced between Crianlarich and Oban from Monday, once engineers repair the flood damage around Tyndrum. A final timetable will be confirmed in the coming days.
Liam Sumpter, route director for Network Rail Scotland, said: ‘Our engineers will be working around the clock to reopen the line as quickly as possible.’
Elsewhere, work to clear 50 tons of mud and debris in Stirlingshire continued yesterday.
The collapse of a hillside, which had forced the evacuation of homes and left cars trapped by rubble, came after flash flooding on Monday at Glengyle, at the northern end of Loch Katrine.