Chaos as rail services are axed

Rail services across Tayside and Fife were cancelled yesterday as freezing temperatures brought trains across Scotland to a standstill.

Morning journeys from Edinburgh to Dundee and Fife were aborted after a “points failure” hit the rail network at Waverley Station at about 6am.

Scotrail called off all of its services in and out of the Scottish capital after the fault, caused by plummeting winter conditions, emerged.

Services to Dundee were cancelled, along with others to Fife, Glasgow, Dunblane and Tweedbank.

Though rail workers fixed the track by 10am, journeys to Dundee and Fife were subject to delays and revisions into the evening.

Scotrail said this was a result of trains and crews being left “out of position” following the morning’s issues.

Among the journeys called off as a result of the faults were the 10.05am Edinburgh to Dunblane, the 10.08am Edinburgh to Glenrothes, the 11.39am Dundee to Edinburgh and the 11.29am Dunblane to Edinburgh.

The 10am Edinburgh to Dundee and the 10.38am Aberdeen to Glasgow trains were also cancelled due to “engineering works not being finished in time”.

However the 1.30pm and 2pm services from Edinburgh to Dundee both left on time, as did the 1.41pm and 1.49pm to Glenrothes, and the 1.36pm and 2.37pm to Perth.

Throughout the afternoon, Scotrail warned commuters that services to Dundee would be “cancelled, delayed or revised”.

Rail users also took to social media to report carriages being “rammed”.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Our engineers were on site quickly to identify the issue, replace the faulty equipment and get trains on the move.

“We understand the inconvenience this caused and apologise for the disruption to passengers’ journeys.”

A Scotrail spokesman added: “Due to multiple points failures at Haymarket earlier this morning caused by very low temperatures, a number of services to and from Edinburgh faced disruption.

“We know how frustrating this is for our customers, and we apologise for the impact this has on their day.”