Hogmanay revellers facing rail work chaos

Hogmanay revellers face rail chaos with Edinburgh cut off from Scotland by engineering works.

Travel experts said rail works will be among the worst ever over the festive period.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to visit the capital to celebrate New Year – but rail chiefs said most services between Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland will be severed from December 27 to January 1 inclusive, due to major works on the west side of Edinburgh.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train firms including ScotRail, said on its National Rail Enquiries website: “From December 27 to January 1, ScotRail services will not run through Haymarket.” All services from Edinburgh to the rest of Scotland go through Haymarket, on the west side of Edinburgh city centre.

Replacement buses will be used from December 27-29 to ferry in ScotRail passengers as rail services terminate at stations near Edinburgh – including Linlithgow and Bathgate – more than doubling the time of a journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

The trip usually takes 42 minutes but will take 1hr 40min.

ScotRail is finalising an announcement about how it will cope on December 30 to January 1, the busiest days of the Edinburgh shutdown.

Hogmanay revellers face an extra headache getting home, as LNER has axed all New Year’s Day services from Edinburgh to Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Edinburgh to London services on the East Coast line are also reduced on December 27, meaning worse overcrowding on what is already one of the busiest leisure travel days of the year as rail lines reopen after being closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

TransPennine Express has scrapped all services into Edinburgh via the West Coast mainline on December 28 and 29, with replacement buses meaning 1hr 30min delays.

Network Rail is set to formally announce works in days.

Network Rail chief spokesperson Kevin Groves said: “We advise passengers to check their journeys before travelling this Christmas.

“The vast majority of the network will be open as usual, but a few routes will be affected.”