Passengers take the strain as train tracks upgraded

Transport: Work will affect travel from Glasgow

Rail passengers across the north of Scotland are facing disruption in travelling back from Glasgow throughout the whole summer period.

ScotRail confirmed yesterday it is poised to carry out upgrade work to a number of tracks across north and central Scotland and admitted this would cause months of inconvenience for passengers.

From May 21 – when work starts – until September 7 on Sundays to Thursdays, trains after 8pm from Queen Street Station in Glasgow to Aberdeen and Inverness may be diverted via Polmont Station or cancelled completely.

When no trains are running, replacement bus services will be brought into operation.

On the affected days, the last trains to head north may depart earlier than normal.

ScotRail has warned that this will lead to an increase in journey times and added customers can expect to see queuing systems in operation at key stations.

Jacqueline Taggart, Scot- Rail Alliance customer experience director, said that, while the upgrades would cause disruption to passengers, they were necessary to improve the rail network in the longer term.

She added: “No one likes having their journey changed. However, this short-term disruption will lead to a more reliable and better rail network that will rank among the very best.

“We are going through a massive period of change on Scotland’s railway. The work that we are carrying out over the next few months will bring about a revolution in rail – with more and better trains, more services and more seats than ever before.

“However, while we transform the railway, there is inevitably going to be some impact on people’s services.

“We are doing everything we can to minimise this.”

To allow rail passengers to make travel plans in advance, ScotRail has summarised the changes that will be implemented on a specialised web page, scot rail.co.uk/improvements

OFF THE RAILS: Passengers face months of inconvenience while ScotRail completes the work