Commuter disruption after calf hit by train

A calf has died after being hit by a train in North Lanarkshire, which caused two hours of disruption to commuters.

The animal is thought to have strayed onto the secondary Edinburgh-glasgow line via Shotts through wires in a fence.

It was struck by the 7am Scotrail Glasgow Centraledinburgh train between Hartwood and Shotts at 7:45am.

No-one was injured on the train, which sustained minor damage but was able to continue its journey after 20 minutes.

But a temporary line closure for safety inspections caused knock-on disruption to other trains on the line until 9:40am.

A Scotrail Alliance spokesman said: “Our teams worked as fast as possible to return services to normal and get people where they needed to be.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this disruption and remind customers delayed more than 30 minutes, they are entitled to compensation under our delay repay guarantee provided they keep hold of their tickets.”

Scotrail trains have been modified since 13 people were killed in 1984 when a train on the Edinburghglasgow main line hit a cow near Polmont.