Lifeline inter set to go off

Commuters braced for disruption

Motherwell/Carstairs. Commuters will be forced to make part of their journey by bus.

Meanwhile, Scotrail have warned services in Scotland could face “significant disruption” if two strikes by Network Rail planned for next month go ahead.

The industrial action comes after a Network Rail pay offer was rejected by staff. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport line. Just less than a quarter of trips are between Glasgow and Linlithgow so are unaffected by the tunnel closure, almost half are between Glasgow and Edinburgh and can transfer to alternative direct services meaning 28 per cent of journeys will involve travelling part of the route by bus.

Tomorrow, preparatory work begins in advance of the rail tunnel work which will allow the track to be lowered. The work should result in cleaner, greener and quieter trains.

Network Rail’s website warns: “If you travel end to end between Glasgow Queen Street high level and Edinburgh, we recommend you use the alternative direct services. This will be a quicker journey on one train all the way.

“Services on other routes between Glasgow and Edinburgh are expected to be much busier than usual with additional customers travelling end to end.

“If you normally board at a station en route, you may not be able to get on the first train you aim to catch.

“As a rule of thumb, you should try to set off 25-30 minutes earlier than normal if you want to arrive at your normal time.

Network Rail says it does not plan to hire extra trains but will be using every train at its disposal.

The website says: “If you follow our travel advice we will still be able to transport the vast majority of you by train or a mix of train and bus.

“We have also altered our train maintenance regimes to allow us to have as many trains as possible in passenger service at any one time. This worked very well for the Commonwealth Games.

“We will be using every carriage we have at our disposal, however at peak times you may still have to queue to board trains and may not get on the first train you aim for.”

Smartcards and paper season tickets can be used on the three alternative routes to Edinburgh from Glasgow Central.

Passengers will not be reimbursed for the extra journey times but will be entitled to compensation if they are delayed by more than 30 minutes.

A city council spokesman described the work as essen- tial to improving train services between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

He added: “We know Network Rail and ScotRail are working closely on minimising the disruption and they have both kept us informed of their plans.

“We are confident they will put appropriate measures in place to make sure passengers can still travel to and from