The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Sinkhole leads to Tayside train chaos.
TRAINS: Services expected to return to normal today after repairs cause major disruption in Tayside and Fife
Rail services across Tayside and Fife were expected to return to normal this morning following emergency repairs to a three-foot-deep sinkhole.
Hundreds of passengers were subjected to a day of major disruption yesterday when all trains between Dundee and Edinburgh were cancelled from 8.40am following the discovery of subsidence near Leuchars station.
Scores of trains between Aberdeen and Dundee were also hit.
Network Rail said engineers mounted an emergency response and used three tonnes of stones to fill the hole beneath the southbound line during the evening.
Workers walked the line to ensure there were no further problems but the sinkhole was said to be a localised problem thought to have been caused by days of torrential rain.
Evening commuters faced miserable journeys home last night as most peak-time trains remained cancelled and those that did run were packed.
Scotrail said the only direct evening service between Edinburgh and Dundee was the 5.02pm to Arbroath, with buses running in place of other trains.
The Fife circle line was running
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We were told a routine inspection of the tracks had found a problem. It meant the East Coast Main Line was totally gubbed. COMMUTER ALAN MORRISON
but was much busier than normal. A Network Rail spokesman said repairs were due to be completed last night.
“Our engineers are on-site working to assess the condition of the track and make repairs,” he said.
“We understand the inconvenience this incident is causing to customers and will reopen the line as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The company had initially anticipated trains would be cancelled until around noon but later confirmed problems were expected to continue until the end of the day.
Passengers heading from Dundee to London at 9.07am were already on board when the train was cancelled at short notice.
Marketing executive Alan Morrison said the entire train had to disembark to board a bus to Edinburgh, before continuing their journey by rail from there.
He and his fellow-passengers endured a delay of almost two hours before the buses finally left Dundee.
“We were told a routine inspection of the tracks had found a problem,” he said.
“It meant the East Coast Main Line was totally gubbed. I was actually sitting on the train when the announcement came through.”
Scotrail issued an apology to customers affected by the widespread disruption.
“Engineers are working as quickly as possible to repair the sinkhole and get services back to normal,” said a spokesperson.
“Anyone delayed 30 minutes or more can claim money back through the Delay Repay Guarantee on our website or mobile app.”