Major railway disruption after blaze at side of line

Services between Glasgow and Dundee forced to stop at Perth

There was major disruption to railway services between Dundee and Glasgow yesterday following a fire on the line at Longforgan.

Fire crews were called after a blaze broke out at the signal box at about 1.30am. The incident caused damage to the surrounding signalling cables.

All trains between Glasgow and Dundee terminated at Perth.

Engineers spent the day at the site working to repair the damage.

Commuters were being told they could travel to Glasgow from Aberdeen and Dundee via Edinburgh.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Services have been disrupted by significant damage to signalling cables following an overnight line-side fire near Longforgan.

“Our engineers have been on site throughout the incident assisting the fire service and are now working to repair the damaged equipment.

“We will restore normal services as quickly as possible for customers.”

A statement from Scotrail read: “Due to a fire next to the track between Perth and Dundee the line is closed. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

“Train services between Glasgow Queen Street and Aberdeen will be suspended between Perth and Dundee.

“There has been a fire near the railway overnight which has caused damage to the signalling system.

“Staff are on site and performing investigations after which we’ll be able to provide a robust estimate for repairs to be completed.

“At present, we’re making provisions for buses to replace trains between Perth and Dundee for the remainder of the day.

“Passengers can travel between Glasgow and Dundee/Aberdeen via Edinburgh.

“Passengers with valid tickets may also travel on Cross Country and LNER services between Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

“We’ll be operating a bus shuttle service between Perth and Dundee.”

A fire and rescue spokesman said: “We got the call at 1.34am and mobilised one appliance from Macalpine Road.

“It was a small electrical fire at the side of the railway line. Power was isolated and CO2 extinguishers used. We left at 3am.”

Picture: Gareth Jennings. The fire broke out at the Longforgan signal box at 1.30am yesterday and staff were on site later to investigate the damage.