Rail bosses apologise for Partick travel chaos after engineering train derails

Trains from Helensburgh and Dumbarton to Edinburgh and Partick are being disrupted after a tamper train came off its rails.

Published 9th Nov 2015

Network Rail hope train services through Partick will return to normal late this afternoon after a chaotic morning.

All services between Partick and Hyndland were cancelled this morning after an engineering train came off its rails during major upgrade works over the weekend.

Rail bosses say they're trying to ensure the lines will be up and running again in time for the evening commute.

Services that run across Glasgow from Helensburgh and Dunbarton out to Lanarkshire and Edinburgh are all being affected by the closure.

In the meantime, train tickets are being accepted on many First Glasgow bus services and on the subway with some services replaced by shuttle buses.

Spokesman for the ScotRail Alliance, Nick King said: "Over the weekend we were replacing a bridge near Partick station. That involved removing the bridge deck and also re-laying track across the structure. It's quite a complicated piece of work and engineers were working on it around the clock since Friday night.

"Unfortunately last night as the works were nearing completion one of the engineering involved was derailed. Journeys this morning have been affected by the fact that engineers are having to re-rail that train before we can complete the works and re-open the railway to passengers.

"We're hoping to have that done within the next few hours and have services back up and running this afternoon.

"We've been making people aware of it since the start of service this morning with messages at stations and on TV and radio buletins.

"But we do want to apologise to everyone to all the customers we've inconvenienced this morning. That's not something we want to do. It's not something we're happy about.

"We are working as fast as we can to try to make sure that we have a train service running for people going home this evening."