Train disruption on West Coast main line as work begins on Carstairs Junction
There will be no direct routes to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh on the West Coast main line through Carstairs as of tomorrow
People intending to travel by train on the West Coast main line are being warned of disruption for the coming weeks.
There will be no direct services to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh on the West Coast main line through Carstairs, as the first phase of an improvement project begins.
The line will close for 16 days from Saturday March 4, as engineers upgrade Carstairs Junction.
It will be closed until March 19, and it is the first phase of a three-month programme of work.
There is to be disruption to journeys until June, with all services between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Carlisle being diverted and travel times extended.
The closure of the junction will affect cross-border operators including:
- Avanti West Coast
- Caledonian Sleeper
- CrossCountry Trains
- London North Eastern Railway
- TransPennine Express.
The operators will offer diversionary routes or alternative journey options during this time.
ÂŁ164m investment
The work is part of a ÂŁ164m Scottish Government investment to modernise the key junction for passenger and freight services.
Engineers will simplify and upgrade the track-layout to clear an existing bottleneck on the network, making it more reliable and able to better cope with passenger and freight demands.
'Huge and extremely complex'
Liam Sumpter, Route Director, Network Rail Scotland, said: “Carstairs Junction is coming to the end of its life cycle and with the volume of freight and passenger trains passing through each week it’s important that we modernise this part of the network.
“By completing this crucial upgrade work we will improve the capabilities and reliability of this strategically important junction, providing better future journeys for passengers and more capacity for freight.
“There’s never a good time to close such an important line but this is a huge and extremely complex piece of work that will safeguard the future of the route for years to come.
“We appreciate that this will cause some inconvenience and would like to thank customers for their patience during this time.”
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