Rail Delays As Tunnel Works Affect Timetables

Rail passengers in Fife are being told to start their journeys earlier for 6 weeks because of engineering works in West Lothian.

The Winchburgh tunnel near Linlithgow is shutting for 44 days next weekend, to allow for electrification of the line. Engineers will be working around the clock to lay 2 lanes of track through the 3-hundred and 30 meter tunnel.

The work is part of the Scottish Government-funded, £742m Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme which will electrify the Edinburgh-Glasgow Queen Street line by 2016 - allowing the introduction of faster, greener and longer electric services on the route. As a result of the Tunnel closure and the temporary timetable in place during this work, some trains on the Glenrothes line will depart at different times and may take longer to allow Alloa/Dunblane/Stirling services to use the same route.

Phil Verster, ScotRail Alliance’s managing director, said: 

"This is a massive piece of work that will help deliver long lasting benefits to our customers. Electrifying the line between our two biggest cities will allow us to run faster, longer and greener trains that will cut journey times and increase the number of seats available on this key route. 

"To make all of this happen, we need to improve the line and install the equipment that we will need to run these new and improved trains, which will cause unavoidable disruption. 

"This work is a vital part of transforming our railway, and the benefits will be felt for generations to come."