Five major railway lines in the north and north-east will be subject to speed restrictions following Met Office warnings for heavy rain and high winds.
The forecaster issued yellow weather warnings for Friday, September 30, in anticipation of heavy rainfall and strong winds across the north and north-east.
Winds up to 65 miles per hour are expected, which could seriously impact travel, including the railways.
Therefore, Network Rail has now announced that several lines will be subject to speed restrictions for safety on Friday.
This is because high winds can blow trees and debris onto the tracks and cause damage to overhead power lines, while heavy rain can lead to flooding on the tracks.
Heavy rain and strong winds expected.
These include the Aberdeen to Dundee line, which will affect passengers travelling between the Granite City and the Central Belt.
The Highland Main Line, running between Perth and Inverness, will also be affected but only between Pitlochry and Blair Atholl – a six-mile stretch of railway.
These are the railway lines impacted:
- Aberdeen to Dundee Line
- Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh Line
- Far North Line (Inverness to Wick)
- West Highland Line (Oban/Mallaig to Glasgow)
- Highland Main Line (Inverness to Perth)
Karl Grewar, head of integrated control at Network Rail Scotland, said: “A spell of heavy rain and strong winds will arrive overnight on Thursday into Friday in Scotland with some disruption expected on the railway.
“For safety reasons, we’ll impose speed restrictions from 7am on Friday on several routes for 24 hours. Our control room team will be monitoring the weather in real-time and if conditions improve, we’ll remove these sooner.”
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