Train services through Moray’s busiest town ground to a halt yesterday after a level crossing got stuck with the barrier raised.
The new facility only came into action in October last year as part of a multimillion project to improve the railway between Aberdeen and Inverness.
However, yesterday afternoon the crossing at The Wards in Elgin became jammed – causing all signals approaching the site to turn to red and leaving one train stranded for an hour.
Engineers quickly arrived at the scene and resorted to manually directing trains at the junction to ensure services could return to normal.
The disruption continued for several hours, with one train arriving in Inverness more than 90 minutes late, before scheduled returned to normal in the evening.
However, last night, Network Rail stressed that teams were continuing to work on solving the problem while temporary measures were used on the level crossing.
The upgrade replaced a manual key system that had operated from a signal box, which has now been demolished, for 70 years.
Instead of handing a brass token to drivers, the level crossing is now staffed and operated from Inverness and is monitored by CCTV.
Last night, a spokeswoman for Network Rail explained temporary measures remained in force to guide traffic over the crossing.
She said: “At about 1pm, access through the Elgin level crossing was temporarily suspended following a report from our signaller that the barrier had become stuck on the raised position and the road lights approaching the crossing were not working correctly.
“The signalling system had also turned all approaching signals to red and halted trains meaning there was no risk to crossing users.
“Our signalling and telecommunications team are continuing to work through the fault and a temporary measure is in place to allow rail, vehicle and pedestrian access over the level crossing.”