Passengers at Aberdeen Railway Station were left in the dark after a rogue rodent chewed through a cable, causing a power cut.
Electricity engineers found the dead rat beside a gnawed cable shortly after the power went out at 9.30am yesterday.
Power was not restored until later in the afternoon.
Although train services were not affected by the incident, lighting and electronic timetables were down.
Station workers put up posters displaying timetable information around the premises and staff were on hand to assist passengers.
A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said: “From what we have been told, a rat got in among some of the equipment and did some damage to a cable.
“This, in turn, tripped our circuit breaker causing the power to go out.
“Engineers have isolated the circuit but they have still got some internal work to do before we can push the button and get the power back on.
“It is just the railway station that is affected, not any of the surrounding buildings.
“The power will be restored today, although it may be through a generator.
“Our engineers are working to restore power as quickly as possible.”
A spokeswoman for Scot-Rail confirmed that lighting and electronic timetables had been impacted by the power cut.
She added: “Train services are not affected by this issue, but customer information screens and lights are not currently operational.
“We have sourced an alternative generator and hope to have power restored in the next few hours.
“We apologise to our customers affected by this power outage.
“Staff at Aberdeen station are on hand to help any passengers who may require assistance.”
Rats have open-rooted incisors and molars, meaning that their teeth never stop growing and as a result they gnaw hard materials to keep their teeth down.
They are also territorial creatures who use urine as a way to mark territory so if they smell another rat on their marked territory they chew the affected material to remove the offending rat’s scent.
Comment, Page 25