Rail passengers looking to travel between Edinburgh and Carlise during early March 2023 will face disruption as the West Coast main line is set to close for 16 days.
Network Rail have said that engineers will be carrying out an important upgrade of the Carstairs junction and the first phase of three-month long works will take place between March 4 and 19. This will lead to journeys being diverted and their length extended between the months of March and June.
This will disrupt services running from the capital and Glasgow to Carlisle. The work is understood to be part of a £164m investment from the Scottish government to try to modernise the important junction.
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They say that the work will also see the creation of Scotland’s largest freight loop which is understood to be a part of the Government’s plan to meet their Net Zero targets.
The first phase of the project will run between March 4-19 and will see no direct services from Edinburgh and Glasgow Central on the West Coast main line through Carstairs. Phase two of the work will take place between March 20 - April 21 and will see elements of the junction reopening which will allow some trains to travel directly to Edinburgh - but there is a warning that journey times may be longer than normal.
The last phase will run from April 22 until June 4 and will see almost all of the services return to normal during weekdays but they will remain closed each weekend. The closure of the junction will impact cross-border operators including, Avanti West Coast, Caledonian Sleeper, CrossCountry Trains, London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express, who will be operating via diversionary routes or offering alternative journey options during this time.
Network Rail say that services operating on the East Coast main line during this time are also likely to be busier than normal. There will be no ScotRail services to or from Carstairs for the full three-month period. ScotRail will run a range of alternative journey options throughout with Carstairs station re-opening on Tuesday May 30.
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.”
Passengers are advised to check with National Enquiries www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk or with their train operator for the alternative travel plans for their route.
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