RAIL services across the central belt, east coast and up towards the Highlands have been disrupted by “high track temperatures”, ScotRail has announced.
With temperatures across mainland Scotland in the mid to high 20s, the network is running with speed restrictions on key routes around Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.
Delays on services are expected between 1pm and 7pm.
READ MORE: Weather in Scotland: Will there be a heatwave this week? Here's what the Met Office says
Network Rail explained: “Doing this reduces the forces exerted on the track by trains. In direct sunlight, steel rails can be up to 20 degrees hotter than the local air temperatures, causing them to expand in the heat - which means they could curve or buckle.”
The following rail routes will have speed restrictions affecting journey times for most of Thursday:
- Glasgow Queen Street to Stirling/Perth/Inverness
- Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh
- Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Carstairs
- Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Shotts
- Edinburgh to Perth via Fife
- Carstairs
- Uddingston to Fauldhouse
- Edinburgh Park to Haymarket
- Edinburgh Waverley to Musselburgh
- Livingston North to Bathgate
- Edinburgh to North Berwick/Dunbar
- Helensburgh Central/ Milngavie to Edinburgh via Bathgate
- Edinburgh to Dunblane
For more information on rail disruption, check ScotRail's live network map.
Information on disruption to non-ScotRail journeys can be found via Network Rail.
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