Edinburgh train crews race to blockage on line to find trampoline on the tracks

Edinburgh passengers faced disruption on Thursday afternoon after a trampoline blew onto the tracks. Network Rail warned passengers travelling between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Shotts after they received a report of an ‘obstruction’ on the tracks in the West Calder area in West Lothian.[1][2] Rail workers raced to the area to discover a huge trampoline in the middle of the tracks, forcing trains to come to a halt.

Join Edinburgh Live’s Whatsapp Community here[5] and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. People living nearby were warned to tie down their garden furniture on windy days as gusts of winds reached 50mph through the night. Taking to social media, at 3.07pm the rail company said: “We’re responding to an obstruction on the line in the West Calder area.

Services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Shotts will be subject to delay and alteration whilst our teams inspect the line. We’ll provide a further update as soon as we have more information.” Later they added: “The obstruction on the line at West Calder has now safely been removed.

We’re sorry to @ScotRail passengers who were held on delayed services here. As seen in the picture below, please remember to tie down garden furniture during high winds to help protect Scotland’s Railway.” Trains were delayed until the obstruction was removed and at around 4.20pm, Network Rail confirmed that it has been removed and the line was clear for trains.

This comes after strong gusts of winds from Storm Pia hit Edinburgh[6] through the night. Thousands saw travel plans disrupted after TransPennie advised people to not travel between Newcastle and Edinburgh due to the high winds after they said that disruption was likely. LNER has also announced it was temporarily stopping some trains that would normally serve northern Scotland.

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References

  1. ^ Network Rail (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  2. ^ West Lothian. (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  3. ^ Edinburgh police raided crime writer’s home and made gruesome discovery (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  4. ^ Edinburgh A720 City Bypass drivers face delays as crash leaves ‘debris on road’ (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  5. ^ Edinburgh Live’s Whatsapp Community here (chat.whatsapp.com)
  6. ^ Storm Pia hit Edinburgh (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  7. ^ breaking news (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  8. ^ coronavirus (www.edinburghlive.co.uk)
  9. ^ here (data.reachplc.com)