ScotRail commuters switched to buses during closure of major route between Fife and Edinburgh
Longer distance services diverted during nine-day project
Thousands of rail commuters face being switched to buses next month during upgrading work on a major line into Edinburgh.
The route from Fife across the Forth Bridge will be shut between Saturday 17 and Sunday 25 January while overhead equipment is installed to power electric trains. These include a new ScotRail fleet of battery electric trains from 2031.
Many ScotRail trains will be replaced by buses between Inverkeithing and Haymarket, along with CrossCountry services between Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Outside peak hours, this will involve buses running to and from Edinburgh Airport where passengers will be transferred onto trams to/from Edinburgh.
ScotRail and LNER trains between Aberdeen and Edinburgh will be diverted via Perth and Stirling.
Several bridges will demolished and rebuilt to create space for electric wires as part of the project between Dalmeny, at the south end of the bridge, and Haymarket in Edinburgh.
The track will be lowered in places where bridges cannot be raised.
Catherine Hall, strategy and investment director at Network Rail Scotland, which is responsible for the project, said: “This work is about future proofing one of Scotland’s busiest rail routes, paving the way for battery-electric trains.
“It will help increase capacity, improve reliability, and deliver more accessible, comfortable and sustainable journeys.
“We know there’s never an ideal time to close any part of the railway, and we appreciate the patience of passengers and local residents while these improvements take place.
“Our teams have planned the work carefully to keep the impact to a minimum, and we’ll continue to keep people informed every step of the way.”
Passengers can check how individual services are affected at the official website nationalrail.co.uk.
The work comes three years after closure of the line between Christmas and New Year for work on the electrification project was shelved at short notice by the then transport minister and Fife MSP Jenny Gilruth to avert disruption to festive passengers following a period of poor performance by ScotRail on the route.
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