ScotRail has said work is continuing to repair the country’s railway infrastructure from the ‘very significant damage’ caused by the brutal storm on Friday.
According to the firm, Network Rail has had teams out since last night checking routes for damage and carrying out repairs.
In total, around 400 individual issues have been reported across the rail network.
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These include multiple trees on tracks, damaged overhead wires, power supply failures, other objects on the line, and more.
So far, Network Rail has managed to reopen some lines, including Perth- Inverness, Inverness – Elgin, Inverness – Aberdeen, Dundee – Aberdeen, Perth – Dundee, Edinburgh – Tweedbank, Edinburgh – Dunbar, and Drem – Edinburgh.
However, the vast majority of Scotland’s rail routes remain closed while Network Rail continues its inspection and repair work.
It is hoped more services will be able to operate later today, but ‘significant disruption’ is expected to continue into Sunday.
Due to the issues, customers are being urged to check their journeys before travelling.
Storm Eowyn battered Glasgow and central Scotland on Friday, January 24, with extremely high winds.
On Thursday, the Met Office issued a rare red weather alert for the area from 10am until 5pm.
We reported how ScotRail suspended all of its services on Friday during the aggressive storm.
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While investigating the damage to Scotland’s railway network on Saturday, Network Rail’s Air Ops team spotted a roof from a building on the railway at the entrance to the tunnel to Glasgow Queen Street High Level.
They said until the roof is removed, trains won’t be able to run to or from the city centre travel hub.
🟠 ⚠️ #StormÉowyn. The Air Ops team have already spotted a roof from a nearby building on the track at the entrance to the tunnel to Glasgow Queen Street High Level. Until this is removed, we can’t run trains to or from the station.@networkrail @transcotland @ScotRail https://t.co/bZIlLQvAbp pic.twitter.com/aPVk9Hnjg8
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) January 25, 2025
Earlier this morning, Network Rail revealed they were conducting roof inspections at Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street.
🔴⚠️ #StormÉowyn. While track inspections continue, our building engineers are assessing station damage.
Roof inspections are taking place at Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street and Perth. Also, reports of Cupar’s chimney being blown over.@networkrail @transcotland @ScotRail
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) January 25, 2025
A spokesperson for the travel firm said: Work continues to recover the railway from the very significant damage caused by Storm Éowyn.
“Network Rail has had teams out since last night checking routes for damage and carrying out repair work.
“Network Rail has reported around 400 individual incidents across the network. These include multiple trees on tracks, damaged overhead wires, power supply failures, other objects on the line, and more.
“We have managed to reopen some lines, including Perth- Inverness, Inverness – Elgin, Inverness – Aberdeen, Dundee – Aberdeen, Perth – Dundee, Edinburgh – Tweedbank, Edinburgh – Dunbar, and Drem – Edinburgh.
“But the vast majority of our routes remain closed while Network Rail continues its inspection and repair work.
“We hope to be able to operate some more services later today, but significant disruption will continue for the rest of today and into Sunday.
“Customers are being advised to check the ScotRail website and app for the most up-to-date information when planning travel.”
Meanwhile, ministers have thanked workers for getting as much of Scotland’s transport network as possible up and running again following the storm.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop said: “Communities across Scotland have endured extremely challenging weather conditions in recent days.
“With the Police Scotland ‘Do Not Travel’ advice now ended, it is only natural that people will want to get out and about again.
“However, with some yellow weather warnings still in place and the clear-up operation ongoing, I am asking people to remain vigilant for disruption.
“Teams across the network will continue working tirelessly as we move throughout the weekend towards the Monday commute.
“On behalf of the Scottish Government, I would like to express our thanks for their incredible continued efforts.
“We stand ready to assist local authorities where we can and would urge the public to remain cautious, plan ahead, and check before travelling.”
Joanne Maguire, ScotRail Managing Director, said: “Storm Éowyn has caused severe damage to the rail network across the country. Network Rail colleagues have been working throughout the night to assess the extent of the damage and ScotRail teams are supporting this tireless work to get services back up and running but this will take time.
“Disruption will continue throughout the weekend at least.
“Customers are advised to check the ScotRail app or website for the most up-to-date information before making travel plans.
“So far almost 400 incidents have been identified, all of which need to be assessed and repaired before we can restart services.
“The safety of our customers and staff is our priority at all times.
“Some services have been able to run this morning on routes where we experienced the least damage, but the vast majority of routes remain closed.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in the cleanup operation, it’s an almighty task and our teams are working flat out to deliver services to our customers.”
Ross Moran, Network Rail Scotland route director, added: “Our engineers are hard at work across the country repairing the damage caused by Storm Éowyn.
“The extreme winds which battered our network have caused extensive damage across Scotland’s Railway bringing over 120 trees down onto the tracks.
“With hundreds of incidents across the country to respond to we are working around-the-clock to reopen all of our railway as quickly as possible and keep our customers moving.”
Douglas Cairns from Transport Scotland said: “I want to thank everyone for listening to the travel advice over the last few days.
“Across the red warning area, we have seen significant reductions in traffic volumes, as much as 85% on some routes.
“I want to thank people for their continued patience while our road operating companies work to reopen and repair damage on impacted routes.
“Engineers had to wait until first light this morning to continue the inspections and debris clear up that ensures our roads network is safe for traffic – that work continues behind the scenes.
“It is going to be cold and windy over the remainder of the weekend and into Monday morning.
“Weather warnings are still in place by the Met Office – so please plan ahead, continue to check local authority updates, visit the Traffic Scotland website, and ensure you drive to the conditions with ice expected across much of Scotland.”
