Injured animal on railway line causes disruption on major route

Services from Edinburgh to Glasgow which go through Livingston South were unable to run.

Injured animal on railway line causes cancellations on Edinburgh to Glasgow route iStock

A swan that was injured on a railway line caused disruption to train services on Wednesday afternoon.

ScotRail confirmed it had received reports of the injured bird on the line at Kingsknowe at around midday, before it was moved an hour later.

Services from Edinburgh to Glasgow, which go through Livingston South, were unable to run until the swan was moved.

Passengers were advised cancellations, alterations and delays of around 20 minutes were to be expected until the bird was taken off the line.

The 11.58am service from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central was cancelled as was the 1.02pm service and the 1.17pm journey.

A ScotRail update on X read: “Staff on site have now moved the injured swan to a safe location.

“We can now begin to run our trains as scheduled, however due to trains and crews being out of position there may be some delays/alterations.”

An earlier statement read: “We’ve had reports of an injured swan on the line.

“We’re working closely with Network Rail staff on site to move the swan.

“We’re unable to run trains from Edinburgh towards Livingston South until staff declare safe to do so.”

A National Rail statement read: “An animal on the railway at Kingsknowe is causing disruption to journeys through this station.

“Trains running between Edinburgh and Shotts / Motherwell may be cancelled or delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.”

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