Crews ‘working tirelessly’ to repair damaged railway lines after Storm Floris

Teams are “working tirelessly” to rectify the damage to railway infrastructure brought by Storm Floris, Network Rail said.

Ross Moran, rail director for Network Rail in Scotland, said storms such as Floris can have “devastating” effects on train lines.

On Tuesday, he told the PA news agency: “The storm has caused really unprecedented challenges and damage to the railway infrastructure.

“The storm hit Scotland at around 11am on Monday. It was sustained and frequent until about 7.30pm.

“It has caused damage to overhead lines, there’s been more than 100 trees, as well as sheds and trampolines, blown on to the railway infrastructure.”

Mr Moran said that storms such as Floris are unusual during the summer and more common in the winter months.

He added: “What that means is we’ve got trees in full bloom, and therefore they’re heavier and when you get wind speeds of over 100mph, the impact can be devastating to the railway infrastructure.”

Mr Moran said communities in Inverness, Aberdeen and the far north of Scotland have experienced the worst disruption to railway lines, but added that clean-up crews and engineers are making “good progress”, and thanked passengers for their patience while they seek to fix any damage to the lines.

He said: “We are making good progress. At the moment there are still power issues, there are significant issues, but our engineers and track teams are out there working tirelessly, and we expect that we’ll continue to make good progress, and we will be able to update passengers as the day progresses.”

Mr Moran added: “We are so grateful to the patience of passengers while we’ve worked through this difficult period, but do take our assurances that we’re doing everything we can to get the lines back over and again as soon as possible.”

Engineers are working to restore power to a total of around 22,000 properties in the north and north-east of Scotland.

Work is also under way to clear trees from several railway lines which were blocked by the storm.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored power to 60,000 properties since the onset of the high winds.

SSEN’s director of customer operations for the north of Scotland, Andy Smith, said: “Storm Floris has been unusually powerful, especially for a storm at this time of year.

“It’s brought down many trees that have endured several previous storms, and it’s caused some network damage.

“Today, we’ve been able to inspect the network from the air and from the ground, and we now have a complete picture of the extent of the damage.

“There’s a considerable ongoing task to restore all customers’ supplies, but we have an 800-strong team whose priority is to make repairs as safely and quickly as they can, keep customers updated, and support those awaiting reconnection.

“I’d like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience while we go about this massive task; we’re doing our best to give people realistic, informed estimates of when we’ll get their power back on.

“I’m also grateful to the teams from our contract partners and other network operators for supporting our effort.”

The company, which is the network operator for northern Scotland, said it had organised meal provision in some of the affected communities.

ScotRail said some routes in the north are still facing disruption.

On Monday night, the Scottish Government’s resilience room held an emergency meeting to help decide an appropriate response to the storm, which has also led to delays in exam results being delivered to pupils in some island communities.

Ministers including Angela Constance were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, Sepa and transport and utilities companies.

Trunk road companies are continuing to remove fallen trees and debris from roads.

With winds of up to 90mph in some parts of the country, a significant clear-up job will be required to inspect lines and carry out repair work before it is safe to restore a full service.

More wet and windy weather is forecast for late on Wednesday and Thursday, but no Met Office weather warnings are in place for Tuesday.

ScotRail is urging customers to check their journey via the app, website or JourneyCheck before they travel.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mike Silverstone said: “While the system later this week won’t carry as many impacts as Storm Floris, a further period of unseasonable wet and windy weather is on the way late on Wednesday and into Thursday for those in north-western parts of the UK.

“An area of low pressure from the west will bring some strong winds, especially for those in western parts of Scotland.

“Gusts over 50mph are possible for a time. Some heavy rain will also accompany the strong winds, with up to 30mm possible.”