Train services between Airdrie and Bathgate cancelled after sinkhole appears on railway tracks

Train services in North Lanarkshire have been cancelled after a sinkhole appeared on the railway tracks.

Network Rail engineers detected the fault between Caldercruix and Drumgelloch, which is around one metre deep, on Sunday.

Significant amounts of ballast have been washed away and Network Rail said it was unlikely the line between Airdrie and Bathgate would reopen on Sunday.

ScotRail said that train services between Helensburgh Central and Edinburgh will be suspended between Airdrie and Bathgate, while Drumgelloch, Caldercruix, Blackridge and Armadale cannot be served by train.

The rail operator also stated:

Services between Helensburgh and Edinburgh will run between Helensburgh and Airdrie and between Bathgate and Edinburgh only in both directions.

The Bathgate/Edinburgh train shuttles are reduced to hourly, departing Bathgate at 34 minutes past the hour and departing Edinburgh Waverley at 40 minutes past the hour.
Alternative transport has been requested at Airdrie and at Bathgate to run between, calling at stations.
Due to other events this weekend, ScotRail has only been able to secure one MacPhails bus, one Arays Travel 16 seater mini bus, one Bud Fisher 20 seater and one Wil Travel mini bus shuttling between Bathgate and Airdrie in both directions calling at stations.

Services between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central, and Edinburgh and Queen Street via Falkirk High are not affected.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Network Rail Scotland said: “Investigations continue at Caldercruix, with plans to excavate the sinkhole – flooding from a nearby underground spring could be the cause.

“The line will not reopen today, and unlikely to reopen first thing on Monday. We’ll share more news this evening.”