Trains remain cancelled following seaside station blaze

A fire at Troon railway station has caused major disruption to the seaside town on one of the hottest weekends of the year so far.

Firefighters were called around 12.40pm on Saturday after huge plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the building.

Earlier today, @fire_scot was called out to an incident at Troon station, & it took several hours to bring the blaze under control.

Due to this, no services will run between Kilwinning and Ayr until at least Monday, 19 July, and you shouldn't attempt to travel to Ayr by train.
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) July 17, 2021

Five appliances and a high rise vehicle were called to control the blaze.

Scotrail was forced to cut the power to overhead lines to allow firefighters to tackle the flames, which it said “took out a large area and affected other routes’ power supply”.

The rail firm has now confirmed no services will run between Kilwinning and Ayr until at least Monday, July 19.

ScotRail shared a picture of the damage on social media. ScotRail

The fire broke out on a day where temperatures were expected to hit 21C in the town, which is popular in the summer with tourists from across the west of Scotland who flock to its beach as the mercury rises.

ScotRail said trains through the station would be cancelled, delayed or revised. For some routes, replacement bus services were being arranged.

Huge plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the building. Twitter

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney commented: “Tragic to see this fire engulf the beautiful James Miller designed railway station building on platform 1 at Troon.

“It was originally built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in 1892. I hope it can be restored. Good to see @RailwayHeritage is already offering their support.”

Within hours of the fire, the Railway Heritage Trust offered its support to both Scotrail and Network Rail to salvage as much of the historic building as possible.