Delay on Edinburgh to Glasgow line as train hits cow

RAILWAY engineers are investigating how cattle managed to stray on to the same stretch of Edinburgh to Glasgow rail line and cause two collisions within the space of 24 hours.

Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station. Picture: TSPL

Services were disrupted severely throughout Monday after a train pulling three carriages hit a cow east of Lenzie at 10:30am, shortly after it had pulled out from Croy station.

The engine was not derailed or seriously damaged, and no injuries were reported. Both lines were closed for more than six hours while Network Rail engineers cleared the corpse and checked both the train and rails for damage. Both lines were finally re-opened at 4:45pm.

That followed a similar incident on Sunday on roughly the same stretch of rail, through to the west of Lenzie station, which caused minimal disruption.

A spokesman for Network Rail said that engineers were still trying to find out how the cattle managed to get on to the line.

“All of our railways are fenced off with mainly stock fencing, the same used in farmers fields,” he said. “After Sunday’s incident, all the fencing was checked and found to be intact, so they were assessing how the animals managed to get on to the line, when we had a second incident this morning.

“Engineers worked as quickly as possible to remove the animal from the tracks, inspect the railway for any damage and check lineside fences. We apologise to passengers for the inconvenience this incident will have caused.”

The spokesman said that engineers were working with local farmers and landowners to find how the cattle gained access. He added that the problem of farm animals straying on to railway lines increased during the summer as they spent more time outside grazing.

A spokeswoman for ScotRail said: “We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by circumstances beyond our control.”