Storm Arwen: Image shows severe damage to train following Red weather warning'

Pictures show significant damage to ScotRail train following the red weather during Storm Arwen.

Significant damage to Abellio ScotRail Class 170, 170405, by a tree blown onto the line following Storm Arwen.

The damage was done following the rare red warning of wind across the east of Scotland on Friday night and Saturday morning issued by the Met Office as a result of Storm Arwen.

The winter storm meant that there was major disruption to train services across the country as reports came in of a barn being blown onto the train tracks near Polmont and objects such as trampolines and trees lay strewn over the rails elsewhere across the country.

The railway was closed on the east coast mainline on Friday as these high winds were expected. However, other routes remained open across Scotland unless obstructed by debris or other issues arose.

Significant damage to train by a tree blown onto the line following Storm Arwen.

Commenting on the trains damaged during the storm, ScotRail said that the 11.54pm Edinburgh to Tweedbank service was damaged by a tree blown onto the line just north of Galashiels at about 12.50am on Saturday.

No one was injured and some 40 passengers on board were taken off the train safely, but they are thought to have had to wait up to two hours – till around 3am – for alternative transport.

The train could not be moved at the time but was moved back to the depot at Haymarket at 7am and the line reopened at 9am.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “The safety of passengers and our colleagues is always our primary concern during severe weather. We have our own meteorology service which carefully assesses the weather ahead of any storm and we have clear processes in place for reducing train speeds or closing lines which we always follow.

“We closed the east coast mainline before storm Arwen hit Scotland and also introduced speed restrictions across the east of the country. Our engineers are working around-the-clock to repair the damage caused by the weather and to fully reopen the railway for passengers.”

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