Edinburgh plunged into travel chaos as flights and trains delayed and rush hour traffic crash
Edinburgh was plunged into travel chaos this morning with flights grounded, trains delayed and traffic halted on one of the city’s busiest routes.
In the last hour, flights at Edinburgh Airport have resumed following at IT issue affecting air traffic control this morning. But delays to inbound flights are expected until 2pm today according to Eurocontrol.
Eurocontrol, an organisation supporting air traffic management across Europe, said Edinburgh arrivals are suspended for at least the next few hours. In their statement, it said there will be no arrivals until at least 2pm due to the IT issue. It read: “Arrivals unavailable between 9am and 2pm UTC due to ATC Equipment (System problems).”
An Air Navigations Solutions (ANSL) spokesperson said: ““This morning a technical issue affected one of our systems at Edinburgh Airport and it impacted flight operations. Our technical capability has now been reinstated and flights have since resumed.
“Safety is our number one priority, and our engineers worked at pace to restore system capability as quickly as possible.W e regret the inconvenience that this is causing and thank everyone for their patience.”
An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said: “We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.” Passengers should check the airport’s website or contact their airline for the latest travel information.
Meanwhile, several train services have been delayed between Edinburgh and several towns and cities. Shortly after 7am on Friday, Network Rail Scotland responded ‘to a signal fault on the Forth Bridge that’s disrupting services between Edinburgh and Inverkeithing’.
At 11.45am it reported teams are continuing to ‘repair and test the signalling system on the route over the Forth Bridge’. A spokesman added: “We’re sorry for the continued disruption to services.”
Some train services between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Glenrothes, Cowdenbeath and Leven have been cancelled. ScotRail said ‘disruption is expected to last until around 1pm’ due to a signal fault between Dalmeny and North Queensferry.
For the most up to date information customers should visit the ScotRail website.
Passengers using Edinburgh Trams are being warned to expect dealys in both directions following an incident this morning. At 12.10pm, the tram operator said: “Sue to an earlier road traffic collision at The Shore tramstop we are currently seeing extended wait times in both directions. We apologise for any inconvenience cause to your journey.”
Earlier this morning, commuters faced long delays after a section of the Edinburgh City Bypass was closed following a crash. The A720 was closed between Sheriffhall and Old Craighall following a crash reported at around 8.15am.
At around 11.30am Police Scotland said the road had reopened following the earlier incident and three people were taken to hospital for treatment.