Haymarket commuters face disruption over Christmas during junction renewal works

Works commence on Christmas Day. Picture: TSPL

Edinburgh rail commuters face disruption over the festive period as engineers set about renewing a key junction near Haymarket Station.

Network Rail engineers will be working around the clock between Christmas Day and 29 December to upgrade Haymarket East junction, renewing four sets of points (rails which move to transfer trains from one line to another) and replacing more than 250 metres of track.

Haymarket junction, which lies to the west of the station, is one of the busiest in Scotland and is used by up to 30 trains an hour.

Network Rail say the upgrade will help improve the reliability of the track and will mean the junction won’t need to be renewed again for decades.

This complex project will take several days to complete and has been timed to coincide with the Christmas and Boxing day holidays, when no ScotRail trains run into Edinburgh.

On Friday, December 27, and Saturday, December 28, services into Edinburgh will be significantly disrupted.

ScotRail are advising customers planning to travel to the Edinburgh area on these dates to consider making alternative arrangements, particularly on Saturday, December 28.

Normal services will resume on all routes into the city from 10:00 on Sunday, December 29.

The work at Haymarket is part of an £8m programme of enhancements being delivered across Scotland over the festive period. More than 2,500 railway staff will be out at sites around the country to complete vital projects – renewing life-expired tracks and junctions, upgrading signalling systems and enhancing our major stations.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland Route Director, said: “Haymarket East junction is a key part of Scotland’s Railway and is used by hundreds of trains a day travelling to destinations across Scotland and England.

“We understand the inconvenience this work will cause to some passengers, but renewing such a complex piece of our railway cannot be accomplished without a short-term closure of the line.

“Our engineers have carefully planned this project to be completed as quickly as possible and we are working hard alongside our train operators to keep passengers informed of the changes to services during this important investment in the railway.”