Oil leak at Inverness signalling centre left staff feeling ill from fumes, ScotRail confirms as Network Rail completes initial work to clear spill but lines later close again
Widespread disruption to trains in the Highlands was caused by a diesel fuel leak at the Inverness signalling centre which left staff feeling ill from the fumes, it has emerged.
All trains in and out of Inverness on all lines were cancelled on Wednesday morning after the fuel leak impacted the signalling operations centre.
In an update at lunchtime Network Rail Scotland said the leakage had been cleared and that staff were “in a position to fully re-open the lines to all trains from around 11.30am”.
But the cancellation chaos now looks set to persist for the rest of the day for most planned journeys, after an update by ScotRail at 1pm announced that “due to further concerns regarding the fuel spillage, the line is now closed again at Inverness”.
There had been rumours that the leak might have been from a heating oil storage tank located at or close to the signalling centre, which leaked into the building and left the site unusable due to contamination and fumes.
And although Network Rail Scotland failed to confirm if this was the case when the rumours were put to them this morning, later comments from ScotRail’s social media team appear to have verified at least some of them - after they replied to one disgruntled customer to say “staff on duty have headaches as result of strong fumes still lingering from the diesel spill and they are invoking the work safe procedure”.
They added: “We do apologise but this is a serious matter which Network Rail are working on this for the safety of our passengers and staff.”
Hi Stuart, Staff on duty have headaches as result of strong fumes still lingering from the diesel spill and they are invoking the work safe procedure. We do apologies but this is a serious matter which NR are working on this for the safety of our passengers and staff. ^Chloe
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) November 27, 2024
A spokesperson for Network Rail Scotland, meanwhile, has apologised for the disruption and confirmed the leak was at the signalling centre. In a statement issued before the line closed again, they said: “Following the diesel fuel leak at Inverness signalling centre, our teams have been able to clear the area and we were in a position to fully re-open the lines to all trains from around 11.30am.
“We would like to apologise for the disruption caused and thank our customers and rail passengers for their patience while our team tackled the incident. This has allowed us to restore services as soon as it was safe to do so.”
At the time of writing, services on the Highland Mainline were starting or terminating at Perth, with some bus replacements being sourced for interim stations.
Well over 20 journeys on the Inverness-Aberdeen, Far North and Kyle lines were also still showing as cancelled - including some which are not due to leave Inverness until 9.30pm tonight, and another departing Aberdeen at 10pm.
However, not all scheduled trains were listed as cancelled - the 5.12pm Inverness to Ardgay, 5.54pm Inverness to Kyle and 6.31pm Inverness-Wick trains were among those absent from that list.
It is unclear if they will be running or not, with ScotRail confirming that lines in and out of Inverness remained closed at 1pm, and that disruption is expected until at least 4pm.
For the latest updates visit www.journeycheck.com/scotrail or visit www.scotrail.co.uk.
