SCOTRAIL has released details of its alternative travel plan for customers impacted by work set to take place at Carstairs.

Network Rail will modernise the layout of the Carstairs Junction, a key section of the West Coast Mainline linking Glasgow and Edinburgh to London, in three phases, between March 4 and May 30.

Some Glasgow services will be affected.

ScotRail is urging customers to plan ahead and know their travel options, as services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Carstairs will be impacted for the duration of the works.

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No ScotRail services will operate between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Carstairs from March 4, however, the train operator will run the following amended peak time services:

• 07.05 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Carstairs will be diverted via Shotts with replacement buses in operation from Carstairs, Carluke, Wishaw and Motherwell for customers to connect at Bellshill.

• 07.18 Carstairs to Glasgow Central High Level and 07.39 Carstairs to Garscadden via Glasgow Central Low Level will start at Wishaw.

• 17.37 Anderston to Carstairs will terminate at Wishaw.

Valid train tickets between Carstairs and Glasgow Central will be accepted on the 37 and 137 Stuarts Coaches service between Carstairs and Lanark, allowing customers to connect with ScotRail services between Lanark and Glasgow Central High Level, and providing customers in Carstairs with an hourly service to and from Glasgow.

Customers in Carluke, Wishaw, and Motherwell, will all be able to use the half-hourly ScotRail service between Lanark and Glasgow Central.

For travel to and from Edinburgh Waverley, ScotRail will operate a replacement bus service, approximately every two hours, between Carluke, Carstairs, and Fauldhouse, where customers can connect with services from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts.

Customers in Carluke, Wishaw, and Motherwell are all encouraged to use the Lanark to Glasgow Central service and change trains at Bellshill for onward travel to Edinburgh on ScotRail’s Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts services.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland Route Director, said: “Carstairs Junction is coming to the end of its life cycle and with the volume of freight and passenger trains passing through each week it’s important that we modernise this part of the network.

“By completing this crucial upgrade work we will improve the capabilities and reliability of this strategically important junction, providing better future journeys for passengers and more capacity for freight.

“There’s never a good time to close such an important line but this is a huge and extremely complex piece of work that will safeguard the future of the route for years to come.

“We appreciate that this will cause some inconvenience and would like to thank customers for their patience during this time.”

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The £164million overhaul will see the infrastructure operator simplify and upgrade the track-layout to clear an existing bottleneck on the network, making it more reliable and able to better cope with both passenger and freight demands.

ScotRail is encouraging customers travelling throughout the upgrade to buy their tickets via the mTicket system on the ScotRail app as the ticket office at Carstairs station will be closed for the full duration of the works, and a valid ticket will be required before boarding rail replacement buses.

The work will also impact Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, Caledonian Sleeper, LNER, and CrossCountry services.

Customers using these services are encouraged to check with the operator to see how their journey will be affected.