Normal services resumed on train journeys north of Dundee on Friday night after a derailed train in the Mearns was finally cleared from the track.
Commuters faced a third day of travel disruption on Friday morning and afternoon as the work to “rerail” the train at Stonehaven took longer than expected.
All trains north of Dundee were off until Friday evening, following a full day of cancellations on Thursday and more on Wednesday evening in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Services are expected to be close to normal on Saturday, but replacement buses will be on standby in case some journeys are cancelled.
Crews succeeded in placing the train back on to the track and moving it on on Friday. Sleepers were then repaired or replaced where necessary and a safety inspection was carried out by Network Rail Scotland.
Full services resumed at about 6pm but some trains started heading north from about 4.30pm.
Some southbound journeys were still being affected by the work on Friday morning and afternoon. LNER trains from Aberdeen to London departed and terminated in Edinburgh instead – missing out destinations in Fife, Dundee and Angus that were unaffected by the Stonehaven incident.
A spokesman for LNER said it acted after Network Rail Scotland “informed us that the work is taking slightly longer that they initially thought”. He added that replacement services had been put on.
The disruptions coincided with travel chaos on the west coast as Storm Callum brought strong winds and heavy rain to Ireland the west of the UK.
Journeys through places such as Saltcoats, Largs, Ardrossan, Irvine and some towards Glasgow were affected, leading to cancellations.
