Rail services through Perth were cancelled after a freight train struck three separate bridges in the city.
Containers on the train struck the underside of the bridges at Glasgow Road, Long Causeway and Crieff Road at around 10.30am on Thursday.
Services between Edinburgh and Inverness were cancelled, however, the southbound line reopened just before 2pm.
Knock-on delays to other services also continued throughout the day.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “On Thursday morning, a container on a freight train came into contact with the underside of three bridges over the railway between Perth and Dunkeld.”
Earlier today, a container on a freight train came into contact with three bridges over the railway between Perth – Dunkeld. The Highland Mainline has been closed as a safety precaution while engineers inspect the structures for any damage. We’ll reopen the line as soon as we can
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) June 30, 2022
Scotrail said further services between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Inverness were also affected.
Network Rail engineers were on site throughout the day examining the bridges before services were allowed to pass over them again.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail head of customer operations, said: “We’re sorry to our customers who have experienced disruption to their journey as a result of this incident.
“The safety of our customers and our people is always our number one priority, so it’s important that the bridge is fully assessed for any damage before any trains are able to cross.”
The Scottish Government-owned organisation added that a limited amount of replacement transport services were secured.
Conversation