Vandals seriously disrupted the Fife rail network by cutting signal cables at Inverkeithing.
Dunfermline West MSP Jim Tolson became aware of the shocking discovery while he was being shown around Waverley and Haymarket rail stations in Edinburgh, and was told of “an emergency” by ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery.
The Liberal Democrat politician said he was “absolutely astonished” to find out that the train service could be affected by vandals whom he felt were not only putting their lives at risk but also damaging the rail industry.
Network Rail initially said thieves had cut a signal line at Inverkeithing at about 11am and that British Transport Police had assisted them in their investigations.
Network Rail later said the problem had been caused by vandals cutting signal cables at Inverkeithing at around 11am yesterday.
An investigation had now been launched.
“We had a report of signal failure at 11am and our investigations found out that signal cables had been cut at Inverkeithing,” he said.
“This seriously affected our train service and the police were involved in our inquiries. There were disruptions to the rail service, but at 1pm we managed to put on a temporary rail service, with one train per hour going to Aberdeen and also one per hour on the Fife rail circle from Edinburgh.”
A spokesman for British Transport Police said, “We assisted Network Rail in this matter and our inquiries are ongoing.”
Mr Tolson said he was made aware of problems during his visit to the Edinburgh rail stations.
“We were talking about the rail infrastructure when this emergency happened,” he told The Courier. “There were huge problems with the Fife rail network when many signals went red, which could have been caused by a number of things.”
Mr Tolson said that the thefts would impact “all trains” going through Fife, with many being stuck.
“I am absolutely astonished that people would go so far as to do this,” he added. “It will cause significant damage to the rail network.”