Cars on the line delay trains in Scotland

A car crashed onto tracks between two platforms at Stirling station, causing some delays.

Passengers using Stirling station in Scotland on Wednesday 14 October were surprised to find a car parked across the lines serving Platforms 2 and 3.

The driver of the small car had crashed through the station fence at around 12:15, careered across the platform and then dropped down onto the tracks.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the station was still able to function as trains were diverted to Platforms 6 and 9. However, delays inevitably occurred.

Network Rail engineers switched off the overhead wires to make the recovery safely and a breakdown truck was called in.

In all, recovering the car safely and checking for damage closed the two platforms for around six hours.

Once the car was removed, engineers checked the track and platform edges, to make sure no damage had been caused, and then reopened the lines at around 18:30.

It wasn’t Scotland’s only car parking problem of the day. At almost the same time, a car came off the road alongside the West Highland line near Fort William and came to rest just short of the tracks. However, the line was temporarily closed for safety while the vehicle was recovered, which took about an hour and a half.

A ScotRail spokesperson said: “Some trains to and from Stirling, and on the West Highland Line, were subject to delay and alteration on Wednesday, 14 October, while the emergency services attend separate incidents.

“Specialist teams worked as quickly as possible to remove the vehicles and get rail services back to normal.”