Virus hits our trainand bus timetables

As of Monday, March 23 the first train to Glasgow is at 6.53am and the last at 7.53pm with services in between departing Lanark at 53 minutes past the hour, arriving at Carlukeappoximately ten minutes later.

In the opposite direction the first Glasgow to Lanark train will leave Central Station at 6.52am and the last at 7.50pm with an hourly service in between instead of the usual daytime half-hourly one.

A spokesman for ScotRail explained: “With the unprecedented global crisis, staff availability in ScotRail and Network Rail Scotland has been affected, as well as customer demand, making changes to the timetable necessary. The timetable that will operate for customers represents significant change from the normal daily timetable, with a specific focus to deliver an effective public transport service for key workers.

“Reducing the number of trains in service creates opportunities for additional cleaning activities on trains, and in depots, and allows more targeted cleaning at stations.

“With more railway staff being affected by the impact of the virus, revising services also accommodates infrastructure changes, and allows safety critical roles to be performed across the country.

“The service level will deliver more than enough seats to meet the current demand levels and the timetable will be kept under regular review to react to any further developments.

David Simpson, ScotRail Operations Director, said: “We are facing an unprecedented challenge on Scotland’s Railway and the revised timetable will help to provide a critical service for the key workers across the country.”

In the meantime, Stagecoch has announced cuts in services including the one it runs from Biggar to Edinburgh. Full details are available on stagecoachbus.com