Nightmare for commuters as 'canister' blaze stops 87 trains

THOUSANDS of commuters suffered severe disruption during yesterday morning's rush hour after a shed fire near one of Scotland's key railway junctions paralysed services.

No trains were able to run on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line or between Glasgow and Dunblane, Alloa, Falkirk Grahamston, Inverness and Aberdeen until 9am, with knock-on disruption continuing until noon.

A total of 87 services were cancelled or truncated and a further 66 delayed following the blaze in Bonnybridge, west of Falkirk.

The fire broke out shortly after 2am in Greenhill Road, which is crossed by both the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line and the Glasgow-Stirling route, which diverge at nearby Greenhill junction. A secondary Glasgow line was also affected.

Trains were halted after a 200-metre exclusion zone was imposed around the storage shed because canisters inside were thought to contain acetylene or propane. The all-clear was given at 8.15am when fire crews confirmed this was not the case.

Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service received more than 20 calls about the fire in the 22-metre long shed, which they arrived to find was "well alight".

Investigations into the cause were continuing last night. Passengers travelling between Edinburgh and Glasgow were able to switch to the newly opened line via Bathgate and Airdrie.

A ScotRail spokesman said: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused by circumstances which were outwith our control."