ScotRail defends network closure during Storm Dudley

ScotRail has defended its decision to close Scotland's rail network during Storm Dudley.

All services stopped at 16:00 on Wednesday after the Met Office issued an amber warning for wind.

A Scotrail spokesman said the damage caused by the extreme weather would have caused severe disruption.

There are no plans to close the network in Scotland for Storm Eunice, which is predicted to bring "significant snow" to much of Scotland on Friday.

The Met Office has given a yellow warning of snow for much of the country from 03:00 to 18:00. In the Borders, areas over 150m (492ft) could see 5-10cm (2-4in), and more than 10cm (4in) is possible on the highest routes.

Residents are asked to be prepared for the conditions as strong winds as well as snow may lead to very poor visibility, blizzard conditions and drifting snow.

More extreme weather is expected in other parts of the UK, with red and amber warnings in place in parts of England and Wales.

David Ross, ScotRail communications director, told BBC Scotland: "We think we took the right decision in the best interests of passenger and staff safety.

"The Met Office weather warning was for very extreme wind. We saw that.

"There was a lot of damage - trees fallen, overhead wires damaged - that would have caused severe disruption.

"We thought the best thing to do was to withdraw all services in a controlled manner, tell passengers that was happening and allow people to plan accordingly."

Previous storms have left passengers trapped on trains for many hours. In November travellers from Elgin to Aberdeen were stuck on board for 17 hours during Storm Arwen.

More than 1,500 miles (2,414km) of track was checked before the rail timetable returned mostly to normal on Thursday morning.

Trees were cleared from tracks and damage to overhead lines repaired.

Damage to signalling systems at Lanark, Largs and Girvan continued throughout the day.

On Thursday afternoon overhead electric wires between Motherwell and Lockerbie were hit by a tree, blocking trains travelling between Scotland and England.

Avanti West Coast passengers, who were previously advised to travel on Thursday or Saturday to avoid the severe weather England is expecting on Friday, have been advised to "abandon travel".

Extra snow ploughs and engineers have been drafted in for the railway to deal with Storm Eunice across Scotland without major cancellations on Friday.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "The weather warning for tomorrow is likely to be more serve further south in England and Wales. We'll be getting significant snow, but are likely to miss the worst of the winds.

"We'll have extra engineers and snow ploughs etc ready but are looking to run the majority of services as planned.

"Passengers should still check before they travel, especially if they are planning to use cross-border trains."

Road maintenance provider Bear Scotland said it had gritting trucks out in north east Scotland, where there has already been snowfall, and would be working round the clock to ensure routes remained safe.

They asked drivers to "drive to conditions" on affected roads.

The Scottish government has also urged people to exercise caution and follow the latest travel advice.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney is to chair the Scottish government's resilience room meeting on Thursday evening in response to Storms Dudley and Eunice.

"The Scottish government's resilience committee will continue to monitor the situation," Mr Swinney said.

"We remain in close contact with local authorities and emergency and essential services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed."