Railway reopens after damaged gas main repaired at Carnoustie

The railway line between Dundee and Aberdeen has reopened after a gas main was damaged near the tracks at Carnoustie station.

Scottish Gas Network (SGN) engineers carried out repairs after damage was caused by an excavator working on the railway on Wednesday.

Carnoustie Leisure Centre and two homes within a 50m (164ft) exclusion zone were evacuated when gas was detected.

Train schedules are expected to return to normal on Friday morning.

Network Rail Scotland apologised to those affected by the disruption.

A spokesperson said: "Services are starting to return to normal, but given the severe disruption caused, it'll take time for train operators to get their trains and crews back in the right position."te

Replacement bus services are in place for passengers travelling between Aberdeen and Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street and between Arbroath and Dundee.

ScotRail said local trains between Montrose, Aberdeen and Inverurie had been running as normal.

Jacob Campbell from Aberdeen was travelling to Edinburgh on Thursday morning and said he was not aware of the disruption until he arrived at the station.

"As we turned up at the rail station, there were signs up on the self-service ticket machines saying there were no trains south to Dundee," he told BBC Scotland from a bus.

"The staff in the ticket office were very very helpful to be fair and they pointed us in the right direction of the rail replacement.

"I know there was one woman in front of me who was meant to be getting a flight to Milan, I think she's opted for a taxi or something.

"We'll get there eventually."