TRAIN passengers in Alloa are being hit by doubled journey times on Sundays, due to upgrades that will take three months to finish.

Travelling to Glasgow from the Wee County will take around two hours, with three changes along the way, as replacement buses will roll in to allow engineers to move onto the final phases of electrification works.

Service alterations will start this Sunday, September 2, and will be in place between 1.10am in the morning and 4.30am on Mondays.

Then, from October 28 until November 25, the alterations will only be in place between 9.45pm on Sunday evenings and 4.30am on Monday mornings.

Anyone departing Alloa Train Station will need to take a replacement bus to Stirling, then change to another to head towards Falkirk Grahamston, changing to yet another bus to Falkirk High where a train can finally be boarded for Glasgow Queen Street.

In a number of scenarios, ScotRail’s very own journey planner directs people to take on walk between Falkirk Grahamston and Falkirk High, which can take around 20minutes uphill.

The fastest option the Advertiser could find is a 90-minute journey between Alloa and Glasgow, with a direct replacement bus departing from Stirling at 4.13pm.

The disruption comes as Network Rail moves on to finish electrification works ahead of the introduction of ScotRail’s new fleet in December.

Longer, faster, greener and more modern electric trains are promised in the Class-385 models, but overhead works need to be completed on schedule.

This will include mast and cantilever installation, cable ducting work on platforms and the alignment of newly-installed infrastructure along the Stirling-Dunblane-Alloa line.

Paul Reilly, programme manager at Network Rail, said: “Electrification will transform travel across the central belt of Scotland and is part of our commitment to delivering the best railway Scotland has ever had.

“Our engineers will be working around-the-clock to complete the electrification in time for the introduction of the new fleet of electric trains in December.

“We understand the inconvenience these works will cause to some passengers and residents and we are working hard to keep disruption to a minimum.

“We are encouraging customers to leave extra time for travel, and plan journeys in advance.

“All train and bus times are available at scotrail.co.uk as well as on the ScotRail app.”

Beyond the Glasgow Queen Street to Alloa route, the other lines affected include Glasgow to Aberdeen, Inverness and Elgin as well as Edinburgh to Dunblane and Perth.

Once the works are complete, engineers promise a 15 per cent reduction in journey times and up to 20 per cent more capacity on peak-time services to Glasgow and Edinburgh.