SCOTRAIL is urging customers who use Alloa station to check their journey before major engineering improvements begin this summer.

The closure of the Winchburgh Tunnel, near Linlithgow, will affect services from Saturday 13 June until Monday 27 July.

Engineers will be working 24 hours a day during this period to lower and relay two lines of track through the 330 metre-long tunnel and install equipment to carry the overhead power lines needed for the electrification of the railway.

The work is part of the Scottish Government-funded, £742 million Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) which will electrify the Edinburgh-Glasgow Queen Street line by 2016 – allowing the introduction of faster, greener and longer electric services on the route.

Phil Verster, ScotRail Alliance’s managing director, said: “This is a massive piece of work that will help deliver long lasting benefits to our customers.

“Electrifying the line between our two biggest cities will allow us to run faster, longer and greener trains that will cut journey times and increase the number of seats available on this key route.

“To make all of this happen, we need to improve the line and install the equipment that we will need to run these new and improved trains, which will cause unavoidable disruption.

“This work is a vital part of transforming our railway, and the benefits will be felt for generations to come.” Customers who normally travel between Alloa and Edinburgh will have a temporary timetable.

Services will be diverted and will take approximately 25 minutes longer.

As a result of the diversion, trains will not call at Edinburgh Park.

Buses will run in both directions between Linlithgow and Edinburgh Park, connecting into train services.

Due to separate engineering improvements, buses will also replace trains between Alloa and Stirling for a two-week period from Saturday 11 July until Sunday 26 July.

At peak times, travel will take considerably longer due to road traffic and passengers should consider this when planning their journey.

ScotRail is asking commuters to consider setting off earlier if possible or amend their travel times to use trains that are less busy.

Customers should plan ahead and visit www.scotrail.co.uk/winchburgh to help them do so.

Extra staff will be at stations to assist passengers and queuing systems will be in place at Linlithgow, Edinburgh Waverley, Haymarket and Edinburgh Park.

Additional weekend engineering work will also take place before and during the ‘core’ Tunnel closure period.

Customers are strongly advised to check the ScotRail website before travelling for amended timings and up-to-date travel information.