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ScotRail has confirmed that services between Aberdeen and Inverness will be returning to normal from Monday, 20 August, following 14 weeks of major upgrade works.

Engineers from Network Rail Scotland – ScotRail’s partner in the ScotRail Alliance – have been working around the clock since mid-May to lay a second track and install a new signalling system on the 6.25 mile stretch between Aberdeen and Dyce.

The works are just one part of the overall Aberdeen to Inverness Improvement Project, due to be completed by the end of 2019, which will allow ScotRail to provide faster trains, more seats, and better services for its customers.

Key benefits of the improvement project will include:

There will be more services between Elgin and Inverness from December 2018. This will increase during 2019 until there is an hourly all day service, providing 1,300 additional seats each day.

A half-hourly service all day between Inverurie and Aberdeen, with extra services at peak times, from December 2019. This will provide 3,000 additional seats each day. There will also be an additional Elgin – Aberdeen early morning and late evening service.

Derek Glasgow, ScotRail’s Project Manager for the Aberdeen to Dyce upgrade, said: “We are grateful to our customers for their exceptional patience while these major upgrade works have been carried out by Network Rail Scotland.

“We’re at the mid-point of the overall project. Once it’s complete, our customers will very quickly feel the benefits of all the improvements that have been made.

“By the end of next year, there will be more seats, more services, and upgraded trains. It’s all part of our plan to build the best railway Scotland’s ever had.”