TRAVELLERS on some of Scotland's busiest rail routes have been forced to endure a day of chaos as signal failures and track problems sparked major delays and cancellations.
The country's busiest service, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, was the most severely disrupted after reports of broken rail near Polmont.
Engineers had only located the problem after 11am, with some services "running with caution".
Despite the service being restored shortly after 1pm, a further incident at Lenzie station, around eight miles north of Glasgow, led to a further wave of delays.
It is understood a man in his 40s was hit by a train at the station, has sustained serious injures and was being treated at the scene.
Trains along the route were restored an hour later but bypassing Lenzie.
Glasgow's Queen Street and Haymarket and Waverley in Edinburgh suffered major impacts as other services were hit by the knock-on.
ScotRail services between the capital and Dunblane were halted or delayed as s result.
Earlier in the day signalling problems at Larbert hit all services to and from the north and Glasgow Queen Street.
Meanwhile, an ill customer led to major delays on the Glasgow low-level services at Queen Street, while a broke down train at Pollokshields caused disruption to services on the city's south side and those coming in from Kilmarnock and East Kilbride.
The low-level delays are expected to run until lunchtime.
Passengers were being redirected to trains travelling via Airdrie and Shotts and given information on refunds by ScotRail.
A ScotRail spokeswoman said: "At around 06:30, a fault with the signalling system between Glasgow Queen Street and Larbert meant that trains running through these stations were subject to delay and/or cancellation. Our engineers were on site as soon as possible and services returned to normal at around 08:30.
"Shortly after 09:30, a passenger on our 07:56 Edinburgh to Helensburgh Central service took unwell and this train was suspended in Glasgow Queen Street Low Level for just under 30 minutes whilst emergency services attended.
"Due to the length of time the train was stationary, there have been some residual delays and cancellations on services running through this station.
"Passengers with valid tickets can use these to travel on First Glasgow buses, or the Glasgow Subway between Partick and St Enoch/Buchanan Street. Normal service is expected to resume around 13:00.
" At 10:30, the line between Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street was closed while engineers investigated a suspected track fault. The line was reopened at 11:15 and services will run, but journey times may be slightly longer and some cancellations may still occur.
“We apologise to customers for any delay caused to their journey this morning as a result of these incidents.”
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