A HISTORIC visit to Scotland by the refurbished Flying Scotsman has been plunged into chaos as it emerged that an "administrative error" means the beloved steam engine will no longer be able to make its planned journey to the Borders and Fife.
Passengers booked to travel on Sunday face disappointment after an eleventh hour discovery by Network Rail that the Flying Scotsman was too wide too fit through the the station at Dalmeny, immediately before the Forth Bridge.
The highly-anticipated outing was supposed to encompass a return journey in the morning from Edinburgh Waverley to Tweedbank, using the new Borders Railway, before heading over the Forth Bridge on the Fife Circle in the evening.
Rail enthusiasts were due to travel in the Cathedrals Express Special Train, hauled by the Flying Scotsman. However, the steam engine will now be replaced with a vintage diesel engine instead.
Last minute glitches also emerged when Network Rail planners realised they did not have the relevant information about the route on their computer system, despite the excursion having been in the pipeline for the past year.
Operating company, West Coast Railways, was only notified of the problems at 4.40pm today.
The Flying Scotsman, which was last in Scotland 16 years ago, is still scheduled to travel from York to Edinburgh Waverley tomorrow to celebrate its £4.2 million refurbishment.
It will then go on display on Sunday and Monday at the Bo'ness and Kinneil heritage railway, near Edinburgh.
Marcus Robertson, chairman of the promoter Steam Dreams, which organised the event, said he was extremely disappointed that customers were being let down at such short notice.
He said: “Network Rail has known about these trips for months and they have left this gauging until the last minute. It means there is absolutely no time to plan anything else for the locomotive so we can give passengers in Scotland a trip behind this icon.”
Mr Robertson accused Network Rail of treating passengers and small operators "with contempt".
He added: “If Network Rail is unable to resolve this within the next 24 hours we will be forced to run these trips with vintage diesel instead and we can only apologise to all our passengers that this has happened, due to circumstances beyond our control.
"We will be asking Network Rail to help us ensure that we are in a position to put this right next year, when we intend to bring Flying Scotsman across the Border once again.”
Taking to Twitter, Transport Minister Derek Mackay said Network Rail was failing Scotland.
Totally unacceptable position from Network Rail GB HQ on processing Flying Scotsman steam rail application. System failing Scotland.
— Derek Mackay MSP (@DerekMackaySNP) 13 May 2016
Details of the Flying Scotsman's planned arrival time in Edinburgh had been shrouded in secrecy such is the popularity of the vintage engine. On previous outings, crowds have rushed on to the railway tracks to get a better view.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “The routes the Scotsman had planned to cover this weekend are new ones for the locomotive and have to be individually assessed by our engineers in advance.
"Unfortunately we have been unable to carry out the work in time and cannot allow the engine to run when we are unsure if the unique design of the Flying Scotsman is compatible with the current railway infrastructure across the Fife and Borders routes.
“We understand the disappointment this will cause all those who had been looking forward to the iconic engine returning to these parts of Scotland and a full investigation will be undertaken into why these issues were not identified sooner."
A spokeswoman for the National Railway Museum, the engine's owners, said: "We can confirm there is nothing mechanically wrong with the engine which makes its triumphant return to Scotland post-restoration on Saturday 14 May with the York-Edinburgh leg of the Cathedral’s Express service.
"We share the disappointment of the people of Scotland who were hoping to catch a glimpse of Flying Scotsman on its travels through Fife and the Borders."
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