SCOTRAIL passengers have been warned to prepare for up to seven weeks of disruption as engineering works across the Central Belt lead to more trains being cancelled, less frequent, diverted or replaced by buses for all or part of the route.

Timetable changes will kick in from October 22 until mid-December on some routes, affecting some of the region’s busiest lines including Glasgow to Edinburgh services and some services north to Aberdeen and Inverness.

The disruption comes amid the ongoing electrification works taking place as part of the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). It is also related to other routine line upgrades planned by Network Rail but postponed to avoid additional disruption during the summer when the closure of Glasgow Queen Street station caused major upheaval for passengers.

ScotRail apologised for the inconvenience but said the engineering works were paving the way for longer, faster and greener trains in the region.

Jacqueline Taggart, customer experience director at ScotRail Alliance, said: “The work that we are carrying out over the next few months will bring about a revolution in rail – with more and better trains, more services and more seats than ever before.

“However, while we transform the railway, there is inevitably going to be some impact on people’s services. We are doing everything we can to minimise this, and to keep people moving.

“No one likes having their journey changed. However, this short term disruption will lead to a more reliable, better rail network that will rank amongst the very best.”

ScotRail said the introduction of its new electric trains in the Central Belt from September next year will see passenger benefit from an extra 200 daily services and 20,000 extra seats.

The timetable shake up means passengers travelling from Glasgow Queen Street to Falkirk Grahamston will see trains cancelled for five weekends in a row from October 22 until November 20. Passengers are asked to catch trains from Queen Street low level platforms to Cumbernauld instead, with replacement buses running between Cumbernauld and Falkirk Grahamston.

Passengers travelling from Glasgow Queen Street to Dundee and Aberdeen via Perth are warned that journeys will "take longer" and "may be subject to change and diverted via Cumbernauld or Fife at certain times of the day" until December 4.

Trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Alloa may be diverted via Cumbernauld or "cancelled completely" and replaced by buses until December.

Full details of the timetable changes can be found on the ScotRail website.

It comes amid calls for Abellio's contract to run the ScotRail franchise to be cancelled amid figures showing that trains on one-third of ScotRail routes are late more often than they are on time, and claims that overcrowding is getting worse.

It also coincides with ongoing roadworks on the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh which has caused misery for drivers.