A CITY business boss has warned firms could be hit if two major transport improvement projects go ahead at the same time.

Thousands of passengers who will be affected by the closure of a bridge on the Glasgow-Edinburgh rail line can today check alternative travel arrangements.

This summer, commuters face 44 days of disruption as a result of work needed for the electrification of the rail line.

Winchburgh tunnel will shut from Saturday June 13 until Monday July 27 meaning no trains will run between the two cities from Queen Street high level to Edinburgh.

Instead, passengers will be able to travel from Queen Street low level station through Bathgate - a journey which takes about 10 minutes longer.

At present four trains run an hour during peak times and two an hour at all other times.

But Network Rail says four trains will run an hour throughout the day and trains with more carriages will be used.

It will also be possible to travel between Glasgow and Edinburgh by taking a train via Shotts or via Motherwell from Central Station. Each route would add 30 minutes onto present journey times from Queen Street.

The six week long closure of the tunnel near Linlithgow is part of the Scottish Government's £742million Glasgow Edinburgh improvement programme which will result in the line being electrified by 2016.

However, Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stuart Patrick has written Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities Keith Brown raising concerns if the work coincides with planned lane closures on the M8 this summer.

He said: "While we welcome improvements between Scotland's two largest cities through the Glasgow Edinburgh Improvement Programme, we have concerns regarding the works programme.

"This coupled with the works programmed for the M8 could have a significant impact, just at the point when we were hoping to encourage growing tourism into the city after the Commonwealth Games and we seek clarification on the measures to inform and engage travellers and businesses."

Mr Patrick said he feared carrying out work on the two schemes at the same time would not only affect visitors to the city but would impact on city businesses because of longer travel times.

From today, information on the tunnel closure can be found at www.scotrail.co.uk/winchburgh and passengers are urged to allow more time for their normal journey, to plan ahead and to check before travelling.

They are also being advised of the changes via leaflets and posters at stations along the route, through radio advertising and social media.

Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: "The Winchburgh tunnel works are a major milestone in the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme and will take us one step closer to the electrification of our busiest route.

"Once complete, EGIP will deliver a 20% reducation in journey times and 30% more capacity within four years as well as more comfortable, efficient and reliable trains."

David Dickson, Network Rail's route managing director for Scotland, added: "While we understand the inconvenience the closure of the tunnel will cause to some passengers, this is the safest and most effective way of delivering what is a very complex piece of engineering work."