Thousands of passengers travelling to Glasgow over the Easter weekend are set to be hit with delays, diversions and replacement buses as part of improvement works. 

Network Rail will be carrying out a £4m upgrade to a key junction on the southside of the city. 

As a result, many rail services travelling to Glasgow Central will be affected, with diversions to via Motherwell and Edinburgh possible for passengers. 

The upgrade is part of £18m-worth of improvements being delivered across Scotland’s railway this Easter by more than 1,500 engineers.

Engineers will begin work at the end of service on Friday evening, with Glasgow Central Low Level services operating to a revised timetable over the whole weekend. 

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A number of other ScotRail routes and services are set to be impacted as a result. 

On Saturday, replacement buses will run on services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh (via Carstairs), as well as on the Glasgow Central and Edinburgh (via Shotts) between Glasgow and Shotts, and on the Glasgow to Lanark line between Motherwell and Lanark. 

Sunday will see works completed on Glasgow Central to Edinburgh (via Carstairs) route but the other disruption will remain in place throughout the day. 

On Monday, trains on the Glasgow Central to Edinburgh (via Carstairs) route will only run between the capital and Motherwell while the Glasgow to Lanark service will be brought to an hourly service running via Mount Florida. 

For Caledonian Sleeper passengers, the Friday night departure from London Kings Cross to Glasgow Central will be diverted via Edinburgh and will be unable to call at Motherwell and Carstairs. These works will also affect Sunday departures.

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CrossCountry trains between Motherwell and Glasgow Central will be replaced by buses. 

Passengers travelling to Glasgow using the London North Eastern Railway are expected to use alternative services to Glasgow Queen Street after Edinburgh throughout the weekend. 

Replacement coaches on TransPennine Express routes to Glasgow are expected to delay journey times by 75 minutes as buses transport passengers between Lancaster and Carlisle. 

Virgin Trains have also announced disruption to their services in Glasgow. 

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday there will be no direct service between Crewe and Glasgow Central and customers may have to change replacement coaches to complete their journey.

Replacement coaches will be run between Crewe and Preston, and then again between Preston and Glasgow, as a result. 

Customers for Motherwell need to travel via Glasgow Central and use alternative services provided by ScotRail.

Network Rail claim the upgrade being carried out this weekend will improve the reliability of the line and will mean Shawfield junction won't need renewed for another 30 years.

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Donald Morris, programme manager for Network Rail Infrastructure Projects, said: “Our engineers will be working hard to complete this complex programme as quickly as possible for passengers.

“The west coast main line plays a key role in the economic life of the country – carrying passengers and freight – and this work will help improve its reliability.

 “We understand the inconvenience this work may cause to some passengers and residents, but such a huge investment in the railway cannot be delivered without a short-term closure of the line.”

For full details of the disruption click here.