£3.4million repairs underway at the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by Harry Potter

Repairs to the world-famous Glenfinnan Viaduct worth £3.4 million have begun and are expected to take around a year to complete.

The longest concrete viaduct in Scotland, which sits 30 meters above the River Finnan on the West Highland Line, will be repaired as part of ongoing maintenance to future-proof the iconic location.

Network Rail said there will be no disruption to rail services during work on the 123-year-old structure, including on the infamous ‘Harry Potter’ Jacobite train.

A complex has been set up at the foot of the monument, with repairs expected to take just under twelve months.

Network Rail project manager Laura Craig said: “The main works on the viaduct will be concrete repairs.

“We will also be doing some repairs to the pier in the River Finnan.

“Years of planning have gone into this project.

Network track

“The work will not have a huge visual impact on the appearance of the viaduct and this has been done very deliberately as it is A-class.

“We will not be scaffolding the structure at all, but in the coming weeks you will see the rope access technicians on the viaduct as they begin their work.”

Before work started, a community drop-in event was held in Glenfinnan so that members of the public could be consulted on the plans.

Ms Craig added: “We would like to thank everyone who came to the drop-in event.

“It was great to catch up with locals, answer questions and talk about our plans.

“We know it is a much-loved viaduct and of course the longest concrete viaduct in Scotland, measuring 300 meters in length.

“It is a bucket list job that our team has to work on and we will share as much information and updates as we can throughout the project.”

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West Coast Railways, operator of the Jacobite, announced on Thursday that afternoon services from May 6 to May 19 will be cancelled.

It had previously suspended the service due to a dispute with the Office of Road and Rail (ORR).

A statement said: “This suspension of this service follows a debate with the railway regulator over door locking.

“We share the regulator’s commitment to safety and our priority now is to work with him to renew the consent so we can run The Jacobite on the main line.

“We hope to be able to operate scheduled afternoon trips on the Jacobite in the future, but will contact all customers directly before their travel date, in case the trip they have booked does not go ahead.

“In that case, we will also refund the full amount.”

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