A SHUTTLE train service introduced following the fire at the former Station Hotel in Ayr last year will be withdrawn from this weekend.

ScotRail says the last day of the shuttle between Ayr and Prestwick Town stations, calling at Newton-on-Ayr, will be Saturday, June 1.

From Sunday, June 2 onwards, a replacement bus service will operate on the route instead.

ScotRail says the shuttle service will be withdrawn "as preparations get under way for necessary infrastructure works to begin here".

The announcement comes as the anticipated completion date for safety works at the site of the fire-damaged hotel building, much of which has now been demolished, draws closer.

 

 

South Ayrshire Council, in its most recent update on the work at the site, said it was "still on schedule for the works to be completed by around mid-June".

Trains to and from Ayr were suspended as soon as the fire was discovered on the evening of September 25, 2024.

After more than two months of replacement bus services, the shuttle train between Ayr and Prestwick was introduced on December 4 allowing passengers to connect to and from Glasgow services.

However, trains linking Ayr with Girvan, Stranraer and Kilmarnock have remained suspended, with buses operating instead.

The fire has also meant ScotRail has been unable to gain access to train maintenance facilities to the south of Ayr station, with a knock-on effect on services elsewhere in Ayrshire and beyond as a result. 

The hotel's owner, Malaysian businessman Eng Huat Ung, had his bid to stop demolition work at the site turned down by the Court of Session on May 3.