Inverness city centre evacuated after gas leak from freight train

A large area of Inverness city centre has been evacuated today amid a gas leak from a freight train.

Emergency services, including police and firefighters, raced to the incident near the Inverness Depot after receiving the alarm at around 10.25am on Thursday, May 14. Crews remain in attendance.

Parts of the Eastgate Shopping Centre and a nearby Morrisons have also been closed as a precaution. Members of the public have been urged to avoid the area.

Scottish Gas Network (SGN) confirmed the gas leak emerged from a train carrying tanks that supply its network.

A statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, reads: "We’re responding to a gas escape involving a train carrying tanks which supply our network. We're working with Police Scotland and ScotRail to resolve the incident as quickly as possible."

Network Rail confirmed engineers are assisting emergency services.

A statement reads: "We’re working with the emergency services who are dealing with an incident involving a freight train at Inverness Depot. We’ll share more details as soon as we can."

Images shared on social media shows multiple areas taped off by police with several cop vehicles in attendance.

Meanwhile, all trains to and from the city have since been reinstated. The leak was stopped at around 2.30pm.

A spokesperson for Network Rail Scotland said on Tuesday afternoon: “Good news from Inverness. @SGNgas and @Scot_fire have stopped the gas leaking from the freight train in Inverness and all lines have reopened.

“We’re working with @ScotRail, @CalSleeper, @DRSgov.UK, @ColasRailUK and @GBRailfreight/@belmond to get trains moving again.”

A Police Scotland statement reads: "Around 10.25am on Tuesday, 14 May, we were made aware of a gas leak from a train in the Millburn Road area of Inverness. Emergency services are in attendance and the public are asked to avoid the Millburn Road and Academy Street areas.

"Parts of the Eastgate Shopping Centre and Morrisons have been closed as a precaution."

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We were alerted at 9.54am on Tuesday, May 14, to reports of a gas leak from a train near Inverness Rail Station. Operations Control mobilised three fire appliances and specialist resources to the scene, where crews remain in attendance to assist partners in making the area safe."

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