A HUGE fire devastated Troon railway station on one of the hottest days of the year so far.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was called to the scene at 12.40pm on Saturday, with six appliances in attendance.
ScotRail was forced to cut the power to overhead lines to allow firefighters to tackle the blaze, which it said "took out a large area and affected other routes' power supply".
Police Scotland is also in attendance while Network Rail has been made aware of the fire, which a spokeswoman for SFRS described as having been "in a building".
The fire broke out on a day temperatures hit 21C in the town, which is popular in the summer with tourists from across the west of Scotland who flock to its beach as the mercury rises.
ScotRail has urged travellers to use alternative services, and has laid on buses for those affected by the fire.
Due to a fire yesterday at Troon station, no services will run today between Ayr & Kilwinning, don't attempt to travel here by train. We’re working on an emergency timetable which will see services terminate & start back from Kilwinning.
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) July 18, 2021
Please check before travel. More info ⬇️
The main ticketing/waiting area and kiosk ... gone... pic.twitter.com/cyoLVqp8jC
— Porridge Drawers 🏴 (@AwTroon) July 17, 2021
Speaking to the Ayrshire Daily News website at the scene, Ayr MSP Siobhian Brown – whose constituency includes Troon and the nearby Prestwick – said the fire was "devastating".
She added: "We don't know for sure how the fire started but we do believe that it did start in the ticket office somehow but we will have to determine that further down the track.
"But thankfully, nobody has been hurt."
Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney commented: "Tragic to see this fire engulf the beautiful James Miller-designed railway station building on platform 1 at Troon.
"It was originally built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway in 1892. I hope it can be restored. Good to see @RailwayHeritage is already offering their support."
Within hours of the fire, the Railway Heritage Trust offered its support to both Scotrail and Network Rail to salvage as much of the historic building as possible.
ScotRail tweeted earlier: “Due to a fire yesterday at Troon station, no services will run today between Ayr & Kilwinning, don't attempt to travel here by train. We’re working on an emergency timetable which will see services terminate & start back from Kilwinning.”
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