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Wednesday 23 Jun 2010

TRACKING PROGRESS: MOBILE TRACK LAYING FACTORY BEGINS WORK

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Machine lays up to a kilometre of track a day on Airdrie-Bathgate rail link

 

A 200-tonne mobile factory has begun laying track on the new Airdrie-Bathgate rail link at a rate of up to a kilometre a day as part of the Network Rail’s construction of the new £300m* rail link.

The NTC machine, which is over 100 feet long, will lay track along the path of the new 24km (15-mile) stretch of railway between Airdrie and Bathgate. The new link will provide up to four trains per hour on a new electrified route between Edinburgh and Glasgow and will link communities along the line with a passenger rail service for the first time in over fifty years.

The machine will lay 14km of track (7km in each direction) between Bathgate and Blackridge over a three week period in June, before returning in July and August to complete the full length of the line.

Ron McAulay Network Rail director, Scotland, commented:

“After several difficult weeks during the winter, we have enjoyed much more favourable conditions in recent months, allowing us to make excellent progress in delivering this new line. The arrival of the track-laying machine is a major milestone for the project and a clear indication that we remain on target to open the new line in December 2010.

“The use of this machine presents several advantages. It enables us to lay up to a kilometre of track per day, which is far quicker than using manual labour. The machine works by laying the track in front of it, so it travels along the route it has just created. This means that we can move much of the materials required to build the line using the newly built railway, taking haulage traffic off the roads.

Transport minister Stewart Stevenson said:

"The Scottish Government has ambitious plans for improving the country’s rail network and is delivering the biggest transport construction programme seen in Scotland in a generation.

"The Airdrie - Bathgate Rail Link will improve connections between communities in North Lanarkshire and West Lothian providing increased opportunities for business, education and leisure. I'm delighted with the very real progress being made on this exciting project. Once complete this new route will offer travellers a real alternative to the car and enable people to make better use of public transport networks."

The Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link Project is funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by Network Rail.

*Costs quoted at Q1 2006 prices