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Friday 17 Mar 2017

Weekend works keep new Forres station on-track

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Engineers will be working throughout this weekend (March 18 and 19) in Forres as they continue to construct the railway infrastructure needed to deliver the town’s new train station.

Buses will replace trains between Inverness and Elgin on Saturday and Sunday to allow work to progress on building a new stretch of track and installing a new bridge on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness.

This weekend’s work is one in a series of planned closures on the route over March, April and May, leading up to the new station being completed in October 2017.

Closing the line temporarily is the safest and most efficient way for engineers to deliver the new infrastructure for passengers.

As part of the works at Forres, the railway through the town is being realigned with a new section of track being constructed to the north of the existing railway, where a new station is also being built.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “The work we were undertaking is vital to the completion of our railway upgrade plan for Forres and will deliver real, long-term benefits for passengers.

“We understand the inconvenience this temporary closure may cause to some passengers and residents and we are committed to completing these enhancements as quickly as we can and with the minimum of inconvenience for the local community.”

The new Forres station is part of the Scottish Government-funded project to improve journey times and increase capacity on the route between Inverness and Aberdeen.

The Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project will seek to provide a day-time hourly commuter service between Inverness and Elgin and a half hourly service between Aberdeen and Inverurie by the end of 2019, and increase end-to-end services to an hourly frequency in the longer term.

These new services will help to improve the level of flexibility the railway can offer the expanding communities around the two cities – helping to open up job and leisure opportunities.

Residents and passengers with questions about the works should contact aberdeeninverness@networkrail.co.uk or call Network Rail’s 24hr helpline on 03457 114141.