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Tuesday 31 Jul 2018

Aberdeen-Dyce rail enhancements on-track for successful completion

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Engineering work to double-track six miles of railway between Dyce and Aberdeen moved a step closer to completion today as the last section of new track was clipped into place.

ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes joined the project team at Kittybrewster as the final rails were connected to the track ahead of the reopening of the line for customers on August 20.

Since Network Rail started work in May, over 12 miles of new rails have been laid across 13,200 new sleepers and 66,000 tonnes of stone ballast.

Signalling systems along the line have also been upgraded during the 14-week closure and five bridges either replaced or refurbished.

Over the next three weeks, engineers will be putting the finishing touches to the new infrastructure – packing the track into the ballast and checking it’s properly aligned before completing work on new signalling systems.

The work between Aberdeen and Dyce is being delivered as part of the Scottish Government-funded Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project to reduce journey times and increase capacity on the route between the two cities.

Once complete, the project will provide 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.

Alex Hynes, ScotRail Alliance managing director, said: “The Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project will deliver more seats on more frequent services – opening up new job and leisure opportunities for communities in the North East.

“Over the last three months our engineers have been working around-the-clock to deliver a complex programme of works as quickly as possible for our customers and we appreciate the understanding they, and our line-side neighbours, have shown during this vital enhancement programme.

“Across the country we are currently delivering the biggest investment programme in our rail network since Victorian times as we work with the government to build the best railway Scotland has ever had.”