Media centre

Friday 4 Sep 2009

CONSTRUCTION OF NEW RAIL LINE POWERS AHEAD

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Electrification of the rail route between Bathgate and Edinburgh continues this autumn, with Network Rail installing overhead power lines and carrying out further bridge works in advance of the completion of the new Airdrie-Bathgate rail link in December 2010.

The £300m*, Transport Scotland funded project will see a four-trains-per-hour service between Glasgow and Edinburg running via the new rail link currently being built between Drumgelloch, east of Airdrie, and Bathgate.

This latest phase of the project will require weekend improvement works between Bathgate and Edinburgh, with services from Edinburgh to Bathgate, Dunblane and Glasgow Queen Street affected for six weekends between 12 Sep and 18 Oct.

Buses will replace trains between Edinburgh and Bathgate on those dates, while trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow will have their journeys extended by approximately 20 minutes because of diversions. Passengers travelling between Stirling and Dunblane and Edinburgh will change trains at Linlithgow.

David Simpson, Network Rail route director for Scotland, said: “The Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link Project will create a vital new link between Edinburgh, Glasgow and the communities served by this new railway. The double-tracking of the line between Bathgate and Edinburgh, completed last year, has already benefited passengers with a more reliable service and we look forward to seeing the rest of the work completed.

“The electrification work being carried out during weekends this autumn is vital to the success of the project as a whole. Electric trains are quieter, quicker and more energy efficient so we fully expect them to be popular with passengers.”

Jacqueline Dey, ScotRail’s operations director, added: “We have done everything possible to keep inconvenience to an absolute minimum.

“We will be running as many services as possible, and plans are in place to provide alternative transport arrangements where required. Journeys will take longer than normal and our customers should allow more time for travel.”

Bill Reeve, director of rail delivery at Transport Scotland, said: “The Airdrie–Bathgate rail link not only opens up new employment and education opportunities for people living west of Edinburgh and east of Glasgow but signals a major expansion of our programme of electrification on the Scottish rail network.

“Electrification offers significant economic, environmental and passenger benefits and we are working towards the position where we see the majority of rail passenger journeys in Scotland made in electric rolling stock by the end of the next decade.”