Media centre

Tuesday 12 Aug 2008

EARLY FINISH TO ESSENTIAL POLLOKSHIELDS EAST REPAIRS

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

A full train service will resume on Glasgow’s Cathcart Circle line this Thursday (August 14) after Network Rail completed vital track repairs at Pollokshields East four days earlier than planned.

The £2.4m project to stabilise subsidence to the track caused by ancient mine works near Pollokshields East station, on the city’s south side, began on July 22 and had been scheduled to run until Sunday, August 17.

Network Rail’s engineers and specialist contractors have worked around-the-clock for over three weeks to complete the repairs and ensure a swift reopening of the affected line and stations at Pollokshields East, Queens Park, Crosshill, Mount Florida and Cathcart.

The time needed to undertake these vital works has also been used as an opportunity to further improve services for passengers with more than £250,000 being invested in maintenance work at the five affected stations.

David Simpson, Network Rail Route Director for Scotland, said: “Thanks to the hard work and professionalism of our engineers we have been able to bring these works to a swift conclusion and get passenger services back on track earlier than expected.

“The team at Pollokshields East has done a fantastic job in tackling what was a considerable threat to the long-term viability of the Cathcart Circle line. We would also like to thank passengers for their patience during this disruption and assure them that every opportunity has been taken to not only protect the line, but to enhance facilities for the travelling public too.”

During the works, track and overhead line equipment had to be lifted or moved while 600 tonnes of grouting material was injected into 170 boreholes to fill 800 sqm of abandoned mineworks. The tracks were then relaid and overhead power lines reinstated before additional track drainage works were undertaken at the site.

The station improvement works, carried out in partnership with First ScotRail, included refurbishment and painting of the station canopies at Crosshill and Queens Park, improvements to the station roof and pedestrian access at Mount Florida and platform resurfacing at Crosshill and Mount Florida.

Jacqueline Dey, Head of Operations at First ScotRail, added: “Resuming rail services ahead of schedule is great news for our customers. During the works, we provided comprehensive information to ensure staff and customers were kept fully informed and ran as many services as possible in order to minimise the impact on passengers.”

First ScotRail operated as comprehensive a timetable as possible during the repair works and where train services could not be provided arrangements were made for First ScotRail season ticket holders to use their tickets on local bus routes instead.

The train operator also ran a half hourly shuttle bus service between Pollokshields East and Kings Park, calling at all five affected stations and connecting with rail services at Kings Park to Newton and Neilston.