Media centre

Wednesday 14 Sep 2016

Foundry Yard Cleland

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Further to recent speculation and to address concern in the community, Network Rail would like to clarify the situation with regard to the presence of contaminants in the ground at the Foundry yard site in Cleland.

Further to recent speculation and to address concern in the community, Network Rail would like to clarify the situation with regard to the presence of contaminants in the ground at the Foundry yard site in Cleland.

As is standard practice, we undertook analysis of ground conditions at the Foundry yard site and not unexpectedly given its former usage, we did find contaminants, including asbestos. As a precaution, we limited vehicle access to the site until a full analysis had been completed and the results became known.

Assessment and analysis indicated that results of samples taken at six different parts of the site were below levels where their presence would be deemed a risk. We contacted the Health & Safety Executive in this regard and they have confirmed this analysis.

Given the nature of the intended use of the yard going forward, the recommended course of action in this situation is to install a membrane and a compacted layer of ballast to minimise the risk of any contaminants becoming airborne and causing a risk. It is our intention to do this at an early point. 

Safety is and remains Network Rail’s top priority and the action we are taking in this situation is based on expert guidance and reflects the importance we place on protecting the health and well being of our work force and the community surrounding the work site.

The additional work required to make safe the site is relatively small in relation to the overall site set up programme and should not delay plans to establish the site or to support the delivery of work to electrify the line.