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Thursday 4 Apr 2024

Levenmouth Academy pupils welcome Rail Link project for STEM education

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Levenmouth rail link engineers visited Levenmouth Academy to deliver a day of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workshops last week.

The engineers, working to deliver the new Levenmouth branch line, visited the school’s extended support department to give students an insight into how STEM relates to the railway.

Students took part in railway safety talks and practical activities focusing on designing, building and testing the strength of a railway bridge using construction toy K’NEX.

Each workshop was interactive, reflected the ongoing works on the rail link and offered an expert-led education on designing and building railway bridges.

Members of the project team finished the day by donating the K’NEX kit to the department so that the kids and staff could use it for other school projects.

Steven McCrae, project manager for Siemens, who are delivering elements of the project on behalf of Network Rail said: “I’d like to thank the staff and the kids at the school for the warm welcome they gave us, the attention they paid, and for making the day fun, eye-opening and heart-warming.

“We’re all grateful we could spend time sharing our experience with the kids, and hopefully giving them encouragement and determination to attend school, learn and gain valuable life skills they’ll remember forever.

“It was a great opportunity to highlight the importance of staying safe around the railway as well as discussing the positive impact and opportunities that the new rail transport option will bring.”

Adele Lynch, Teacher, Levenmouth Academy said: “All our staff have been raving about how well the day went and how every single pupil engaged in the activities.

“Thank you to everyone on the rail link project for taking the time to get to know the needs of our learners and for pitching their input just right. Also, a massive thank you for the equipment, it will be well used in our department.

“We are all very excited to see the railway open up in our community and can’t wait to use it this summer.”

Work on the £116m Scottish Government funded rail link project has been on-going since January 2022.

Two new stations have been built at Leven and Cameron Bridge, and services will return to the area for the first time in five decades from June 2 this year.