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Monday 26 Mar 2018

Major Easter milestone targeted on Shotts electrification work

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail engineers will work around-the-clock this Easter to deliver more than £2m of investment on the Shotts Line Electrification project.

In addition to the redevelopment of Livingston South station, the closure of the West Coast Main Line through Carstairs has created a four day window of opportunity to progress the ‘tie-in’ of the new and existing overhead line electrification (OHLE) at Midcalder Junction.

35 staff will work around 900 hours between Saturday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 3, solely on the tie-in of Midcalder Junction which will see 36 metal stanchions and other steelwork erected and multiple cables and wires run.

The new overhead line sections will be supported by two switches and earthed and bonded before section proving and energisation in advance of the reintroduction of services through the junction on the Carstairs line on Tuesday morning

With the tie-in already completed at the western side of the project at Holytown Junction, the completion of the Midcalder junction section will signal a massive step forward for the project having addressed two of the most complex and challenging elements of the electrification.

Brian Mallon, Network Rail programme manager for the Shotts Line Electrification project, said: “While we appreciate that closing lines is never convenient, we have scheduled this work in such a way as to minimise disruption over the Easter holiday period when fewer people are travelling.

“With the lines closed as part of the UK wide programme of Bank Holiday works, it gives us the chance to undertake a range of additional works on the electrification programme and focus on completing the complex challenge of wiring and energising Midcalder Junction.

“We will also take the opportunity to do as much work as we possibly can all across the Shotts Line during the closure, to maximise progress and reduce the need for further disruption.

“We appreciate the cooperation of the local community and thank them for their patience as we deliver this massive investment to upgrade the railway.”

Across Britain, more than 15,000 railway staff will be out delivering £118m-worth of investment at more than 400 locations as part of Network Rail’s long-term plan to create more reliable infrastructure and improved facilities for passengers.

Mark Carne, chief executive at Network Rail, said: “This Easter, thousands of rail workers will be working round the clock to deliver crucial upgrades to the rail network as part of the £50bn Railway Upgrade Plan.

“This huge investment programme will provide faster, better services and help relieve over-crowding to respond to the huge growth on Britain’s railways.

“While most of the network is open for business as usual, some routes are heavily affected and so we strongly advise passengers to plan ahead this Easter.”

A breakdown of how some journeys will be affected can be found by visiting nationalrail.co.uk/Easter and following #EasterBHWorks on Twitter.