Media centre

Wednesday 3 Dec 2008

MASSIVE RAIL INVESTMENT WORK PLANNED FOR CHRISTMAS

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

· Major improvement work affects Glasgow Central services for four days

· First ScotRail introduces replacement bus services to minimise disruption

Network Rail will progress a number of major improvement projects over the festive period, all designed to deliver a better, more reliable train service.

Improvement projects include:

- Completion of Glasgow Central signalling works and platform renumbering
- Commissioning of new Cowlairs signalling centre
- Track improvements in Ayrshire and Tayside
- Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link activity near Haymarket
- Paisley corridor track renewals preparation work

Although the work will have less impact than last year, some train services will be replaced by buses as a result.

Services into and out of Glasgow Central high level station will be suspended from Friday 26 December to Monday 29 December (inclusive) while signalling control is moved to the new West of Scotland signalling centre at Cowlairs.

Replacement bus services will run from locations outside Central Station during the four days. However, Glasgow Central low level remains open (27—29 December) and operational. Replacement coaches will also be made available for Virgin Trains passengers, connecting with trains to and from England at Carlisle or Motherwell.

Planned track improvements at Hilton Junction, near Perth, from Friday 26 December to Wednesday 31 December will also affect some services to and from Inverness, Aberdeen, Ladybank and Dundee, with replacement buses in some areas.

In addition, track improvement work between Ardrossan and Kilwinning will affect services on the Largs line in the New Year. A bus service will replace trains between Largs, Ardrossan and Kilwinning on January 2 and 3, with services returning to normal on 4 January.

Finally, Dundee–Aberdeen services will be replaced by buses on January 3 and 4 and throughout every weekend in January – except Satursay 31 January and Sunday 1 February -due to enhancement work near Laurencekirk.

In Edinburgh, new gantries for electrification of the Airdrie-Bathgate line will be installed between Haymarkret and Murrayfield between 25 and 27 December and on 1 January, but no services are affected.

David Simpson, route director for Network Rail in Scotland commented:

“The work we are undertaking at Glasgow Central will improve reliability of the rail network in the west of Scotland. We have invested over £85m in recent years upgrading the signalling at Central Station and its integration with our new signalling centre in Cowlairs is a key step in the ongoing improvements to the network.

“In Perth and Kilwinning, we are carrying out renewals and upgrades which will bring further improvements to reliability. Christmas is the quietest period of the year for rail travel, so it makes sense that we carry out our major improvement work during this period. We have worked closely with train operators to minimise the inconvenience to passengers.”

Steve Montgomery, Operations and Safety Director at First ScotRail, added: “We have done everything possible to keep inconvenience to an absolute minimum by running as many services as possible.

“Full plans are in place to provide alternative transport arrangements where required. Journeys will take longer than normal and passengers should allow more time for travel.”

From early December, full details of alterations to train services and replacement bus services will be provided in Christmas timetable supplements available online at www.scotrail.co.uk or from staffed stations.