MINISTERIAL VISIT MARKS COMPLETION OF WAVERLEY TRACK AND PLATFORM UPGRADES

Wednesday 23 Apr 2008

MINISTERIAL VISIT MARKS COMPLETION OF WAVERLEY TRACK AND PLATFORM UPGRADES

Region & Route:: Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Stewart Stevenson MSP, will visit Edinburgh’s Waverley Station today (Wednesday 23 April) to view the results of a £150 million overhaul of the station’s platforms, tracks and signalling.

The upgrade, funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by Network Rail, provides Waverley with increased capacity for trains and longer, more easily accessible platforms. In preparation for the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link, electrification apparatus was also installed in the west end of the station in early 2008 to allow electric services to run on the line in the near future.

Mr Stevenson said

“More trains, increased frequency, and improved capacity - this £150 million of investment will bring real improvements for Scotland’s rail passengers.

“We want to see more and more passengers use our Scottish rail services, encouraging them out of their cars, and onto public transport.

“Earlier this year we announced even more investment in rail, with £2.6 billion over the next three years now set to be directed into further improvements across the country. Together with our plans to electrify the Edinburgh to Glasgow line, and the £70 million investment released through the recent deal with First ScotRail, passengers are really set to benefit.

“This Scottish Government is absolutely committed to improving journey times and the travelling experience of our rail passengers. This investment will help us deliver on that commitment.”

Ron McAulay, Network Rail's Director, Scotland said:

"The completion of the track and platform works, on time and on budget, was an enormous achievement for the team working on this project. The complex nature of the works and the imperative to keep Waverley Station operating smoothly resulted in enormous pressures on the construction team and the station management. They demonstrated superb team work to complete these works on schedule and with the minimum of disruption to passengers.

"Waverley is an illustrious, historically important station where the needs of passengers are constantly evolving. The need to preserve the historic fabric of the station has to be balanced with the demands of the growing Scottish rail network. The work, now completed, does just that.”

In addition to the track and platform works, Network Rail has installed nearly 100 bases and other structures to prepare the west end of the station, the Mound Tunnel and Waverley Bridge for electrification.

Other station improvements have included the installation of modern passenger information boards for all platforms, new security cameras, improvements to the staircases at Calton Road, platforms 8 and 9, and Market Street as well as new bench seating at locations throughout the station. The station toilets have also been refurbished at a cost of £50,000.

By July 2008, Network Rail will also have successfully completed the transition of signalling operations to the £13 million 'Integrated Electronic Control Centre' situated to the south of the station. A two-phase design to improve access via Waverley Steps has also been agreed. Tenders for the work will be sought later this year.

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Craig Bowman, Media Relations Manager, Network Rail:
0141 555 4109 ; 07917 775 805

Mark Hannan, Communications Officer, Scottish Government

0131 244 2056; 07870 218 112

Please contact Mark for any bids to speak to the Minister

Sarah O’Loughlin, Press Officer, Transport Scotland

0141 272 7199; 07920 477 564

Notes to editors

Network Rail started work in and around the station in January 2006. Since then, the project team has worked tirelessly to deliver the major works within budget and ahead of schedule. In total, nearly one million man hours have been worked to complete: · Over 1km of new and extended platforms · 4 new platforms at Edinburgh Waverley (new platforms 1, 3, 10 and 20) · 2 new escalators · 2 new passenger lifts · Extensive remodelling of tracks and signalling to increase the number of trains that can travel through the station Looking to the future, the redevelopment of Edinburgh Waverley will play a key role in achieving other strategic priorities for the Scottish Government and Network Rail. Having improved access to the station for passengers and increased capacity for more trains, Waverley is now capable of adding new services, such as the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link, to and from the Capital. FAST FACTS Transport Scotland has funded the GBP 150 million investment in Edinburgh Waverley and the work is being delivered by Network Rail. At 23 acres, Edinburgh Waverley is Britain's second largest railway station outside London, accommodating over 23.5 million passengers annually and 576 trains every weekday. Over the past 15 years, the number of trains has increased by 50% while passenger numbers across Scotland are predicted to rise by around 3% each year. WAVERLEY WORKS IN NUMBERS 1.3 km new platforms 37 new signals 638 consecutive days safe working 3,690 metres of new track 8,064 sleepers 27,000 tonnes of spoil removed 942,678 man hours worked 1,250,000 engineering bricks used

Contact information

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About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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