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Friday 22 Sep 2023

Network Rail begins £2.5m improvements to the Finnieston tunnel

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail will shortly undertake two weekends of around-the-clock working as part of a £2.5m investment to renew elements of the Finnieston tunnel in Glasgow.

Over the two weekends in October, engineers will carry out masonry and steelwork repairs to the 137-year-old structure, as well as waterproofing the tunnel and clearing the existing drainage channels.

The line between Patrick station and Springburn/Garrowhill stations will be closed over both weekends, from the end of service on Saturday 7 and Saturday 14 October until normal services resume on the mornings of Monday 9 and Monday 16 October. Services via Glasgow Central low-level are not affected.

During the work, the Caledonian Sleeper will be diverted via the Edinburgh-Glasgow main line and won’t call at Glasgow Queen Street on both Sunday evenings. For services affected, ScotRail will have a replacement bus service in place.

Full details of service changes can be found at: www.scotrail.co.uk and www.nationalrail.co.uk

Improvements to the tunnel, which is over 620 metres in length, are being carried out on Saturday nights between October and January 2024. After completion, masonry and steel repairs will not be required on this scale for another 30-years, with the waterproofing having a lifespan of at least 60-years.

Allison Flannigan, project manager at Network Rail, said: “The Finnieston tunnel opened in 1886 and continues to play an important role on the North Clyde Line, as over 133 trains pass through it each day.

“We have a responsibility to maintain our assets to make sure they are fit for purpose and continue to deliver operational reliability for our customers.

“We appreciate the inconvenience our activity will cause passengers on both weekends and the community living nearby, with the remainder of the work is being done overnight on Saturdays.

“However, by delivering part of this critical engineering over short but sustained periods of time, it allows us to complete the project overall much more quickly.”

David Simpson, service delivery director, ScotRail, said: “We understand that improvement works of this nature can be an inconvenience for customers, so we’ll be doing all we can to keep them moving.

“Customers should plan ahead using the ScotRail app or website and remember that journey times will be longer than normal where diversions and replacement buses are in use.

“We thank customers for their patience and understanding while this essential work to deliver a modern, reliable and green railway takes place.”

In addition to the weekends in October, two further periods of continuous working are planned in December and January, and an update will be issued in advance of this.

If you have any questions about this work, you can contact Network Rail’s 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41. For the latest information and progress updates follow on Twitter @NetworkRailScot.