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Monday 29 Dec 2025

Network Rail completes £32m signalling upgrade in Edinburgh

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail has completed a major signalling upgrade between Portobello and Edinburgh Waverley, improving reliability on one of Scotland’s busiest rail corridors.

Signalling is the system that tells train drivers when it’s safe to move and when they need to stop. It uses signals along the track, ground-based monitoring kit and specialist equipment in control centres to keep trains a safe distance apart and make sure the railway runs smoothly and safely.

Over Christmas Day and Boxing Day, teams commissioned the new signalling equipment at Portobello Junction, a complex part of the infrastructure east of Edinburgh Waverley Station. The work replaced legacy systems and assets that had been in operation for more than 40 years, improving performance and reliability for passengers.

The upgrade completes a £32m investment delivered by Network Rail over the past three years. As well as installing new signalling equipment, the project renewed the controls at Craigentinny depot, improving access for trains entering and leaving one of the busiest depots in the east of Scotland.

Commissioning the new equipment was scheduled for the Christmas period, when the railway is closed on Christmas Day and fewer people are travelling. This allowed engineers from both Network Rail and Siemens to complete the complex upgrade safely and efficiently, while keeping disruption to a minimum.

Dan Holder, Head of Engineering and Asset Management for Network Rail Scotland, said: “The Signalling system is our ‘hidden’ asset and is critical to how we run the railway. It keeps trains moving safely and efficiently, so maintaining and upgrading these systems is one of our most important responsibilities.

“We’re constantly reviewing our infrastructure to identify where improvements will make the biggest difference for passengers. In this case, the equipment had reached the end of its life, so it was vital to replace it and take the opportunity to upgrade supporting infrastructure at the same time.

“These improvements will reduce the risk of faults and help deliver more reliable journeys across the route. It’s a significant investment in the performance of the railway and in the experience of the people who rely on it.”

Services through Portobello resumed as planned on Saturday 27 December.