NETWORK RAIL POSITIVE AS PARLIAMENT DEBATES AIRDRIE-BATHGATE BILL

Thursday 23 Nov 2006

NETWORK RAIL POSITIVE AS PARLIAMENT DEBATES AIRDRIE-BATHGATE BILL

Region & Route:: Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

A Bill that proposes the construction of a new £300 million railway line between Airdrie and Bathgate will be debated in Parliament today. Network Rail, Promoter of the Bill, is hopeful that MSPs will support plans to re-open the 15-mile Airdrie-Bathgate passenger rail link after 50 years of closure and to upgrade existing links between Airdrie and Drumgelloch and Bathgate and Newbridge Junction. In mid-November the Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill passed a significant milestone when it was endorsed by the Parliamentary Committee responsible for scrutinising the proposals. Ron McAulay, Director of Network Rail, Scotland, said: “The Airdrie-Bathgate Bill received positive feedback earlier this month when it was endorsed by the Parliamentary Committee responsible for considering it. In the spirit of our ongoing dialogue with interested parties, we look forward to a healthy debate in Parliament today and welcome politicians’ views. As Promoters of the Bill we are hopeful that MSPs will recognise the benefits of building the new railway and will vote for the Bill to proceed to the next stage.”

Notes to editors

Ron McAulay, Director of Network Rail, Scotland, will be available for interview following the debate; all requests should be directed to Donna Reid, Media Relations Manager, 0141 555 4109 On 14 November the Bill Committee published its Preliminary Stage Report after taking considerable written and oral evidence; this endorsed the general principles of the Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill and recommended that it should proceed as a Private Bill For further information on the Airdrie-Bathgate railway proposals see: www.airdriebathgateraillink.co.uk

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Scotland
0141 555 4109
mediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

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.

Media centre