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Saturday 7 Apr 2018

Network Rail opens new station footbridge at West Calder

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Passengers arriving at West Calder on Monday April 9 will notice a significant difference in their station with the removal of the old and opening of the new station footbridge.

The old bridge, which will find a new home on Bo’ness heritage railway was removed by a 130t crane in 3 lifts – with work taking place during the 10 day closure of the line so as to minimise disruption for passengers

The new bridge, which weighs more than 21 tonnes, was craned into position in December delivers the clearance for running wires to enable the safe electrification of the line.  Following the commissioning of lifts early next month, the new station footbridge and lifts will deliver full accessibility with step free access to both platforms in the West Lothian station.

During work pedestrian access was maintained between platforms as the old footbridge remained open throughout while the station was open. The footbridge was only closed at night to enable work on the new bridge – constructed immediately to the east of the old structure.

Construction work on the new structure was delivered over a 10 month period from a purpose-built site compound established initially to enable work on the A71 road bridge - completed early in 2017. The new bridge is part of wider work on the Shotts line being delivered by Network Rail ahead of the electrification of the route by 2019.

Kevin McLelland, route delivery director for infrastructure projects, said: “We are continuously seeking opportunities to make stations more accessible and the new footbridge at West Calder will help ensure that everyone in the community has the opportunity to easily access train services and thus enables more people to travel by train.

“We are reaching the end of route clearance activities on the project where we have cleared structures on the route from being an obstruction to the safe running of the overhead wires which enable electrification.

“Opening the new bridge is another important milestone for the electrification project – with the added bonus of enabling the old bridge to be relocated and preserved at Bo’ness heritage railway – which is great to see”.

The work on the new footbridge at West Calder station was delivered by contractor Bam Nuttal on behalf of Network Rail.

Electrification of the line across North Lanarkshire and West Lothian coupled with improvements at stations will transform the journey experience for passengers who will enjoy the benefits of improved services for many years to come