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Tuesday 23 Sep 2008

NORTH BERWICK LINE TO BENEFIT FROM £3M TRACK RENEWALS PROJECT

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

• Works vital to continued operation of reliable services on the route • First ScotRail to provide replacement bus services to minimise disruption

Network Rail is to invest £3m on renewing track on the line between Edinburgh and North Berwick this autumn.

The vital maintenance programme, which will help deliver a continued regular and reliable service for passengers, will run for five consecutive weekends from Saturday, September 27 to Sunday, October 26 (Sept 27/28, October 4/5, 11/12, 18/19 and 25/26).

The work will require bus replacement services to operate between Edinburgh and North Berwick over the affected weekends while our engineers renew life-expired track and install new switches and crossings.

The buses will call at the same stops as the timetabled train services, but journey times may be extended.

Network Rail is working closely with First ScotRail to minimise disruption for passengers and to conclude these engineering works as quickly and efficiently as possible.

David Simpson, Network Rail route director Scotland, said: “These works are essential for maintaining the railway and will allow for the continued operation of reliable passenger services on this busy route in the future.

“We appreciate the impact this work will have on passengers and are focused on ensuring our activities cause minimum disruption. We have also confined the work to weekends to reduce its effects on the travelling public.”

Steve Montgomery, First ScotRail's operations and safety director, urged passengers to allow extra time for their journeys.

He added: “We recognise these works are necessary. We apologise for the inconvenience they will cause and have done everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum.”

Further Information is available from the National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or at www.nationalrail.co.uk