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Monday 14 Jan 2008

SHIELDS JUNCTION ENGINEERING WORKS COMPLETED – 14 Jan 2008

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Services between Glasgow Central and Inverclyde, Ayrshire and Paisley returned to normal this morning following the completion of major engineering and resignalling works at Shields Junction.

The end of the works at Shields will allow First ScotRail to operate its full timetable of services to all destinations via Paisley Gilmour Street and also on the Paisley Canal line.

David Simpson, Route Director for Network Rail in Scotland, said: “Network Rail undertook a massive programme of engineering works in Scotland over the Christmas and New Year period, as part of our continued programme of investment in Scotland’s railways. The vast majority of these works were completed to time, but we will make no excuses for the overrun at Shields and apologise once again for the disruption last week.”

The project at Shields Junction was a significant investment in Scotland’s rail network, involving the installation of new track, signals and overhead power lines, which will allow for faster journeys through the junction and more capacity for future growth in rail services.

The overrun in the works was caused by difficulties encountered by engineers when integrating new signalling equipment with the existing infrastructure and the need to make design modifications on-site.

A full investigation into the cause of the overrun at Shields Junction has been launched to help prevent a recurrence of these issues in the future.

During the Christmas and New Year break, 35 major improvement schemes were carried out across Britain, of which 33 were completed successfully and on time. In Scotland, major engineering works at Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central station and in the North East were all completed successfully.
ENDS Notes to editors: What caused the over-run at Shields Junction? The Shields Junction project has involved a massive amount of engineering works such as the relaying tracks and the installation of new overhead lines and new signals. All engineering works progressed to schedule, but we encountered unexpected issues with integrating the newly-installed signals with existing signals on the route. This issue only emerged at the final, signal testing stage of the project and has required on-site redesigning of some of the signalling systems at the junction, significantly reducing the number of lines available for train services. What is the Shields Junction renewal project about? It is a £9million modernisation project which will allow for further services to run through this busy section of track. It includes a remodelling of the track layout as well as new signalling infrastructure. What other engineering work has Network Rail carried out recently? Network Rail carries out thousands of projects every year - a variety of large and complex projects and smaller, yet important, upgrades. During the Christmas and New Year break, 35 major improvement schemes were carried out (all £1m upwards) of which 33 completed successfully and on time. In Scotland, major engineering works at Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central station and on the Gretna – Annan rail link were completed successfully.