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Tuesday 26 Mar 2024

Take a look at Dumfries station’s new £3.6m footbridge after trial assembly is completed

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

This is the first look at the new footbridge that’ll be installed at Dumfries station next month.

Engineers put together the structure in what was an off-site trial run in Annan last week.

Network Rail will install the footbridge and new lifts as part of a £3.6m ‘Access for All’ scheme investment to make the station more easily accessible for those with reduced mobility, prams and luggage.

During the trial the bridge’s steelwork, fabricated locally by M&S Engineering Ltd, was inspected and approved for the next stages of production by the project team.

It will now be dismantled and painted before being transferred to Dumfries ahead of its installation by crane, due to take place overnight on Saturday 13 April.

Train services won’t be disrupted by the work, however, the car park at platform 2 will be closed from midnight on Wednesday 10 April until Monday 15 April to allow the cranes to move in and complete the work.

Amanda Naughton, Network Rail’s scheme project manager for Dumfries station’s accessibility improvements said: “It was great to see the bridge assembled and to get a sense of what it will look like ahead of installation.

“We are delighted with the progress that has been made on this project and would like to thank passengers and the wider public for their patience while this work is ongoing.”

Over the past months, preparatory works on site have been making great progress.

Pile installation is complete and work is now focussed on building the lift shafts and bridge foundations to support the new bridge.

It is estimated 100 cubic metres of concrete and 20 tonnes of reinforcement will be used to construct these foundations.

The new accessible footbridge weighs 51 tonnes and has 2,389 individual parts, pieced together with 973 bolts. It incorporates elements from the original footbridge at Dumfries station, including a saltire design on the bridge parapet and curved detail on the bridge deck.

Open railings on the staircase and a sandstone cladding system on the lift towers have also been included to complement the station’s heritage features.