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Friday 1 Feb 2019

Vital £9m rail upgrade set to begin on Aberdeen-Dundee line

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail engineers will be delivering a £9m programme of track and level crossing enhancements between Aberdeen and Dundee over six weekends in February and March.

Engineers will renew 2,500m of track at a number of locations along the line between the two cities, as well as upgrading Carnoustie level crossing and renewing Carmont level crossing.

During the track renewal work, more than 8,000 tonnes of old material will be removed from the railway and replaced with new ballast (the stones under the tracks). We will also install 3,500 new concrete sleepers and 2,500m of rail.

At Carnoustie, the crossing on Station Road will be upgraded with engineers replacing the existing two long level crossing barriers with four short barriers, signalling equipment will be enhanced and the level crossing surface will be renewed.

Due to the complexity of the engineering work and the heavy machinery involved, these projects cannot be delivered without some short-term closures of the line.

The railway will be closed on Sundays between February 10 and March 17, with buses replacing trains between Aberdeen and Dundee while we deliver this vital investment in Scotland’s railway.

Lindsay Saddler, infrastructure director, said: “The work we are undertaking is vital for the long-term future reliability of the line.

“Our engineers will be working around-the-clock on each Sunday to complete these complex projects as quickly as possible.

“We understand the inconvenience these works will cause to some passengers, residents and motorists which is why we are working at weekends, when fewer people are travelling, in order to limit disruption as much as possible.”