Latest Rail News

24.07.15

Edinburgh-Glasgow line electrification work nears completion

Electrification work on the Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street line will be completed this Sunday after much disruption to passenger services in the past six weeks.

The track had been closed for 44 days in order to be lowered to install new slabtracks and electricity conductors as well as remove supporting steel work, repair masonry walls and tamp adjacent tracks.

Improvement engineering works in the Winchburgh tunnel began in June and affected services on the main line between Linlithgow and Haymarket, diverting passengers to rail replacement buses or slower alternative lines in operation on the Dunblane, Stirling and Alloa to Edinburgh line.

winchburghmap edinburgh routes

Services are due to return to normal on Monday (27 July) and trains will resume running between Edinburgh, Falkirk High and Glasgow Queen Street. Services from the Dunblane area will no longer divert via Dalmeny, so passengers travelling to or from Edinburgh Park will not need replacement buses.

The £17m project is part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme and part of a total of £742m worth of transformations.

The project aims to electrify the line by 2016 and redevelop several stations in the hopes of reducing journey times by 20%.

David Dickson, Network Rail’s route managing director for Scotland, said the team worked “around the clock” over the 44-day closure to complete the works, and added: “The Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme is a unique chance to modernise and enhance our railway and transform rail services across the central belt, creating a faster more resilient and more reliable network.”

 

Comments

Nonsuchmike   24/07/2015 at 14:01

More good news for Scotland. We get so little of it down south. Come on you Scots Nats, keep pressing for better rail connectivity in your constituencies as well as more lines on the ground for the trains to run on, including Glasgow Airport, St Andrews, Alloa to Dunfermline, and a far better service to the far north, etc.

Graham Howarth   24/07/2015 at 14:57

Agreed - well done Scotland. Keep this rolling program of electrifiaction going and then teach us English how to do it.

Add your comment

related

Rail industry Focus

View all News

Comment

The challenge of completing Crossrail

05/07/2019The challenge of completing Crossrail

With a new plan now in place to deliver Crossrail, Hedley Ayres, National Audit Office manager, major projects and programmes, takes a look at ho... more >
Preparing the industry to deliver trains for the future

04/07/2019Preparing the industry to deliver trains for the future

The move to decarbonise the rail network involves shifting to cleaner modes of traction by 2050. David Clarke, technical director at the Railway ... more >

Most Read

'the sleepers' blog

On the right track, Sulzer is awarded RISAS accreditation for Nottingham Service Centre

29/06/2020On the right track, Sulzer is awarded RISAS accreditation for Nottingham Service Centre

Following an independent audit, Sulzer’s Nottingham Service Centre has been accepted as part of the rail industry supplier approval scheme (RISAS). The accreditation reinforces the high-quality standards that are maintained by Sulzer’s... more >
read more blog posts from 'the sleeper' >

Interviews

Andrew Haines, CE of Network Rail, tells BBC News his organisation could issue future rail franchises

24/06/2019Andrew Haines, CE of Network Rail, tells BBC News his organisation could issue future rail franchises

Andrew Haines, the Chief Executive of Network Rail, has told the Today programme on Radio 4's BBC’s flagship news programme that he would not rule out his organisation issuing future r... more >
Advancing the rail industry with management degree apprenticeships

08/05/2019Advancing the rail industry with management degree apprenticeships

In answering the pressing questions of how current and future generations of managers can provide solutions to high-profile infrastructure projects across the UK, Pearson Business School, part of... more >