05.10.15
OLE works to start as part of Edinburgh-Glasgow electrification
Engineers are set to install overhead power cables on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line this month as part of the Scottish government-funded £742m electrification programme.
The Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) will move one step forward to its electrification in 2016 as engineers work on the route over the next six months.
They will be installing stanchions to support the new overhead lines and stringing over 150km of power cables between the two cities, with the first sections of cable going up later this month.
Rodger Querns, EGIP programme director, said: “The [EGIP] is a massive investment in Scotland’s railway that will help deliver long-lasting benefits for both individual passengers and the wider economy.
“Electrifying the line between our two biggest cities will allow us to run faster, longer, greener trains and cut journey times while increasing the number of seats available.”
Most of the electrification work will be undertaken at night, with some late evening alterations in place to maximise the time engineers have to complete the job.
In July, electrification work on the Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street line was completed after much disruption to passenger services. The track had been closed for 44 days in order to be lowered to install new slabtracks and electricity conductors, as well as removing supporting steel work, repairing masonry walls and tamping 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.
Now, services will be changed from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh, Flakirk Grahamston and Stirling/Alloa/Dunblane/Dundee, as well as from Balloch to Cumbernauld, to accommodate engineering works.