Rail link enters final phase

The entire section of new line, connecting Bathgate and Drumgelloch will be laid by the end of August. Since June this year, 15km of new track has been laid, stretching from Bathgate to the Hillend Loch near Caldercruix in North Lanarkshire. Just another 8.5km of track will complete the 23.5km new link.

A 200 tonne, mobile track laying machine has been instrumental in this achievement. Laying up to 1.2km of track each day along the route, it is faster and more cost effective than conventional track laying methods.

From mid-August, the track laying machine will be back on site to lay the final 7km between Hillend Loch and Drumgelloch.

The 1.5km stretch of railway track between Airdrie and Drumgelloch will be laid using conventional methods during the first weeks of August.

Hugh Wark, senior project manager commented:

"Completion of the track laying work is a major milestone. Track is the most identifiable evidence of a railway and I think it has lifted everyone to see it stretching along the new route.

"Completing the new tracks between Bathgate and Airdrie will be a great achievement for us and keeps us on course for finishing the project by December of this year."

Scotland's Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, visited the project at Bathgate recently and declared he is pleased by the project's success to date.

He said: "Scotland has the toughest climate change legislation anywhere in the world and our climate change delivery plan means persuading motorists to get out of their cars and use more sustainable forms of transport.

"That's why we are investing £300 million in the Airdrie to Bathgate route to bring considerable benefits for the communities along the route, forming a direct rail link to Glasgow and Edinburgh for areas like Caldercruix, Blackridge and Armadale for the first time in 50 years."

The new station at Bathgate, which will be located on Edinburgh Road, will include a ticket office, two platforms, a footbridge, lifts and stairs.