NETWORK RAIL AWARDS KEY AIRDRIE-BATHGATE DESIGN CONTRACT
Monday October 29, 2007
Network Rail has appointed Scott Wilson Group plc to finalise the designs for the new £300m Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link and its supporting infrastructure.
The £10.6m contract announced today will see Scott Wilson provide structural, geotechnical, track, station and depot design services as part of Network Rail’s project to create a new link between the east and west.
The company has already been heavily involved with the Transport Scotland-funded project for more than a year, having been commissioned in September 2006 to draw up outline designs for the proposed new route.
The Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link, which gained Royal Assent in May 2007, will re-open the passenger route between the two towns more than 50 years after its closure. Advance works on the project, which include double-tracking the line between Bathgate and Edinburgh and upgrading Livingston North and Uphall stations, began in June. The main works, for which Scott Wilson is finalising designs, are expected to begin in autumn 2008. It is anticipated that services will be running the length of the new railway in December 2010.
The project includes reinstating more than 15 miles of track, building new stations at Armadale and Caldercruix and re-locating stations at Bathgate and Drumgelloch. The stations at Airdrie, Livingston North and Uphall are also being upgraded as part of the scheme.
When complete, the rail link will bring extensive passenger benefits including four more trains per hour in each direction between Glasgow and Edinburgh and improved reliability of existing services.
Ron McAulay, Network Rail Director Scotland, said: “This ambitious project is the biggest of its kind currently being undertaken on Scotland’s railways and it will bring huge social and economic benefits to those living in the communities the new line will serve, and to Scotland as a whole.
"Network Rail is committed to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism in delivering major projects such as this, and in Scott Wilson we are confident we have found a design partner capable of matching our ideals."
Geoff French, Scott Wilson Chairman, added: "We are very pleased to have secured this prestigious work, which plays to our core strength in rail, and in doing so helps cement our position as market leader in the Scottish rail market. We look forward to working with Network Rail to expand the rail network and provide considerable benefits to the Scottish economy."