News - Electrification
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In a world first, electric resistant paint combined with voltage-controlled clearance (VCC) has helped make a Victorian railway bridge usable by new electric trains, avoiding weeks of passenger disruption and train delays in the process.
(Permalink) Cardiff Electric resistant paint Electrification Network Rail |
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Preliminary works will soon begin to lay foundations for overhead powerlines along the East Kilbride-Glasgow Central railway as part of a multi-million-pound investment in the route.
[See also official press release item, 19th, below.] (Permalink) East Kilbridge Electrification |
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Work will soon begin to lay foundations for overhead powerlines along the East Kilbride-Glasgow Central railway as part of a multi-million-pound investment in the route.
(Permalink) East Kilbride Electrification |
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Scotland's railway has been a success story in recent years, with substantial investment in electrification, infrastructure enhancements and new fleets.
(Permalink) Electrification ScotRail |
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A Scottish Power cable has fallen onto the overhead lines which power electric rail services at Scremerston on the East Coast Main Line.
(Permalink) Delay East Coast Main Line Electrification Scottish Power Scremerston |
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Rail bosses have been urged to make the most of plans to electrify tracks between Longannet and Alloa by extending the project further into west Fife.
(Permalink) Alloa Dunfermline Electrification Kincardine Stirling |
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In early September, Scottish Government placed rail freight squarely at the heart of the low carbon economy when they chose the Mossend International Railfreight Park to launch their new Green Investment Portfolio. The scheme aims to attract international investors for ten low carbon eco-friendly projects across Scotland, which range from hydrogen development, to advanced manufacturing and recycling.
(Permalink) Electrification Green Investment Portfolio |
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Network Rail is inviting residents in the Huddersfield area and across the wider region to view the latest online proposals for major upgrades to the railway between Huddersfield and Westtown (Dewsbury). The plans include electrifying the eight mile stretch and doubling the number of railway tracks from two to four. This work would bring a more modern and reliable railway for passengers, allow more trains to run and better connect the region. Improvement work is also planned at Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe stations.
(Permalink) Electrification Huddersfield.Dewsbury Quadrupling |
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The East Coast Main Line Power Supply Upgrade is to power forward into its second phase to enhance the East Coast network, bolstered by a £216.2m contract award for the Rail Electrification Alliance.
(Permalink) East Coast Main Line Electrification Network Rail |
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Train passengers in Helensburgh are being urged to postpone their journeys after ScotRail warned of major disruption to services.
(Permalink) Cancellations Electrification |
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Network Rail has published its interim Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, setting out preliminary recommendations for meeting government ambitions to decarbonise the rail network.
(Permalink) Electrification |
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Calls for Hull routes to be electrified to boost economy and improve journey times.
(Permalink) Electrification Hull |
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Passenger services could be reinstated between Clackmannanshire and Fife in Scotland, depending on the outcome of the next phase of development work between Alloa and Longannet. Network Rail engineers will be carrying out survey work and site and geological investigations which will help inform the development of a project which could enhance and electrify the line.
(Permalink) Alloa Dunfermline Electrification Kincardine Longannet Stirling |
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Through its KeolisAmey joint venture it said it is committing to Wales for the long-term.
(Permalink) Amey Electrification Keolis |
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France's state-owned railway company SNCF has issued an apology after a major electrical failure trapped thousands of passengers overnight.
(Permalink) Electrification |
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Scotland's Transport Secretary Michael Matheson visited the ground investigation works for the East Kilbride rail corridor project.
The post Scotlands Transport Secretary visits progress on East Kilbride electrification appeared first on Rail Business Daily. (Permalink) East Kilbride Electrification Michael Matheson |
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Services from Glasgow Queen Street to the likes of Edinburgh and Helensburgh are being affected.
(Permalink) Cancellations Electrification |
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Network Rail has issued a warning about the dangers of overhead electric wires after kite flyers in Buckinghamshire risked their lives and caused delays for passengers because they were flying too close to the railway.
(Permalink) Electrification |
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Commitment to decarbonise passenger rail services by 2035. Plans to decarbonise Scotland's rail passenger services by 2035 have been launched by Transport Secretary Michael Matheson today.
Railscot note - PDF page 8 shows electrification of lines by 2035: - Glasgow - Aberdeen - Inverurie - All lines in Fife including Levenmouth - Highland Main Line - Borders line - Glasgow - Barrhead - Dumfries - Carlisle - East Kilbride - Kilmarnock - Ayr - Anniesland - Maryhill Partial electrification or alternative technology: - Ayr- Girvan - Inverurie - Inverness - Tain Battery or alternative technology: - West Highland Lines - Far North Line - Kyle Line - Girvan - Stranraer (Permalink) Aberdeen Barrhead Battery train Borders line Dumfries East Kilbride Electrification Far North Line Fife Girvan Highland Main Line Inverurie Kilmarnock Kyle Line Levenmouth Maryhill Stranraer Tain West Highland Lines  Scotland: Transport Scotland - Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan for 2035. Lines shown in red are to be electrified. Those in yellow to be alternative traction, possibly prior to electrification. Those ... |
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Network Rail has announced that tree cutting work on the line between Glasgow and East Kilbride / Barrhead, paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will now resume.
(Permalink) Barrhead Covid-19 East Kilbride Electrification Network Rail  East Kilbride: Clearing the trees and vegetation along the 11-mile railway corridor is now underway and will be ongoing until December. It will enable site and geological investigation (SI/GI) which will inform the ... |
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Balfour Beatty has completed the work to electrify the 77km Bristol-Cardiff rail line on the Great Western Railway (GWR) line.
(Permalink) Electrification GWR |
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ScotRail has reached another milestone in delivering a better service for customers with the introduction of the first ever Hitachi class 385 electric train on the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts line.
Following the completion of the Network Rail £160m electrification of the line, the rail operator is now able to run electric trains along the popular route, and launched the first customer service earlier today (Tuesday). (Permalink) Class 385 Electrification Shotts |
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Network Rail has completed the £160m electrification of the Shotts Line on time and on budget.
(Permalink) Electrification Shotts |
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Network Rail achieved a key milestone on the Shotts Line electrification project on Sunday when the first electric train ran on the route.
(Permalink) Electrification Shotts  Breich: Freightliner 86638 and 86627 pass the rebuilt Breich Station with an OHLE test train from Mossend to Midcalder Junction. (With thanks to Iain Teaz for alerting us to the first electric test trains run ... |
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Breich station will close for 12 weeks from Saturday 23 June as part of the work to electrify the Shotts line between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central.
(Permalink) Breich Electrification Shotts |
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The ScotRail Alliance has upgraded a number of stations between Glasgow and Edinburgh, ahead of brand new electric trains entering service in the coming months. Former waiting areas at Croy, Falkirk High, Polmont, Linlithgow and Haymarket have been transformed into new ScotRail lounges.
Customers can now benefit from a refurbished area with padded benches, new flooring, and softer lighting, making the stations a more pleasant and relaxing place to catch a train. (Permalink) Croy EGIP Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Electrification Falkirk High Haymarket Linlithgow Polmont |
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The Edinburgh Glasgow Central via Shotts line has re-opened to passengers following a 10 day closure to enable part of a £3.5m redevelopment of Livingston South station.
(Permalink) Electrification Livingston South Shotts |
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With around 7,000 new rail vehicles on order to replace more than half of the passenger rolling stock fleet, Britains trains are about to change as never before. Scotland is no exception. In 2018, Hitachis Class 385 electric multiple units (EMUs) will replace the Class 170 diesel multiple units (DMUs) on the Edinburgh to Glasgow main line. Once further electrification is completed, more Class 385s will displace DMUs on services to Dunblane and through Shotts.
This year will also see some of the iconic British Rail High Speed Trains (HSTs) get a new lease of life as specially refurbished four and five-car sets operating on Scottish Inter-City services. (Permalink) Alloa Class 170 Class 385 Dunblane Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Electrification HST Hitachi Shotts Stirling  Haymarket MPD: Maintenance work in progress in the new shed at Haymarket on 13 February 2007. The facility had been officially opened during a ceremony earlier that day by Transport Minister Tavish Scott, accompanie ...  Craigentinny Depot: Scene at Craigentinny on 23 June as 66132 passes on the main line with the empty Binliner containers from Oxwelmains returning to Powderhall, while West Coast Railway locomotives 47826 and 3302 ...  Clayhills Yard: Looking over the servicing and stabling areas to the south of Aberdeen station on Sunday 5 November 2006 with a ScotRail 170 DMU receiving attention. The station itself is off picture to the left and ... |
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Livingston South station is set to undergo a £3.5m transformation this spring.
The work is part of a £160m project to electrify the Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Central line, which will close for 10 days at Easter. From Thursday, March 29, to Monday, April 9, no trains will run on the line via Shotts while Network Rail engineers work to widen and extend both platforms at Livingston South. As well as work to the platforms, the redevelopment will see the construction of lifts on both sides of the station to deliver step-free access, installation of new staircases and the re-alignment of existing ramps. (Permalink) Electrification Livingston South Shotts  Livingston South: An Edinburgh-bound 156 and a 158 for Glasgow pass at Livi South on a fine 24 July.  Livingston South: A Railhead treatment train approaches MidCalder Jct with Livingston south station in the background in October 2005  Livingston South: It's Festival time again! An attractive combination of liveries at Livingston South station on 14 August 2008. The train looks nice too - in this case the 1215 Glasgow Central - Edinburgh Waverley ser ... |
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Scotland's Edinburgh - Glasgow Improvement Programme (Egip) celebrated a milestone on December 10 with the start of electric services from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley via Falkirk High.
ScotRail has replaced the class 170 DMUs previously used on these services with class 380 EMUs, although the use of these trains on the route is a temporary measure pending the introduction of new Hitachi class 385 EMUs next year. (Permalink) Class 170 Class 380 Class 385 EGIP Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Electrification Hitachi |
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Closure-threatened Breich Station, which has fewer than three passengers a week, has been reprieved after a public outcry. Transport minister Humza Yousaf has also ordered more trains to call at the West Lothian stop to add to the current one train in each direction a day. Network Rail launched a consultation into its closure in the summer because of the high cost of upgrading work as part of electrifying the secondary Edinburgh-Glasgow line via Shotts. The rail body said replacement of a footbridge, platforms, waiting shelters and CCTV would cost £1.4 million. It would have been the first closure of a Scottish station for 31 years - after Balloch Pier in 1986. Breich served just 138 passengers in 2015-16 - an average of 2.6 passengers a week.
(Permalink) Breich Electrification Shotts |
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ScotRail has completed a test of an electric train along the full route between Edinburgh and Glasgow for the first time.
It comes after a successful trial between Edinburgh and Linlithgow in West Lothian in the early hours of October 18. One of the new Hitachi Class 385 electric trains has now travelled between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street for the first time, making the trip at 12.30am on Wednesday. (Permalink) Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Electrification |
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Transport secretary Chris Grayling is preparing to delay the electrification of huge swathes of the railway network amid a deepening funding crisis at Network Rail.
Plans to upgrade core stretches of track on the TransPennine, Midland Mainline and Great Western routes to run electric trains are set to be put back by years in favour of new bi-mode trains that run on both diesel and electricity. (Permalink) Chris Grayling Electrification Great Western Midland Mainline TransPennine |
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Plans to close Breich Station in West Lothian, used by just three passengers a week, have been announced by Network Rail. If confirmed, the unstaffed station on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line via Shotts would be the first Scottish closure since 1986 when Balloch Pier Station on Loch Lomond shut. The move has been prompted by the £1.4 million cost of replacing its footbridge as part of electrification of the line, which would be saved. It is understood the station is likely to have stayed open otherwise. Only one train a day in each direction stops at Breich, which was opened in 1869, with no trains on Sundays. It served just 138 passengers in 2015-16 - an average of 2.6 passengers a week.
(Permalink) Breich Electrification Shotts |
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ScotRail has unveiled the first in a fleet of electric trains the company is billing as 'faster, longer and greener'.
The Class 385 train, which was built by Hitachi, is the first of 70 that will operate on Scotland's busiest route from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Falkirk. They will also be used between Stirling, Alloa and Dunblane, as well as some routes south of Glasgow. Night testing of the train will start this week, ScotRail said. (Permalink) Alloa Class 385 Dunblane Electrification Hitachi Stirling  Glasgow Queen Street High Level: Mock up image of a Hitachi Rail Europe Class 385 AT200 train for Abellio's ScotRail franchise at Queen Street. 70 of these are due to enter service in 2017/2018. |
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The costs of two more flagship rail projects in Scotland have soared.
A Sunday Post investigation earlier this month revealed works on lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Aberdeen to Inverness, were tens of millions of pounds over budget. Now its been confirmed that electrification work on the Stirling, Alloa and Dunblane lines, as well as a 46-mile section of the Shotts line, is currently 50% over budget. The Office of Rail and Road confirmed it had launched an investigation into the budget overruns, blamed on poor design and extra costs of meeting safety legislation. (Permalink) Aberdeen Alloa Dunblane Edinburgh Electrification Glasgow Inverness Overspend Shotts Stirling |
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Electric GWR trains have started running for the first time.
GWR said four Bombardier Electrostar sets running as two eight-car formations launched the service between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington today, with the first train leaving Paddington at 07.15. The inaugural up service left Hayes three minutes later. The launch marks a notable landmark in the often controversial project to electrify the Great Western Main Line, although the first electric trains are relying on overhead equipment which was installed almost 20 years ago for Heathrow Express. There are hopes that the new electric services can be extended to Maidenhead and then on to Reading by 2017, which is also set to become the western terminus of the Elizabeth line the following year. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) Electrification GWR  Paddington: View over Paddington station in April 2011 with a First Great Western HST about to depart.  Paddington: Looking back towards the station concourse from the footbridge at Paddington in July 2005.  Paddington: Castle class 4-6-0 no 5079 Lysander getting ready to leave Paddington in 1959 with the 'Torbay Express'. |
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Designs for the 70 new trains being built for the ScotRail fleet have been unveiled by the transport minister and new franchise holder Abellio.
The new trains are said to be quieter, faster and longer than current services. They will operate on Scotland's busiest route - the Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk High line - by 2017. They will also be used on the Stirling-Alloa-Dunblane line and south Glasgow suburban routes. (Permalink) Abellio Alloa Dunblane Electrification ScotRail Stirling |
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Electric passenger services began operating between Glasgow and Cumbernauld on May 19, following commissioning of 50 km of 25 kV 50 Hz electrification between Springburn and Cumbernauld.
(Permalink) Electrification  Cumbernauld: SPT liveried 318252 runs into platform 2 at Cumbernauld on 9 May 2014 with a terminating North Clyde electric service. Given the cancellation of the proposed Garngad Chord these trains are required to ...  Cumbernauld: Unit 101 692 on the crossover from the reversing siding at Cumbernauld in July 1997 about to form the next service to Motherwell. The unit is in experimental ScotRail red, blue an gold livery.  Cumbernauld: One of Grangemouth's Standard class 4 2-6-0s no 76113 runs south through Cumbernauld station on 3 August 1965 at the head of a mixed freight. |
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EGIP has delivered a number of key infrastructure and service improvements, including the electrification of Haymarket Tunnel and new services introduced on the Edinburgh Glasgow via Shotts and Carstairs lines. The £27 million redevelopment of Haymarket Station is expected to open to the public in December 2013 and route clearance works in advance of the electrification of the Edinburgh Glasgow and Stirling-Alloa-Dunblane lines are well underway.
(Permalink) Alloa EGIP Electrification Haymarket Tunnel Shotts |
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Network Rail today announced that Carillion has won the contract to deliver the electrification of the Cumbernauld-Glasgow Queen Street line. The £40m contract will see over 50km of railway electrified, as part of a wider £80m investment in the line between Cumbernauld and Scotland's largest city. As well as the main works, Carillion will also be lengthening the Cumbernauld station platforms and constructing a turnback facility at Springburn.
(Permalink) Carillion Cumbernauld Electrification Network Rail  Springburn: Springburn Station seen on 16 October with a recently arrived 334 013 at Platform 3 and 170 411 about to leave on the final leg of a Cumbernauld to Queen Street service at Platform 1. The only point ...  Grangemouth Junction: View east from Grahams Road bridge, Falkirk, during a warm and pleasant afternoon on 25 July 2011, with the east end of the platforms of Grahamston station directly below the camera position. DBS 6614 ...  Cumbernauld: Ex-WD Austerity 2-8-0 No 90547 brings an up freight through Cumbernauld station in August 1965. |
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