Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link | |
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Overview | |
Type | Heavy rail |
System | National Rail |
Status | Operational |
Locale | Central Scotland |
Termini | Edinburgh Glasgow |
Operation | |
Opened | December 2010 |
Owner | Network Rail |
Operator(s) | First ScotRail |
Rolling stock | Class 334 |
Technical | |
No. of tracks | Double |
Track gauge | Standard Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
Electrification | 25 kV 50hz AC OHLE |
Operating speed | 90 mph (140 km/h) max |
Airdrie to Bathgate rail link | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend
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The Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link is a railway in central Scotland.
Instigated as part of a round of transport improvement projects proposed by the then Scottish Executive in 2003, the plan was to open up a fourth direct railway link between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The project was completed in October 2010, at an estimated cost of £300 million.[2] The rail link received the final approval of the Scottish Parliament on 28 March 2007,[3] and gained Royal Assent on 9 May 2007.[4]
Contents |
In line with plans to complete the missing part of the M8 motorway, the Executive stipulated that public transport links between Scotland's two largest cities must improve.
The new line reinstates the Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway between Airdrie and Bathgate, closed to passengers in 1956 and to freight in 1982, joining the North Clyde Line of the Glasgow suburban railway network which currently links the North Lanarkshire town of Airdrie to Glasgow Queen Street railway station, to the Edinburgh to Bathgate Line, which connects with the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines at Haymarket. It is now possible to travel from Edinburgh Waverley to Queen Street (Low Level) in around 65 minutes.[5] It will complement the existing "shuttle" service between Queen Street (High Level) and Edinburgh via Falkirk High, which will remain the primary railway link between the two cities, taking around 50 minutes at peak times.
The line will bring significant benefits to the West Lothian area, connecting it to the Greater Glasgow conurbation. New stations serve the towns of Caldercruix and Armadale, West Lothian, while the new town of Livingston has an additional direct rail link to Glasgow.
In order to permit four trains per hour in each direction, the following improvements to the existing line have been made:
The Class 380s are being delivered to ScotRail for use across the Strathclyde network. This will release the Class 334s for use on the Helensburgh/Milngavie to/from Edinburgh services.
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