The Borders Railway will be closed over three weekends next month, so that parts of the line can be electrified.
The scheme was announced in September last year by transport secretary Fiona Hyslop as part of an investment of £342 million in electrification and electric trains for Glasgow, Fife and the Borders Railway, which was reopened in September 2015 between Edinburgh (Newcraighall), Galashiels and Tweedbank. Since then more than 13 million journeys have been made on the line. It is part of the former Waverley Route which continued to Hawick and Carlisle, and campaigners are continuing to press for this section to restored as well.
Overhead 25kV lines will be installed between Newcraighall and Shawfair, and between Bowshank Tunnel, south of Stow, and the terminus at Tweedbank. The section between Edinburgh and Newcraighall is already electrified, and passive provision was made for future electrification when the line to Tweedbank was being reconstructed over ten years ago.
The newly-electrified sections will allow the diesel units on the line to be replaced by hybrid battery electrics.
Engineers are due to start work on preparing for piling on Saturday, and the three weekend possessions have been scheduled for 14-16, 21-23 and 28-30 March. More work will be carried out overnight.
Network Rail Scotland scheme project manager Lynsey Maclean said: ‘The Borders Railway was rebuilt with future electrification in mind, which means we can deliver this work with far less intrusive engineering than is required on many older parts of the network, where we often need to lower track or raise bridges. The infrastructure here is already suitable for this next stage of modernisation.
‘Piling is still a vital early step in installing the overhead line equipment that will eventually power electric trains. Our teams have planned the activity carefully to keep disruption to a minimum for passengers and those living near the railway.’
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