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The rails will be transported by train from the manufacturer on specially designed wagons. Each train will carry twenty-four 108m long rail sections. (Photo: Network Rail)
Scottish Borders rail installation completed
Published: Wed, 2015-02-18 11:42-
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More than 90,000 sleepers laid
The installation of almost 30 miles of rail on the new Borders Railway was officially ended (Thursday, February 12) when Keith Brown, cabinet secretary for infrastructure, joined the project team to clip the final length of rail into place.
Arriving by rail at Tweedbank station, on the first train to reach the end of the new line, Mr Brown clipped the final rail into place alongside Hugh Wark, Network Rail’s project director.
Since track-laying commenced in October last year, over 1000 rails have using a specialist rail installation machine.
The longest new domestic railway built in Britain in over a century, the Scottish Government-funded Borders Railway will re-establish passenger services for the first time in over 40 years from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank.
With the rails now in place, the project team will focus on completing ballast spreading, tamping and welding on the track, installing signalling and communications equipment and completing the construction and fitout of seven new stations – at Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank.
With construction due to complete in the summer and the line to enter service in September 2015, the new railway will offer a fast and efficient alternative to the congested local road network allowing passengers to travel from Tweedbank to Edinburgh in around an hour at peak time.
The railway is expected to deliver major economic and social development opportunities – connecting people to jobs, housing, leisure opportunities and other facilities. The project is a key part of the Scottish Government’s wider programme of investment in transport infrastructure, working towards the sustainable economic growth of Scotland.
Source: Network Rail
Av Markku Björkman
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