SDA WIRING STARTS TO GO LIVE

Swansong: on 30 April, DMU No 158736 approaches Camelon working the 14.20 service from Falkirk Grahamston to Queen Street via Cumbernauld. The switch-on allows EMUs to take over this service. Ian Lothian

THE FIRST section of the electrification of the lines to Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa has been completed by Network Rail.

Overhead wires from Greenhill Junction, Polmont Junction and Grangemouth Junction to Larbert Junction went live on 1 May. The section covers 26 single track kilometres and includes Falkirk Grahamston and Camelon stations. This allows the existing ScotRail service between Falkirk Grahamston and Glasgow Queen Street to be worked by EMUs, instead of the two DMUs that have worked the service throughout the day.

The work started in November 2016, forming part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP).

The remaining electrification work will take place at night and is due to be completed by 2019. This will allow introduction of EMUs, including ScotRail’s new Hitachi Class 385 units, on services linking Stirling to Glasgow and Edinburgh, with reduced journey times. Introduction of electric trains on these services is also a key enabler to cutting journey times on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route via Falkirk.