Monday the 24th of April will see weekday services between Glasgow and Carlisle resume on the West Coast Mainline. The services return after work completed on the latest stage of the £164m upgrade project for Carstairs junction, which sits 26 miles to the southeast of Glasgow.
The project will also see overhead power infrastructure alongside signalling systems replaced or renewed.
The line closure began in March and since then the following work has been completed:
- The installation of 7km of track with over 10,000 new sleepers laid.
- The Installation of 135 new overhead line structures alongside the renewal of 22km of wiring
- The laying of 75km of new signalling cables.
As the final stage of the project gets underway, taking place between now and early June, the West Coast Mainline will see closures at the junction on weekends.
As the vital cross-border route sees weekday services return, the project's next stage will focus on additional signalling and overhead wire renewals for sections of track heading towards Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Work will also take place to remodel Carstairs station platforms before it re-opens on Tuesday the 30th of May, coinciding with ScotRail services returning.
The closure of Carstairs junction has had an impact on train operators who offer cross-border services including:
During the closures, the above train operating companies have used diversionary routes in order to provide alternative travel options.
Jim McCleary, Network Rail programme manager for the Carstairs junction remodelling project, said:
“The reintroduction of direct services between Glasgow and Carlisle is fantastic news for passengers.
“Carstairs junction was coming to the end of its operational lifespan and this crucial upgrade work will improve the reliability of this strategically important infrastructure – providing improved journeys for passengers and more capacity for freight.
“The project is progressing well and we look forward to completing our work and fully reopening the line for customers in June.”
Rail customers planning to travel on weekends between now and Sunday the 4th of June including the bank holiday weekends in May are advised to check their travel plans before making their journey using www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk or via their train operator.
A flyover or underpass would of been built to cope with the bottleneck at Carstairs Junction.
It’s nice to see the Carstairs project progressing so rapidly. I just wish that the Scottish government would get on with theor rolling program of electrification with the same haste, and also get an order in for new Bi-mode trains to replace their HST’s and Class 170 fleets. A version of 5 car Class 802 with 100mph gearing would do very nicely. I can’t see any stretch of the Highland Main Line, Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line, or Inverness to Aberdeen Line ever being upgraded above 100mph. Through 100mph gearing, an 802 variant would fly over the Highlands.