£250m Edinburgh-Glasgow rail line contract awarded

A £250 million contract to electrify rail lines and extend station platforms to improve journey on the Edinburgh to Glasgow line has been awarded.

The plan is to electrify the lines. Picture: Michael Gillen

Costain and Morgan Sindall will work with Network Rail on the engineering aspects of the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme, with piling works to create the foundations needed to erect overhead power lines starting this week to be completed by next summer.

It is hoped the improvements will reduce journey times between the cities by 20% and increase capacity on the trains by 30%.

Earlier this year, it emerged that the cost of EGIP had risen from £650 million to £741.5 million. Funded by the Scottish Government, the project will deliver a rolling programme of electrification across the central belt over the next five years and beyond.