Vital upgrades on Edinburgh Haymarket track to take place over Christmas

Network Rail has announced that its engineers will be working to renew Edinburgh’s Haymarket junction over Christmas.
Network Rail engineers will be working to renew Edinburghs Haymarket junction on Christmas Day.Network Rail engineers will be working to renew Edinburghs Haymarket junction on Christmas Day.
Network Rail engineers will be working to renew Edinburghs Haymarket junction on Christmas Day.

The transport body stated that, beginning on Christmas Day (25 Dec), essential track work will be carried out with major upgrades to renew four sets of points and replace of 250m of track.

Running from the 25 to 29 December, Network Rail said the project will ensure that the track is suitable for "decades to come" and will see improved reliability of the track for passengers.

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The Junction, located west of Haymarket station, is one of the busiest on Scotland’s Railway, used by up to 30 trains per hour.

The firm added that the works have been delibaerately planned to coincide with the Christmas and Boxing day holidays, when no ScotRail trains run to Edinburgh, minimising passenger disruption.

They stated that a replacement bus will be in operation for the days that are affected by the upgrade work from stations to the west of the city into Edinburgh Waverly.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland route director, said: “Haymarket East junction is a key part of Scotland’s Railway and is used by hundreds of trains a day travelling to destinations across Scotland and England.

“We understand the inconvenience this work will cause to some passengers, but renewing such a complex piece of our railway cannot be accomplished without a short-term closure of the line.

“Our engineers have carefully planned this project to be completed as quickly as possible and we are working hard alongside our train operators to keep passengers informed of the changes to services during this important investment in the railway.”

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