Levenmouth rail project to reuse tracks from original line

Network Rail

WORK to bring rail travel back to Levenmouth for the first time in half a century will see the reuse of infrastructure from the village’s original rail line.

Removing the disused track and excavating the old ballast will help create a clear area for when the construction of the new lines begin in early 2022.

The development will bring 19 kilometres of new railway as well as two new stations, allowing residents of the Fife settlement to travel directly to Edinburgh by train – for the first time since 1969.

Network Rail said that 100% of the removed track will be re-used, recycled or repurposed on the project or donated to railway heritage initiatives.

Groups such as Leven Heritage, Shed 47, Dunfermline Caledonia Heritage Society, and Bo’ness Heritage Railway all received ‘significant’ quantities of track and sleepers removed from the site.

Joe Mulvenna, Network Rail project manager for the Levenmouth Rail link, said, “This is the most significant phase of preparatory work so far on the project and we are literally clearing the way for the start of construction early next year. While clearing the old track breaks a link with the past, its important that we can re-use and recycle the redundant assets for use on heritage railways and some can be repurposed for the new line.

“It’s great to see local groups benefit from what was a redundant asset and to know the old Levenmouth railway will again serve passengers on the heritage railways, including locally in Fife.”

Network Rail said that the project’s next step will be to sink a ‘significant’ number of trial boreholes all along the 5-mile route. As well as testing the ground, it will also sample for contamination.