NETWORK Rail has unveiled the first of ‘several’ new electricity feeder stations for Scotland’s railway.
It comes as part of a £120 million programme to enhance the resilience and reliability of rail infrastructure, as well as supporting additional electrically powered passenger and freight traffic.
The first feeder station was put in place at Ferguslie at the weekend, with it set to connect to the network in September. A Tadano crane (ATF220G) was used to lift it into place, with a temporary surface constructed to position the crane on.
Lesley Pringle, project manager for traction power at Network Rail, said, “The £120 million investment from the Scottish Government for this programme is key to helping us meet our target to decarbonise Scotland’s Railway by 2035.
“This is the first of the new feeder stations to arrive and it’s a definitely been a challenging site but our colleagues from across the Scotland’s Railway team have worked tirelessly to ensure it runs smoothly.”
Brain Sweeney, project delivery engineering manager at Network Rail, added, “This work will boost the supply to our network in the central belt. This will help to deliver power to newly electrified lines and also provides us the additional capacity to run more trains on the existing network.
“This will ultimately deliver more green and sustainable travel options for people and freight customers, removing many more vehicles from the roads in Scotland.”
Allan Black, senior project manager at SPL Powerlines, commented, “We’re lifting the feeder station into position and it will be brought into service during September once all the relevant testing and safety procedures are complete. There has been a significant amount of work to prepare for this, and we’re already on site working at the next locations.
“Work started in the central belt and will extend as far as East Kilbride, Borders, Barrhead and Fife with completion due in 2026.”
