MORE than 3,690 recycled plastic sleepers have been laid in a 175-year-old Perthshire railway tunnel as part of a £6 million Network Rail project.
The work, at Moncrieffe Tunnel, marks the first time that composite sleepers – which lay on top of the ballast, hold up the rails, and keep them the correct distance apart – have been used at such volume anywhere on Scotland’s railway.
Network Rail explained that the recycled composite sleepers will help it in its aim to achieve a net zero carbon target by 2035, as well as offering a ‘significant’ life cycle of 50 years at which point they will be able to again be recycled.
10,860 tonnes of ballast was laid, as well as around 6,000m of new rails, and 448 concrete sleepers on both lines. At over 1,000m long, Moncrieffe Tunnel – which first opened in May 1848 – is the fifth longest and one of the oldest railway tunnels in Scotland.
Craig Barclay, operations director, said, “The work we’ve completed at Moncrieffe Tunnel will keep the railway, and train services, as reliable as possible now and in the future. While the tunnel has had a long and very significant history, we’ve used innovative and modern technology that’ll keep trains moving on what is a vital route on Scotland’s railway. We thank passengers for their patience while we carried out the work.”
