A new £3.6 million footbridge and lifts have been installed at Dumfries Railway Station by Network Rail and STORY engineers.
The installation was completed using a 500-tonne crane and a 110-tonne crane, with engineers working through the night on Saturday (April 13) into Sunday.
The work followed a successful inspection and trial build of the footbridge, fabricated in Annan by M&S Engineering Ltd, last month. Work is now underway to complete the entire project, with the new lifts and bridge set to open to passengers this summer.
The new accessible footbridge weighs 51 tonnes and has 2,389 individual parts, pieced together with 973 bolts. It incorporates elements from the original footbridge at Dumfries station, including a saltire design on the bridge parapet and curved detail on the bridge deck. Open railings on the staircase and a sandstone cladding system on the lift towers have also been included to complement the station’s heritage features.
Amanda Naughton, scheme project manager at Network Rail, said, “The successful installation of the new steel structure by crane marks a key milestone in our project to improve accessibility at Dumfries station.
“We’ve worked collaboratively with our principal contractor STORY and train operator ScotRail to make sure this key activity was completed safely and on time without any impact on rail services.
“We would like to thank members of the public for their cooperation and understanding while our work is ongoing.
“There is still a lot to do before passengers will be able to use the footbridge and the lifts, but we hope everyone living nearby and using the station is pleased with the progress so far and is looking forward to the benefits that this new accessible footbridge will bring.”
