WORK to lay foundations that will pave the way for the electrification of the Fife Circle is getting underway. In the first phase of a project which will cost £55m, Network Rail will begin to pile the foundations for the masts to carry the overhead wires between Haymarket and Dalmeny, just south of the Forth Bridge.
“The development work also being progressed on Borders electrification and on procuring new rolling stock shows we are fully focused on rail decarbonisation."
The aim is to have 25 Single Track Kilometres (STKs) electrified by December 2024 as part of Scotland’s aim to decarbonise its network by 2035.
Further phases of work will see the partial electrification of lines in Fife totalling a further 104 STKs, with the aim of introducing battery electric multiple units to replace life-expired DMUs which will be phased out.