Work is now well underway at Thornton Junction on the reinstatement of the Branch Line to Levenmouth with freight carrying capacity. Now a further boost for the Kingdom of Fife has been announced in the form of electrification works along the route known as the Fife Ring.
Transport Scotland, Network Rail and their industry partners are working closely to delivery a programme which is significantly expanded from the original project scope.
The line between Haymarket in the centre of Edinburgh to Dalmeny at the southern end of the Forth Bridge has been electrified, the line to Leven will be double tracked and also electrified, two new stations will be built and there will be improvements made to part of the local highway network.
This will enable 42 old, life-expired diesel trains to be replaced with electric trains.
Much of the the old track and usable infrastructure will be made available to heritage railways for re-use and Scottish Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth, is looking forward to the removal of all diesel powered trains from passenger services across Scotland by 2035.