Borders Railway
The Borders Railway was a major project to construct a new railway from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. This involved approximately 30 miles of new railway and the construction of seven new stations. The Borders Railway re-established passenger railway services for the first time since 1969.
The project was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 14th June 2006 and received Royal Assent on 24th July 2006.
In 2007, Transport Scotland chose a procurement strategy of design, build finance and maintain for the project. In July 2009, three consortia were selected to participate in a competitive dialogue process. By July 2011, two of the consortia had withdrawn from the process. In September 2011, Transport Scotland subsequently terminated their procurement.
Also in September 2011, Transport Scotland approached Network Rail Infrastructure Limited to consider taking on the development and delivery of the project. On 29th September 2011, the Scottish Transport Minister announced that Network Rail would be taking the project forward for completion by 2015.
Borders Railway
The design, construction, testing, commissioning and completion of the project facilitated a timetabled passenger train service to meet the following requirements:
- passenger train services to comprise an extension of the current services to/from Newcraighall
- two passenger train paths per hour in each direction for 19 hours per day, 7 days per week
- timetable flexibility of up to +/- 2 minutes from the timetabled station departure times
- serve seven new stations –Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank
- a maximum 44 minute journey time (plus 1 minute performance allowance) between the point of connection to the national rail network and the Tweedbank terminus, calling at all stations
- class 158 and class 170 rolling stock operating in 2/3/4/5/6 train formations.
Borders Railway
- delivery of 30 miles of new railway with seven stations and six car parks
- boost to local economy, serving tourism and business travel needs
- maximising access to employment opportunities for a large area of Scotland.
Borders Railway
Client: Transport Scotland
Location: Scottish Borders, UK
Start date: 2012
End date: 2014
Duration: 22 months
Contract value: £295m
Services provided: Feasibility design, programme management, whole railway upgrade