Train
services


on
a
main
line
in
the
Scottish
central
belt
have
returned
to
normal
today,
after
work
to
prevent
rocks
falling
on
the
track.

The
£1
million
project
was
carried
out
by
Network
Rail
at
Ratho,
but
while
it
was
under
way
services
from
Edinburgh
to
Glasgow
Queen
Street,
Bathgate,
Stirling
and
Inverness
had
all
been
disrupted.

Network
Rail
and
its
contractor
QTS
finished
work
last
night
in
time
for
the
start
of
services
this
morning.

The
four-day
project
involved
removing
more
than
200
tonnes
of
rock
and
soil
from
the
rock
face,
which
is
100
metres
long
and
and
10
metres
high.

Engineers
have
installed
specialist
netting
and
over
160
three-metre
metal
rock
anchors
above
the
railway
to
reduce
the
likelihood
of
stones
falling
during
freezing
weather.

Scotland’s
Railway
route
director
Liam
Sumpter
said:
‘Our
engineers
have
worked
non-stop
since
Sunday
night,
removing
tonnes
of
rock
and
installing
new
netting
to
help
secure
the
area.

‘This
project
could
not
have
been
delivered
without
a
short
closure
of
the
line,
and
we’ve
completed
it
as
quickly
as
possible
to
get
our
customers
back
on
the
move.

’I
want
to
thank
our
engineers
for
their
hard
work
and
our
passengers
for
their
patience.’