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Theresa Villiers sees Thameslink progress at St Albans and Blackfriars
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Rail minister Theresa Villiers visited St Albans station last week (Tuesday 24 August 2010) to mark the completion of platform extensions which will allow longer trains to call at the station from December 2011. St Albans is the third station now ready for 50% longer trains as part of the Thameslink Programme, a £5.5bn investment which will significantly increase capacity across the 140-mile Bedford to Brighton route. The programme is funded by the Department for Transport and is being delivered by Network Rail in conjunction with First Capital Connect

From left to right: Andy Duffin, Network Rail programme director. Cllr Beric Read, deputy mayor of St Albans. David Statham, projects director, First Capital Connect. Theresa Villiers MP, transport minister

Rail minister Theresa Villiers visited St Albans station last week (Tuesday 24 August 2010) to mark the completion of platform extensions which will allow longer trains to call at the station from December 2011.

St Albans is the third station now ready for 50% longer trains as part of the Thameslink Programme, a £5.5bn investment which will significantly increase capacity across the 140-mile Bedford to Brighton route. The programme is funded by the Department for Transport and is being delivered by Network Rail in conjunction with First Capital Connect.

In total 12 stations outside central London will have their platforms extended – an additional 4km of extra platform and carriage space (twice the length of Luton Airport runway, or 34 football pitches laid end-to-end). The first of the longer 12-carriage trains will enter service in December 2011, with more to follow from a brand new fleet of trains.

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Final tracks laid on Britain’s longest passenger line for 100 years
Sunday, 29 August 2010

Network Rail completed track laying on the new 24km stretch of railway between Airdrie and Bathgate at the end of last week (Friday 27 August), making it the longest domestic passenger railway with new stations to be built in Britain for a century.

A 200-tonne mobile track laying machine ran through the site of the relocated Drumgelloch station over the course of  two hours, completing a modern, soon-to-be electrified rail link between West Lothian and North Lanarkshire. By December 2010, the line will carry four trains an hour in each direction, opening up travel options between Scotland’s two biggest cities.

Ron McAulay Network Rail director, Scotland, commented:

“The completion of this brand new stretch of railway has historical significance but its real significance will become apparent over the next couple of decades. In North Lanarkshire and West Lothian, this rail link will rejuvenate the area by encouraging investment and will encourage even more people to travel by train between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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