Rail Industry

Balfour Beatty has been awarded a £60 million contract by Network Rail to lay new track on the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

The existing line of Airdrie and Drumgelloch will be double tracked and the entire route is expected to be electrified prior to commissioning in late 2010, Transport Briefing reports, which may interest those of you interested in rail construction and engineering.

"Awarding this contract at this stage allows them to get off to a flying start. Key elements of the work they will carry out will start during the nine day blockade planned for later in October," Network Rail director in Scotland Ron McAulay tells the transport website.

Those of you living in Scotland or simply interested in the rail industry may already know that the original route between Airdrie and Bathgate was closed 50 years ago, according to Mr McAulay.

Communities in the area will benefit from the new rail service, which Balfour Beatty is proud to be part of, he adds.

In related Scotland rail news, Harsco Corp, the industrial services company, said it had secured a three-year, $20 million (£10.8 million) extension to a contract for the repainting of the Forth Rail Bridge