Transport chiefs have signalled that it is full steam ahead on a long-awaited £330million upgrade of the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line.
Last night they hailed the “good progress” being made on the project to slash journey times on the route and said they remained confident of completion of the first phase by September 2019.
Work is already under way on a platform extension at Elgin and a relocation of Forres station, while signals are also due to be upgraded this year at Inverness and Elgin.
Contractors have had 120 staff per shift working on site at Forres and Elgin, have taken delivery of 4,833 tonnes of ballast at the sites, as well as laying 2,500 concrete sleepers and re-utilising 2,000 steel sleepers.
A total of 2.6-miles of cable has been used at Forres, with 2,500 tonnes of spoil removed from the town by rail.
Ground investigations are also being carried out ahead of major works to redouble the track between Aberdeen and Inverurie for a new half-hourly commuter service, with spades expected to be in the ground next year.
In February, councillors in the Highlands gave the go-ahead for a new rail station at Inverness Airport, with work expected to begin later this year, and a platform extension is also planned for Insch.
The upgrade represents the first phase of long-term plans to have an hourly service between Aberdeen and Inverness, with an average journey time of two hours.
The progress follows anger last year when it emerged that the cost of the project had almost doubled from the original £170 million estimate, with the completion date also pushed back by six months to September 2019.
It is understood that the Scottish Government is continuing to press Network Rail to reduce the costs.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Network Rail are making good progress with the improvement works on the Aberdeen to Inverness rail corridor and we remain committed to delivering the full scope of the project, as set out in March 2014.
“The project includes track redoubling between Aberdeen and Inverurie, signalling enhancements, platform extensions at Insch and Elgin, Forres Station relocation and infrastructure to support new stations at Kintore and Dalcross by September 2019.”
In 2015, construction firm BAM was appointed as the principal contractor for the upgrade project.
