One of the first feeder stations, commissioned as part of a £120 million investment, was visited by Scottish Government Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth.

Boosting the electricity supply to the railway network, The Ferguslie feeder station will be connected in October.

The feeder station, installed near Paisley earlier this year, supports the current infrastructure alongside providing additional power, which will allow for future plans to reduce carbon.

The Ferguslie feeder station is one of six included in the investment, they will all be placed in specific locations to best optimise the railway. Another nine sites will be upgraded to help with the reliability of the network’s increase of electrically powered trains.

The increase in power will allow the network to go ahead with increasing trains while reducing their carbon footprint. The stations will help the Scottish Government’s commitment to decarbonise the passenger rail network by 2035.

Most of the work to the station is complete and will see Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) install the transformers needed to allow the connection to the National Grid. Once tested, the 132,000 volt supply will then help power the network.

Jenny Gilruth, Transport Minister said, “It was great to be in Paisley today to meet the team and to hear more details about the work that will power newly electrified lines and also provides additional capacity to run more trains on the existing network.

“Upgrading the power supply network at this location will enable the introduction of electric trains on services to East Kilbride and Barrhead and this work will be replicated at five other locations across the central belt to support the Scottish Government’s railway decarbonisation programme. Our focus is on ensuring we can complete this work as quickly as possible as we work towards our net zero ambitions.

“We want a rail infrastructure for Scotland that helps to cut emissions, to provide sustainable transport for people and for freight, and which provides fair work and highly skilled employment opportunities. This project delivers greener travel options for people and for moving freight which will ultimately lead to the removal of many more vehicles from the roads in Scotland.”

Lesley Pringle, project manager for traction power at Network Rail said: “The £120m investment from the Scottish Government for this programme is key to helping us meet our target to decarbonise Scotland’s railway by 2035.

“Ferguslie is the first of the new feeder stations to be commissioned and it will boost the electricity supply to the rail network enabling greener and more sustainable travel options when the electrification projects are complete.

“We are continuing to work hard alongside our contractors and partners to commission this facility in October with a further five new feeder stations coming online between now and 2026.”