A pre-consultation exercise is to be launched on a new Park and Ride interchange at the proposed new Hairmyres train station.
Two engagement events are planned over the summer in Duncanrig Secondary School and in East Kilbride town centre and the public are being encouraged to find out more about plans for a new station.
The Labour-led administration at South Lanarkshire Council say the new interchange is needed to "get East Kilbride moving again" but repeated calls for the rail line between East Kilbride to Busby to be upgraded to dual track in full.
The Scottish Government plan only to install partial dualling through a ‘loop’ system.
A sudden announcement in October 2021 of a U-turn on track dualling came via Transport Scotland causing anger among local residents and politicians.
Previous Minister from Transport, Graeme Dey, said that while dualling the line had been “considered” in the business case development process, the cost was “prohibitive” and did not offer value for money or “represent the best use of scarce public finance resources”.
The Scottish Government say the line will have "greater resilience" through improvements to signalling and the addition of new ‘loops’ at Hairmyres.
Last year Council Leader Joe Fagan branded the ditching of dualling plans as "economic vandalism".
Commenting this week, Mr Fagan said: “We have to get East Kilbride moving again and punching above its weight. The new Park and Ride interchange can help us do just that. I would encourage the community to take part in the consultation and engagement events to come and find out more about the benefits of a new station, with a new interchange and new infrastructure.
“This development won’t just enhance Park and Ride facilities in a growing part of the town, it will help us address long-standing issues with parking congestion at Hairmyres."
The council are engaging with bus operators on better links to the interchange and continue to engage with Transport Scotland, Network Rail and others on the wider upgrade to the East Kilbride line.
Mr Fagan added: “It’s no secret that my administration want the line dualled entirely. The choice of a loop over full dual track will only ever be second best for the town. However, the new station will have two platforms and there will be more double track than before.
"Our hope is that the Scottish Government do not just future-proof Hairmyres with two platforms but future-proof the entire line, with passive provision for full dualling in years to come. That would keep alive our future ambitions for continuous metro-level services of at least four trains per hour between Glasgow and East Kilbride.”
Minister for Transport, Kevin Stewart said: "The East Kilbride Enhancement project represents part of the wider Scottish Government Decarbonisation programme as one of two priority lines for electrification, with the other being Barrhead to Glasgow which is currently in construction.
"The project will see the electrification of the track from Busby junction to East Kilbride. A section of this track will be dualled from the existing Hairmyres Loop which will enable improved service flexibility, resilience and performance benefits. It provides the flexibility to add services in to the timetable; including up to four trains per hour at various times throughout the day, if required. This will support increased passenger demand well into the future."
The plans will be available to the public between 6 and 8pm on June 26 in Duncanrig Secondary School and between 1 and 5pm on August 21 outside Costa Coffee in East Kilbride shopping centre’s Plaza mall with partners from Network Rail and Transport Scotland in attendance.
Welcoming the news, MSP for East Kilbride Collette Stevenson, said that it was good to have confirmation that project partners are “working to provide a suitable bus interchange, active travel, electric vehicle charging facilities”, as well as plentiful parking provision which can be increased for future forecasted passenger demands.
She added: “These improvements will bring our rail services into the 21st Century – enhanced passenger services, platform extensions to cater for longer trains, and electrification to meet our net zero targets, and I’m glad to see these plans coming together for the benefit of our town.”
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