Scots plan rail renewal
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• A rail-freight renaissance is predicted for Scotland following the launch of a £10m scheme to re-establish a missing link in its network.
Railtrack Scotland says the 12-mile route from Stirling to Dunfermline would free up existing capacity in the country's industrial heartland and boost opportunities for rail freight to the North.
The amount of freight that could be taken off the roads has not been disclosed but coal, sil
ica and whisky are among the products likely to be targeted as potential candidates.
Nigel Wunsch, Railtrack Scotland's business development manager, says: "We believe that the reinstatement of the line would permit a rail renaissance to the economy of the central belt of Scotland, offering a new east-west railfreight highway."
He adds that demand could be further increased by the proposed new ferry port at Rosyth which would link the region up with the Continent.
Railtrack has committed £1.5m to the scheme: it will apply for a freight facilities grant to make up some of the shortfall. The rest will come from outside sources.
All the track bed and some of the track has been left in place since the last section of the line closed in the early 1980s, but Railtrack says it will take at least two years to bring it back into commission.