Plans for Motherwell to become major railway hub approved
Plans have been approved for a North Lanarkshire rail station to become a major calling point for the Avanti West Coast train service.
A t i m e t a b l e c h a n g e w i l l bring 96 more services a week to Motherwell, with the crossb o r d e r o p e r a t o r ' s c a p a c i t y more than doubling the number of weekday ser vices calling there from eight to 20.
Weekend ser vices will also be improved with three times as many on Saturday (19) and six times as many on a Sunday (27).
It means nearly half of the hourly Glasgow-london services and the two-hourly Glasg o w - B i r mi n g h a m s e r v i c e s can call at Motherwell station on the West Coast main line.
Gus Dunster, Avanti West C o a s t exe c u t ive d i r e c t o r o f operations, said: "We are excited to make Motherwell one of the best connected places in Scotland, as we work with Network R ail to deliver a major uplift to services to and from the town.
"At Ava n t i We s t C o a s t we want to connect people and places to opportunity and with Mother well set to become a ma j o r c a l l i n g p o i n t o n o u r route we're sure it will boost Scotland's regional economy, improve local and cross-border connectivity and encourage more passengers to make the switch from plane to train.
"We look forward to continuing to play our part in making Mother well a key transport hub."
The rail operator is exploring options to introduce some of the additional stops in Motherwell from this December.
The remaining stops are due to be added to the timetable next year, depending on how the pandemic develops.
Bill Reeve, director of rai l a t q u a n g o Tr a n s p o r t S c o tland, said: "We are delighted to have worked in partnership with Avanti West Coast to enable a future increase in their cross-border services calling at Motherwell station.
"Our investment in customer facilities and services at this key station increases opportunities for commuters, business users and tourism alike.
"I t a l s o u n d e r p i n s a f a s t - growing transport hub served by not only S cotr ail, Avanti West Coast and other crossb o r d e r o p e r a t o r s , b u t a l s o b y l o c a l o p e r a t o r s s u c h a s bus.
"In the future, this additional ser vice provision will enable operators to drive market growth in joined-up journeys.”