THREE major construction contracts have been let as part of the £300 million project to reopen the Airdrie-Bathgate line in Scotland.

 Scotland’s Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said that the contracts — totalling £100 million and awarded by Network Rail to Carillion, BAM Nuttall and C Spencer — would be a “real boost” to the construction industry and deliver major rail improvements for Scotland.

Carillion has been awarded an £80 million contract to build new stations at Caldercruix, Armadale and Drumgelloch and a range of other new structures and earthworks. The company will also carry out ground treatment and filling operations.

BAM Nuttall will deliver the new station at Bathgate, the new platform at Airdrie and a range of bridge works and earthworks in a £14 million contract.

C Spencer has been awarded a £6 million contract to build the new light maintenance depot in Bathgate.

The three companies will begin work this spring and all works will be completed by autumn 2010 ahead of the reopening of the railway in December 2010.

Funded by Transport Scotland, the £300 million rail link will provide an additional passenger route through the central belt between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with four trains each hour in each direction.

The electrified line will also connect communities not currently served by rail to Scotland’s two main cities and improve access to employment, education, health and leisure opportunities as well as promoting a sustainable alternative to the car, says the Scottish Government.