A £300m project to reopen the railway line between Airdrie and Bathgate has been given the go-ahead

Preparatory work will start on the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link after the scheme received Royal Assent.

It is anticipated that services will be running the length of the new railway in December 2010.

However , the opening of a new rail line which will see the introduction passenger services between Stirling and Alloa for the first since 1968 has been delayed.

The £70m Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine track, which will also take more freight off the roads, was due to open in summer 2007.

A spokesperson for the rail project said the completion date was "under review" to allow extra safety work.

The final cost of the rail line is also expected to increase.

The Scottish Executive had originally earmarked £30m for reopening the 13-mile stretch of track between Stirling, Alloa and the Longannet power station in Kincardine.

But the cost has more than doubled to £70m since the project was given the go-ahead.

A spokeswoman for the project said the delay in opening was the result of upgrade work to a level crossing , which was being carried out in the interest of public safety.

However, she did not reveal how much this would increase the cost.

See link below for further details.
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/05/new_rail_links_schemes_in_scot.html#more

I am reminded of a quote by Christian Wolmar (link below.)
http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/551.shtml

"There are, of course, a whole host of difficulties ahead. No costing is available so far and the work may prove to be more difficult than expected. When the track was singled, it was moved to the middle because of concerns about weak embankments, and both moving the track and shoring up the embankments will add to the costs. When Chiltern and Railtrack redoubled just nine miles of plain line track between Bicester and Aynho junctions three years ago, the bill was a staggering £60m.Therefore, it would not take much for a relatively modest scheme like Swindon to Kemble to reach three figures quite easily."