Signalling Scotland's Future

In their High-Level Output Specification (HLOS) for Control Period 7 (2024-2029), Scottish Ministers asked us to deliver a long-term signalling strategy for Scotland’s Railway. The focus on system integration was clear, and the solution had to consider the net cost for the railway (across track and train), rather than our capital investment alone.

Signalling Scotland’s Future is that strategic long-term plan, which represents a significant step forward in how we manage our signalling assets. It recognises that planning well into the future, beyond our current funding cycle, is essential.

We’ve developed ‘line of route’ business cases, which allow us to design signalling interventions that prioritise the end result, which benefits our passengers and freight customers.

Investment in signalling infrastructure is costly, but it’s the backbone of the railway and needs to be extremely safe and reliable to deliver a high-performing timetable. Our challenge is keeping our focus on safety and performance while driving down the net cost of the railway.

Minimising disruption is also key to driving modal shift and we will align complementary works to avoid closing the railway more than is necessary to complete renewals and enhancements efficiently.

The opportunities presented by modernising the railway’s signalling system are exciting, and we’re committed to embracing them, but only when innovation is affordable will it become the solution. We’ll keep adapting this strategy and the supporting business cases as the market and technology moves forward.


Alan Ross
Director of Engineering and Asset Management
Network Rail Scotland