WORK on a second platform at Dunbar Railway Station starts next week.

Engineers start work on site on Tuesday and are beginning by establishing a project office and compound ahead of the start of construction work at the station.

The £13 million scheme will deliver a new 271-metre second platform and a fully accessibly steel footbridge, with lifts also included for disabled access.

Throughout May, work will take place to clear vegetation and redundant buildings and track to make way for the new infrastructure.

Construction work on the project will be ongoing from until early next year, with the new platform expected to be operational from the end of November.

Matthew Spence, Network Rail route delivery director for Scotland, said: “The new platform will mean extra capacity at Dunbar and create opportunities for more services to stop in the future.

“The new infrastructure, which will be fully accessible, will also include a choice of materials and paint colours that are designed to be considerate to the historic station building.”

The new platform will provide increased capacity and improve operational flexibility as currently all northbound and southbound services have to use the same platform.

Northbound stopping services will use the new platform once it is constructed and it will also allow train companies on the East Coast Main Line to operate more services on the route in the future.

Currently, there are no plans for a pedestrian link to the new platform from the south side of the town, although East Lothian Council is keen to see that changed in the future.

Two public drop-in sessions were held earlier this year in Dunbar to give members of the public the chance to see the plans for the platform, near the town’s Salisbury Walk.

More information on the project can be found at networkrail.co.uk/DunbarStation