By HELEN MCARDLE

THE main Edinburgh-Glasgow rail line will resume normal services on Monday for the first time in six weeks, as major tunnel works are completed.

A £17 million upgrade of the Winchburgh Tunnel, near Linlithgow, is on track to be completed this weekend.

Network Rail engineers have been working for 44 days to lower and relay track through the 330m-long tunnel and install equipment to enable electrification of the line as part of the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP).

The work has meant no all rail services between the capital and Glasgow Queen Street High Level platforms for the past six weeks, meaning commuters had to use replacement buses, or take longer and detoured services from Queen Street Low Level or Glasgow Central stations instead.

It has been the most significant piece of engineering on the line since the Victorian era, but from Monday morning all passenger services affected by the upgrade will return to normal.

Derek Mackay, Minister for Transport and Islands, said: “I am pleased that this major programme of works at the Winchburgh Tunnel has been completed both on time and within budget.

“Completion of the work at Winchburgh is a key milestone in the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme, which is a comprehensive programme of improvements to Scotland’s rail network.

“Upon completion this will deliver a 20 per cent reduction in journey time and allow the rail network to carry 30 per cent more passengers between Scotland’s two biggest cities.”

Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, a formal partnership between Network Rail and ScotRail, added: “The on-time completion of a project of this size and complexity in just six weeks is a significant achievement for all of the engineers involved.

"It also demonstrates how, by working more closely together, the rail industry in Scotland can deliver vital enhancements to our network while also keeping passengers informed and on the move.

“This is a massive piece of work that will help deliver long-lasting benefits to our customers. Electrifying the line between our two biggest cities will allow us to run faster, longer, greener trains that will cut journey times and increase the number of seats available on this key route.

"We would like to thank our customers for their patience and co-operation while the tunnel has been closed – passengers adapted very quickly to the unavoidable short-term disruption and we are very grateful for their understanding and support."

The engineers have worked around the clock to limit disruption to passengers. The project has consumed more than 80,000 man hours of work since it began on June 13, and seen more than 2000 tonnes of concrete poured and almost 200 slabs of track laid through the newly lowered tunnel.

Additional staff were also deployed to stations along the route to help advise passengers affected by the project – which impacted principally on services on the Glasgow-Falkirk High-Edinburgh and Dunblane/Stirling-Edinburgh lines.

Electrification of the Edinburgh-Glasgow Queen Street line is due to be completed in 2016, paving the way to faster, greener and longer trains on the route with more seats and more space for customers.

The project will also see Queen Street station undergo a £104 million modernisation which will double the size of the concourse and create a 1600 sq ft glass frontage facing George Square.

It is scheduled for completion in 201