Railway station upgrades at Broughty Ferry will encourage people to Dundee

Broughty Ferry Railway Station. (Stock image).

Major upgrades to a suburban railway station will bring an economic boost to the area according to a city councillor.

“Essential maintenance” is due to begin on the level crossing at Broughty Ferry on January 2 and will run until January 25.

Craig Duncan, who is a Lib Dem councillor for the Ferry ward, has hailed the upgrades and investment as a massive vote of confidence in the local rail network.

He explained: “Broughty Ferry is unique because it must be one of the only places in Scotland which has an urban level crossing – most of them are in the countryside.

“With Network Rail carrying out this work, it shows they are committed to improving the service.

“I would expect there to be some disruption but with it being carried out during a quiet period, hopefully this will be limited.”

Dundee road to close for three months for railway station improvements

The level crossing upgrade, which will involve removing the old rails, ballast and level crossing surface and installing new ones, is the latest of a number of improvements that have been made to the station, which was first opened in October 1838.

Cllr Duncan said: “The underpass at the station will also be getting an upgrade to stop it leaking.

“I remember the time when there was one train a day serving the Ferry and it was a token effort to say these places were been served.

“But with the new timetable that has been rolled out this past weekend, they have brought back the direct service to Glasgow that they had preciously scrapped.

“We now have services direct to there and Edinburgh which means people from these places can easily come here for a day trip.

“It could also easily be the case now that people can live in the Ferry and work in either the two cities as well, people in the south-east of England do it and it can happen here as well.”