Ministers have agreed £1bn funding for Scotland's biggest package of railway enhancements in a generation. They will include electrifying the track between Glasgow and Edinburgh and bringing fastest journey times down to just over half an hour.
Under a deal thrashed out over the last month between the government agency, Transport Scotland, and track owners Network Rail funding for the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) will be borrowed against the asset value of the UK rail network.
Agreement over the funding mechanism will cause relief for ministers. They have so far failed to win approval from Westminster for plans to borrow £2.3bn to pay for a replacement Forth road crossing - a project whose size still threatens to derail other major transport spending schemes over the next decade.
By contrast, the EGIP programme, which involves electrifying more than 350km of track, a new interchange at Gogar and major improvements to track infrastructure and stations, will not require any government borrowing.
The Herald understands that the exact terms of the finance, including the repayment terms, are yet to be ironed out, but that the principle of borrowing against Network Rail's assets has been agreed and sanctioned by the Office of Rail Regulation.
Industry analysts have described it as the most significant improvement to Scotland's railways since the electrification of routes in Ayrshire in the mid-1980s.
Key benefits of the scheme, which is set for completion in 2016, include increasing the frequency of services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh to around six an hour each way, with a fastest journey time of 35 minutes and some slower services with more stops.
In addition, three services are expected to run hourly between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central on the Shotts and Carstairs routes.
The project will involve electrifying the main line between Glasgow and Edinburgh, including diversionary routes, as well as lines through Stirling to Dunblane and Alloa.
Edinburgh Park Station will also be served by Glasgow-to-Edinburgh services for the first time.
The package of improvements will tie in with a £300m programme to build a new track between Airdrie and Bathgate. This will provide a further line between Scotland's two biggest cities and enable trains to run from Helensburgh through Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh.
As well as bringing a major boost to the economy and securing or creating jobs in engineering and running the railways, EGIP will contribute to the Scottish Government's ambitious targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Trains running on electrified track emit, on average, 20% to 30% less carbon dioxide than diesel trains and are cheaper to run.
Ministers believe bringing down journey times will bring benefits beyond Glasgow and Edinburgh, by extending the commuter belt of people living less than 60 minutes away from the cities.
The first major milestone will involve building the interchange at Gogar by 2011. It will serve rail services between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the capital's new tram network. Network Rail is currently exhibiting plans for the interchange and is expected to submit a planning application in October.
A Network Rail spokesman said: "This project has wide-ranging benefits for communities across the central belt of Scotland and we look forward to playing our role in delivering this ambitious programme."
The Scottish Government refused to comment on the project in advance of its official announcement.
A spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Government has ambitious plans for improving the country's rail network and is delivering the biggest transport construction programme seen in Scotland in a generation. We expect to make further announcements in due course."
No-one from the Office of Rail Regulation was available for comment yesterday.
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