Levenmouth rail campaigners fear an £8 million bridge strengthening project could delay the opening of the new railway.
Eugene Clarke, who campaigned for years to reinstate the rail line, says he is horrified at the cost of the Bawbee Bridge work and its potential impact.
While Fife Council insists the project should be finished before trains are re-introduced, Mr Clarke said: “The apparent timescale leaves little room for error.”
Now he and Leven Labour councillor Colin Davidson are seeking assurances the Levenmouth rail link will still open in December 2023 as planned.
The council wants to replace the badly-corroded Bawbee Bridge, also known as Leven Rail Bridge, during a year-long closure.
The existing structure is in a poor and deteriorating condition and doing nothing is not an option.
Meanwhile, the 18,000 vehicles that cross it every day will be diverted via a temporary bridge over the River Leven.
Council structural services manager Ross Spiers said: “The Leven rail link is programmed to be reinstated by December 2023.
“This timing places a need for the council to deliver the bridge replacement works before the rail link is implemented.”
‘Work could cause Levenmouth rail link delay’
However Mr Clarke, the former chairman of Levenmouth Rail Campaign, said the group has two specific concerns.
“The first is this necessary work could lead to delays to the promised opening date of December 2023,” he said.
“The second is that the additional £5.5m required could be quietly removed from the Levenmouth Reconnected Fund, thus invalidating the purpose of that fund which was to focus on the regeneration of our community.”
And he is particularly angry that the need for the work had been known about for years.
“The astronomical increase in costs from £2 to over £8m in just over two years is quite remarkable,” he said.
“The rail line was described as the top priority transport development for Fife so it is beyond belief that the council did not anticipate the impact of its arrival and electrification on the bridge repairs.”
This will probably cause disruption for nearly a year.”
SNP councillor Ken Caldwell.
Mr Davidson has also raised concerns.
He said: “I have concerns about the cost spiralling to the level it has and the time it’s taken to get a plan in place.
“I’m seeking assurances there will be no delay to the original timeline for the rail link.”
However, SNP councillor Ken Caldwell said the bridge spend demonstrated the council’s commitment to the rail link.
“It is fortunate in a way that the bridge had not been repaired earlier or it could have severely limited the options for the railway,” he said.
“We have been discussing the various options for traffic diversions for some time and the proposals presented are the best option, though this will still probably cause disruption for nearly a year.”
Work in tandem with rail link project
Plans to strengthen the bridge were drawn up in 2006 and discussed again in 2018.
However, more extensive work is now needed given an electrified railway will run beneath it.
This has pushed the costs up.
The work will be done in tandem with the rail link project in a bid to ensure it is completed by December 2023.
Councillors will be asked to approve the proposal next week, although funding for the project has yet to be secured.
