A £300m railway between Airdrie and Bathgate that will help provide a new route linking Edinburgh and Glasgow to communities in central Scotland will move a step closer today.

Minister for Transport Stewart Stevenson and Ron McAulay, Network Rail's Scotland director, will visit Livingston North station this morning to mark the start of work on-site.

Royal assent was granted to the Airdrie-Bathgate Railway in May with the project receiving unanimous cross-party support from the Scottish Parliament.

The first phase is to upgrade the Edinburgh-Bathgate line (double-tracking), which will improve services to West Lothian commuters as early as 2008.

When completed in 2010, the link will provide four more trains per hour in each direction between Glasgow and Edinburgh, offering a transport alternative to the M8.