From Glasgow To Carlisle In A Class 350 Train
TransPennine Express are replacing their Class 350 trains with new Class 397 trains.
So coming down from Glasgow to Carlisle, I took one of the Class 350 trains to see why they are being replaced.
The train that I rode, had been spruced up with the new livery.
The new Class 397 train has the following advantages over the Class 350 train.
- It will be a 125 mph train rather than a 110 mph train.
- It will have power sockets, wi-fi and possibly 4G connectivity
- It will be five-cars instead of four-cars.
Will there be any other passenger features like a buffet?
Enthusiasm For The Borders Railway In Carlisle
This article in the Carlisle Express And Star is entitled New Rail Link To Carlisle Could Be ‘Catalyst’ For Job Creation.
It is discussing the report of the Campaign for a Borders Railway, which recommends rebuilding the line.
This is said in the newspaper.
The summary said: “A new rail link to Edinburgh via the Borders could be a catalyst for the development of new employment uses on the former MOD land at Longtown and in the Kingstown area on the northern fringe of Carlisle.
“Park and ride stations in these areas would provide congestion relief and improve access to the city.
I think that as the only major City on the route, apart from Edinburgh, Carlisle must be a major beneficiary of a reinstated Borders Railway.
Carlisle scores high in the Location, Location, Location stakes, as not only is it just off the M5 between England and Glasgow, but Carlisle Citadel station is a major rail interchange. Incidentally, these romantic Victorian names are dropped far too readily.
This map from Wikipedia, shows the railways around the City.
Note Longtown station on the Waverley Route to Edinburgh and the MOD Depot or Defence Munitions Centre Longtown, between the two rail routes, to the North of the map.
This Google Map shows the DMC.
Note the West Coast Main Line with its connection to the Centre and the Glasgow South Western Line branching off to Gretna Green station and all the way to Glasgow.
Longtown is in the North East corner of the map and you can just pick out the track-bed of the Waverley Route, linking the town to Carlisle.
Conclusions
The CBR report, recommends a Park-and-Ride at Longtown and I wonder, if developments there might be the key to rebuilding the Waverley Route on a more economic basis.
A lot would depend on whether the Defence Munitions Centreat Longtown continues to be used, but the following could be built in the area.
- The proposed Park-and-Ride.
- A Strategic Rail Freight Interchange.
- Distribution warehouses.
- Factories that need lots of space and good rail and road access.
A lot would depend on what the locals want and whether Scotland became independent, for which the site must be ideally placed.
If the track-bed of the old Waverley Route is still present and can be used to Carlisle, this route could be developed as a rail route, which might have advantages.
- It has its own route to Carlisle station with a separate bridge over the River Eden.
- The West Coast Main Line bridge over the River Eden appears to be only double-track.
- Would it improves timings to and from Glasgow on the West Coast Main Line?
- Could it be used as a diversion route for freight trains on the West Coast Main Line through Carlisle?
- Extra stations could be opened on the route, that could improve connectivity in the City
- There is probably few paths on the West Coast Main Lines for extra trains from Longtown and/or a reinstated Waverley Route to Edimburgh.
But would the extra cost be justified?
Done properly, as the CBR report says, improving the railways between Carlisle and a new Park-and-Ride at Longtown, would surely improve the Carlisle economy.
Carlisle Station Gets A Makeover
In If Manchester Victoria And Birmingham New Street Were The First Two Courses, Is Carlisle The Third?, I wrote how Carlisle station was going to get a £14.7 million upgrade including a new ETFE roof.
These pictures show the progress.
Note.
- There are two through lines in the station for freight and other trains that don’t stop.
- The four bay platforms at Carlisle are all electrified to some extent and it wouldn’t be the biggest task to make the station fully-electrified.
- It looked to me like a lot of the magnificent station building, isn’t being used to its full potential.
- The welcoming square outside the station needs an upgrade to become a real gateway to Carlisle.
I think that after the makeover, it will be a second very high-class station to mark the border between England and Scotland.
Carlisle could be in a unique position in a few years.
- It is already the best connected city in the Borderlands.
- Published plans mean that electric express trains will serve Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Manchester Airport, at least once an hour, with some places getting at least double.
- As I wrote in Arriva Rail North’s New Trains, new CAF Civity trains will be arriving, in both electric and diesel variants.
- After the current landslide at Armathwaite is cleared up on the Settle-Carlisle Line, these new trains will surely be running at least an hourly service to Leeds.
- The new trains will be providing an improvement in comfort, speed and possibly frequency on the hourly service to Newcastle, on the Tyne Valley Line.
- The new trains, would surely work their magic on the Cumbrian Coast Line around the Lake District.
- Scotrail is getting new trains too, and will some be used to provide a better service to Glasgow via Dumfries and Kilmarnock, using the Glasgow South Western Line.
If this doesn’t increase the numbers of tourists taking a rail-based exploration holiday of the Borderlands and the Lake District, I would be extremely surprised.
I’m not the only person, who thinks this way, as in the July 2016 Edition of Modern Railways, Theo Steel discusses options for the increase in traffic on the Settle to Carlisle Line.
In addition, other developments may happen, that will also increase Carlisle’s importance to the Anglo-Scottish railway system.
- The events of this winter, where the West Coast Main Line was closed because of bad weather, could see the Glasgow South Western Line improved and electrified to provide a valuable diversion route for train services between England and Glasgow.
- There could be a need for more Anglo-Scottish freight trains, but the West Coast Main Line is very busy. So will this mean that freight trains will increasingly use secondary routes like Settle-Carlisle and the Glasgow South Western Line.
- Carstairs station sits between Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow and I can’t believe that Scotrail won’t use their new trains to improve services through the town. As ever, the improvements in services around Carstairs, will probably be driven by the need for new housing and commuting to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The big question though, is whether the Borders Railway will ever get to Carlisle. If it does, then Carlisle will be ready with a refurbished and electrified platform, alongside the one currently used for services on the Glasgow South Western Line.
Network Rail seem to deserve a few plaudits for their foresight in preparing Carlisle station for the future.
The Anonymous Widower 