The Anonymous Widower

Through Settle And Carlisle Service Under Consideration

The title of this post, is the same as that of an article in the June 2021 Edition of Modern Railways.

This is the first paragraph.

Plans for a new Leeds to Glasgow through service via the Settle and Carlisle line are being developed, with CrossCountry and the Department for Transport starting to look at the possible scheme.

It sounds like a sensible idea to me.

The article also suggests the following.

• CrossCountry is a possible operator.
• CrossCountry are keen to improve services between Leeds and Glasgow
• The trains could be InterCity 125s, freed up, by a the arrival of Class 221 trains from Avanti West Coast, when they receive their new Class 805 trains.
• Maintenance of the trains wouldn’t be a problem, as this could be done at Neville Hill in Leeds or Craigentinny in Edinburgh.
• Services could start in December 2023.

I have a few thoughts of my own!

The Route

The route between Leeds and Carlisle is obvious, but there are two routes between Carlisle and Glasgow.

• West Coast Main Line
• Glasgow South Western Line

Trains would probably choose a route and call at stations to maximise passenger numbers.

These stations are on the various routes.

• Settle and Carlisle – Shipley, Bingley, Keighley, Skipton, Gargrave, Hellifield, Long Preston, Settle, Horton in Ribblesdale, Ribblehead, Dent, Garsdale, Kirkby Stephen, Appleby, Langwathby, Lazonby & Kirkoswald and Armathwaite
• Glasgow South Western – Dunlop, Stewarton, Kilmaurs, Kilmarnock, Auchinleck, New Cumnock, Kirkconnel, Sanquhar, Dumfries, Annan and Gretna Green
• West Coast Main – Motherwell, Carstairs and Lockerbie

There are certainly a lot of possibilities.

 Upgrading The InterCity 125 Trains

CrossCountry appear to have enough InterCity 125 trains to muster five in a two Class 43  power car and seven Mark 3 coach formation.

They may not be fully in-line with the latest regulations and there may be a need for a certain degree of refurbishment.

These pictures show some details of a refurbished Great Western Railway Castle, which has been fitted with sliding doors.

Will The InterCity 125 Trains Be Shortened?

Scotrail’s Inter7City trains and Great Western Railway’s Castle trains have all been shortened to four or five coaches.

This picture shows a pair of Castles.

Journey Times, Timetable And Frequency

The current journey time between Leeds and Glasgow Central stations via the East Coast Main Line is four hours and eight minutes with nine stops.

The Modern Railways article says this about the current service.

The new service would be targeted at business and leisure travellers, with through journey times competitive with road and faster than the current direct CrossCountry Leeds to Glasgow services via the East Coast main line.

I would expect that CrossCountry are looking for a time of around four hours including the turn round.

• Stops could be removed to achieve the timing.
• The trains could run at 125 mph on the West Coast Main Line.

This could enable a train to have the following diagram.

• 0800 – Depart Leeds
• 1200 – Depart Glasgow Central
• 1600 – Depart Leeds
• 2000 – Depart Glasgow Central
• Before 2400 – Arrive Leeds

Note.

1. A second train could start in Glasgow and perform the mirrored timetable.
2. Timings would probably be ideal for train catering.
3. Trains would leave both termini at 0800, 1200, 1600 and 2000.
4. The timetable would need just two trains.

I also think, if a second pair of trains were to be worked into the timetable, there could be one train every two hours on the route, if the demand was there.

I certainly believe there could be a timetable, that would meet the objectives of attracting business and leisure passengers away from the roads.

Tourism And Leisure Potential

The Settle and Carlisle Line is known as one of the most scenic railway lines in England, if not the whole of the UK.

There are important tourist sites all along the route between Leeds and Glasgow

• Leeds – The station is well-connected in the City Centre.
• Saltaire – For the World Heritage Site and Salt’s Mill
• Keighley – For the Keighley and Worth Heritage Railway
• Settle – The town of Settle is worth a visit.
• Ribblehead – For the famous Ribblehead Viaduct
• Appleby – For the Horse Fair.
• Carlisle – The station is well-connected in the City Centre.
• Glasgow – Glasgow Central station is well-connected in the City Centre.

Many of the stations are used by walkers and others interested in country pursuits.

I believe that it is a route that needs a quality rail service.

Travel Between London and Towns Along The Settle And Carlisle Line

In Thoughts On Digital Signalling On The East Coast Main Line, I said this.

I think it is highly likely that in the future, there will be at least one train per hour (tph) between London Kings Cross and Leeds, that does the trip in two hours.

It may seem fast compared to today, but I do believe it is possible.

With a timely connection at Leeds station, will this encourage passengers to places along the Settle and Carlisle line to use the train?

What About the Carbon Emissions?

The one problem with using InterCity 125 trains on this route, is that they are diesel-powered, using a pair of Class 43 locomotives.

But then there are over a hundred of these diesel-electric locomotives in service, nearly all of which are now powered by modern MTU diesel engines, which were fitted in the first decade of this century.

Consider.

• The locomotives and the coaches they haul have an iconic status.
• Great Western Railway and Scotrail have recently developed shorter versions of the trains for important routes.
• There are over a hundred of the locomotives in service.
• Companies like ULEMCo are developing technology to create diesel-powered vehicles that can run on diesel or hydrogen.
• There is plenty of space in the back of the locomotives for extra equipment.
• MTU have a very large number of diesel engines in service. It must be in the company’s interest to find an easy way to cut carbon emissions.
• I believe that the modern MTU diesel engines could run on biodiesel to reduce their carbon footprint.

And we shouldn’t forget JCB’s technology, which I wrote about in JCB Finds Cheap Way To Run Digger Using Hydrogen.

If they could develop a 2 MW hydrogen engine, it could be a shoe-in.

I believe that for these and other reasons, a solution will be found to reduce the carbon emissions of these locomotives to acceptable levels.

Conclusion

In this quick look, it appears to me that a Glasgow and Leeds service using InterCity 125 trains could be a very good idea.

May 21, 2021 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, Biodiesel, Class 221 Train, Class 43 Power Car, Class 805 Train, CrossCountry Trains, Glasgow, Glasgow Central Station, Glasgow South Western Line, Great Western Railway, GWR Castles, Inter7City, InterCity 125, Leeds, Leeds Station, Saltaire, Scotrail, Settle And Carlisle Line, ULEMCo, West Coast Main Line | 3 Comments