Scotland To Keep Class 170 Trains
This article on Global Rail News, which is entitled Scotland promises bumper timetable from 2018, says this.
ScotRail will introduce 200 additional services to its timetable from 2018 after extending its lease on 13 Class 170 diesel multiple units.
Additional funding from the Scottish government will allow ScotRail to retain 39 Class 170 carriages beyond 2018.
The deal, which was announced yesterday (March 15), represents 20,000 extra seats daily.
It’s all a bit of a surprise to me, in that I had assumed that the Class 170 trains, that will be released by brand-new Class 385 trains would be moved elsewhere.
So it could be that Scotland’s gain is a loss in England and Wales?
But there could be another reason, why there has been no adverse comment from the rest of the UK!
New trains could be coming to lines that desperately need replacements for elderly diesel multiple units.
Already we’ve had the order for CAF Civity trains, but this non-transfer tells me something else could be on the cards.
- Another order for new trains.
- The predicted Class 387 IPEMUs will finally appear.
It will be interesting to see what happens.
Aberdeen Gets A City Deal
Yesterday as reported in this article on the BBC, Aberdeen got a City Deal.
Acording to the BBC, the funding will be used as follows.
- An initial £200m to improve journey times and increase capacity on key rail links between Aberdeen and the central belt, upgrading the rail line in the Montrose basin
- £24m for the trunk roads programme to support improvements to the key A90/A937 south junction at Laurencekirk
- £10m for extension of digital infrastructure in the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire area above and beyond the commitment through the City Deal
- £20m in infrastructure funding to unlock housing sites that are of strategic importance to the local authorities as well as five-year certainty on £130m of affordable housing grant.
It all seems good to me, given the problems of the oil industry.
I gained a unique perspective to the North of Scotland, when I travelled from Edinburgh to Inverness, a few years ago. I wrote about the trip in Edinburgh to Invernesss In The Cab Of An HST.
InterCity 125s may be iconic transport, but Scotland’s two Northern cities and the surrounding areas need many more quality services to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The rail part of the City Deal talks about dualling the railway line from Aberdeen to the South.
I would go further. Consider.
The Aberdeen to Edinburgh Line is a 100 mph railway.
The Aberdeen to Glasgow Line branches off at Dundee and goes to Glasgow via Perth and Stirling.
Important communities are served all along the railways.
Services are every hour, but some are slow, as there are a lot of stops.
In my view Scotland North of the Tay, is ideal IPEMU country. I would run services between Edinburgh and Glasgow and Aberdeen using 125 mph electric trains with an IPEMU capability. These would shorten journey times, not just because of their speed, but because electric trains, stop at stations and then accelerate away in a reduced time.
Obviously, there would need to be some electrification.
- Across Aberdeen, Aberdeen Crossrail could be built between Dyce and Stonehaven, so that Aberdeen could have an electrified cross-city service.
- Around Dundee and Perth. This would come with the aspiration of connecting these two cities to the much-delayed Edinburgh to Glasgow electrification with electric trains. These trains could have an IPEMU capability.
It would give the Eastern side of the North of Scotland the railway links it needs.
To provide electric services to Inverness would be trickier, but as support for IPEMUs gets even more innovative, I suspect that Perth and Aberdeen to Inverness could be bridged.
I think IPEMUs are one area, where engineers will be able to marry all sorts of disparate technology together to give improvements, others would think impossible or even downright silly.
The main northern routes and their approximate distances are.
- Dundee to Aberdeen – 70 miles
- Aberdeen to Inverness – 100 miles
- Perth to Inverness – 110 miles
The only route that could be served by an IPEMU at the present time is Dundee to Aberdeen. But this would mean that creating an electric service from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Aberdeen is not the major engineering project that many believe it to be.
It would need.
- Creation of an electrified Aberdeen Crossrail from Dyce to Inverurie.
- Electrification from Stirling to Dundee via Perth.
- The purchase of some suitable trains with an IPEMU capability.
Get the railways to the North of Perth and Dundee right and the benefits to the North of Scotland could be immense.
- An improved rail service would increase tourism, with all the benefits that brings.
- Aberdeen Airport would get a proper rail service.
- Edinburgh to Aberdeen by train is now well over two hours. Steam trains in the 1895 Race To The North did it in only an hour longer.
- 125 mph trains with an IPEMU capability could break the two-hour barrier.
- Ferries for the Orkneys and Shetlands leave from a port near to Aberdeen station. so those islands could benefit.
I also believe that if the lines are improved in the North, then connectivity in the South of Scotland should also be improved.
- Glasgow Crossrail would improve rail links through Glasgow.
- Some form of Glasgow Airport Rail Link should be provided.
- The Borders Railway should be extended to Carlisle.
- The Glasgow and South Western Railway should be electrified to provide an alternative to the West Coast Main Line.
Scotland needs to get its railway improvement plans into shape.
‘Encouraging signs’ on Borders Railway Extension to Carlisle
The title of this post is the title of an article on the BBC. This is said.
An MP has said there are “encouraging signs” that the “fantastic vision” of extending the Borders Railway to Carlisle could be realised.
Calum Kerr made the claim in a piece written for the Campaign for Borders Rail newsletter.
This is original article on the Borders Railway! This is said.
The good news is that there are encouraging signs we may be able to win cross party support on this. For instance, I’ve spoken to my neighbouring MP David Mundell, who is the Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK Government. He’s broadly supportive and is planning to speak to the Department of Transport in London to gauge its views.
I’ve also been in discussion with MPs on the English side of the border. They’re also warming to the idea. In particular, I’ve had several discussions with Rory Stewart, who represents the seat of Penrith and the Border, and he’s keen on getting it onto the agenda.
I think the involvement of Rory Stewart is significant. I remember him from one of his excellent documentaries called Border Country: The Story of Britain’s Lost Middleland, which was a fascinating history of the lands both sides of the England-Scotland border.
When I wrote If Manchester Victoria And Birmingham New Street Were The First Two Courses, Is Carlisle The Third?, I wrote this.
I just wonder, if whilst they are rebuilding the platforms, they will electrify some of the bay platforms. Or at least do the preparation work!
This would enable IPEMUs to be able to be recharged, if they were serving routes out of Carlisle, like the Tyne Valley Line, Settle to Carlisle and possibly an extended Borders Railway.
Incidentally, I think that by the time Carlisle station is updated in 2019, IPEMUs or battery trains, would have enough range to reach Edinburgh. You can see the headlines in the Sun!
After reading Calum Kerr’s thoughts, I feel even more that Network Rail have a cunning plan to make Carlisle station a hub for IPEMUs, which would serve the following routes.
- The Borders Railway to Edinburgh
- The Glasgow And South Western Railway to Glasgow
- The Tyne Valley Line to Newcastle
- The Settle-Carlisle Line to Leeds
- The Cumbrian Cost Line to Barrow and Lancaster
Note the following.
- The only major infrastructure work would be the completion of the Borders Railway to Carlisle.
- The area is noted for its superb scenery and occasional extreme weather. Not electrifying large sections of remote and exposed rural lines, is an attractive option, in terms of planning, engineering, building and maintenance.
- Technology exists to do all signalling by radio links.
- The last two lines would probably need some limited electrification to charge the trains en route.
- The Cumbrian Coast Line could be electrified between Sellafield and Barrow, where the line is better protected.
- The infrastructure needs of a four-car IPEMU train, is similar to that of a four-car diesel multiple unit.
- The Glasgow and South Western and Tyne Valley Lines could probably accept IPEMUs tomorrow.
- The network has several connections to the major Anglo-Scottish routes, at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle and Preston.
It would be one of the most scenic set of railway routes in the world!
I won’t comment on the commercial, social and tourism aspects of creating such a railway system.
Trump Forgot The Ace Of Clubs
This article on the BBC web site, is entitled Donald Trump loses wind farm legal challenge. This is said.
Donald Trump’s legal challenge to a planned offshore wind farm has been rejected by the UK’s Supreme Court.
The UK Supreme Court is probably the end of an expensive road.
My late friend; Brian, would have said that an old accountancy phrase would apply – Screwed, Glued and Tattooed.
Seeing as it’s Scotland, perhaps it should be the Scottish version – Screwed, Glued and Bagpiped. I’m certain, there are a large number of Scots, who have innovative uses of a set of bagpipes as an instrument of torture.
There is this article on the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, entitled EOWDC partners welcome Supreme Court decision. This is said.
Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), partners of Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd, the company behind the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), welcomed today’s Supreme Court decision.
Andy Paine, Project Director for AOWFL, said: “This is another significant step forward for the EOWDC. It affirms the scheme’s potential to position Scotland, and particularly the North-east, as a centre of innovative offshore wind power. The project partners remain committed to seeing the EOWDC come to fruition and delivering long-term economic benefits to the region.”
It certainly looks like Trump didn’t have the heaviest club; the Ace, in his bag.
I’ll leave the last word to the Professional Golfers Association, as detailed in this report on the BBC entitled Donald Trump controversy bad for golf – PGA chief Sandy Jones. This is said.
The chief executive of the Professional Golfers’ Association says the ongoing controversy generated by Donald Trump is “not a positive thing for golf.”
Trump, who owns two Scottish courses, has been criticised for comments made during his bid to become the Republican Party’s US presidential candidate.
And Sandy Jones says the negative publicity around Trump is bad for golf.
“Sadly his political campaign in America seems to be getting in the way of all the great things golf offers.”
Tìoraidh!
Has The Government Parked Its Trains On Nicola Sturgeon’s Lawn?
The government has just published a document entitled Government intends to award Northern franchise to Arriva Rail North Ltd, and TransPennine Express franchise to First Trans Pennine Express Ltd.
The document starts like this.
The government promised passengers in the north and Scotland a world class rail service that would make the Northern Powerhouse a reality – today that is being delivered as new contracts for Northern and TransPennine Express franchises are awarded.
In some ways the proposals for Scotland are the most interesting.
Introducing new and additional services for Scotland, including a new, direct Liverpool to Glasgow service from December 2018 with new electric trains and extending existing services beyond Newcastle to Edinburgh from December 2019, and bringing in additional services from Manchester to Glasgow and Edinburgh from December 2017.
These will mean new electric trains and First TransPennine will be ordering forty-four new five-car trains.
I think the announcement will go down well in Scotland, although some politicians and others might be a bit miffed.
Forth Road Bridge In Trouble
The Forth Road Bridge has not been in the best of health for some years. Wikipedia has a section called Structural Issues and this is said.
2003 saw an inspection programme launched (at a cost of £1.2 million) to assess the condition of the bridge’s main suspension cables after excessive corrosion was discovered in a number of older bridges in the United States of a similar design and size. The study, which was completed in 2005, found that the main cables had suffered an estimated 8-10% loss of strength. Future projections highlight the likelihood of an accelerating loss of strength, with traffic restrictions to limit loading required in 2014 in the worst-case scenario, followed by full closure as early as 2020.
But now a different problem has arisen, as is reported in this article of the BBC. This said.
The Forth Road Bridge is to be closed until the new year because of structural faults, Transport Minister Derek Mackay has said.
This morning, there were long tailbacks on alternative routes.
It strikes me that this part of Scotland is in for not a very good Christmas.
At least the Forth Rail Bridge is its usual sturdy iconic self and I suspect that can cope with a few extra shuttle trains to help take the pressure of the roads.
The Revival Of Sleeper Services In The UK
I like sleeper trains and have used them three times in recent years.
The Deutsche Bahn sleeper between Munich and Paris, had one big disadvantage compared to the two Scottish trips – Customer service was not up to the standard First Class passengers expect and get on the Caledonian Sleeper.
The biggest problem, was that there was no waiting facilities at Munich station, as everything closed a couple of hours before the train left.
The last trip I did down from Scotland was during the Commonwealth Games and after an evening session, I couldn’t find a hotel room in Glasgow. I got a First Class sleeper cabin all to myself for just over a hundred pounds, so it was probably cheaper than getting a room in the city and coming down by train in the morning.
Every time, I go North of the Border in future, I’ll always look into the possibility of taking a sleeper down after my visit.
In the UK, sleeper trains seem to be having a revival with both the Caledonian Sleeper and Night Riviera going through a process of upgrading with either new or refurbished carriages.
But in Europe, they seem to be declining.
I wonder what Nigel F***** would make of that one!
We certainly have a different attitude to railways in this country.
Where Does The Borders Railway Go Next?
My Borders correspondent, who lives near Selkirk, says that the Borders Railway has been generally well received. Certainly if you search Google News for Borders Railway, you don’t find many problems or complaints, except one about the singing of the National Anthem for the Queen.
A friend in Edinburgh has just told me, that the trains are too crowded at times. So what’s new? New railways are always crowded, especially if they fulfil a need.
The most common articles on the web, are ones like this one from the Border Telegraph, entitled Next Stop Hawick….
So what will effect this line in the next few years and what do I think will happen?
The Me Too Effect
Now that Galashiels has a reliable half-hourly service to Edinburgh, I suspect that the inhabitants South of Tweedbank, will say that if Galashiels and Tweedbank can have this, why can’t Melrose and Hawick?
Cross Border Co-operation
The Borders area of Scotland and the neighbouring area of England are very similar and probably have the same strengths, problems and needs.
In some ways they are very economically linked now.
- Carlisle is economically tied to the Scottish Borders for shopping and transport links.
- Newcastle is a major airport for the area.
- There is even a rail service between Glasgow and Newcastle, that goes via Kilmarnock, Dumfries, Hexham and the Metro Centre.
- Area rail tickets for North West England include Lockerbie.
- Carlisle and Newcastle are the two major places to catch trains to the South, unless you go North to Edinburgh and Glasgow..
Surely this togetherness should be built on to develop the Borderlands, provided the politicians can be kept out of their way, in their offices in London and Edinburgh.
Increasing Railway Capacity Between England And Scotland
At present, the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line do not provide enough capacity between England and Scotland, for both passengers and freight.
Tourism And Other Economic Effects
I live in the Dalston area of Hackney, which is an area that has been uplifted by the creation of the London Overground from the rather decrepit railways that used to run through the area.
Unless you have lived through the process, most people will not understand how regular trains, running on a frequency of at least two an hour, can bring economic benefits to an area.
The Borderlands, probably have an economic profile not unlike the areas of East Anglia away from the large towns and cities that I know well.
- Both areas are ringed by a series of large towns and cities
- There is a lot of farming.
- There are a lot of tourism-related businesses of all sizes.
- In the summer, visitors take days out into the areas.
- There is a certain amount of specialist manufacture.
- Housing is being developed for those who have retired, who live and work locally and who commute to major towns and cities nearby.
All of these activities will increase the need for better transport links to the major cities that ring the areas.
The latest East Anglian Rail Franchise will mandate the franchisee to provide much better services all over the area and especially on the branch lines.
I can’t believe that the areas on both sides of the Border would not be worth developing in a similar way to that proposed for East Anglia.
Extending The Borders Railway To Melrose, Hawick And Carlisle
Scottish Borders politicians are all in favour of this extension, as are probably the good citizens of the area. My Borders correspondent and his family certainly appear to be.
Just as I have seen an economic uplift in Hackney because of the London Overground, I think it would be unlikely that the Borders Railway running through Melrose and Hawick, would not increase economic activity in the area.
This extension would certainly happen if Scotland stayed in the United Kingdom, as in some ways, this reopening, would help develop tourism in the wider area of the whole Borderlands, the Lake District and North Yorkshire.
Carlisle is probably the big winner in this activity and becomes a city with important or picturesque railway lines going everywhere.
- The West Coast Main Line, links England to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
- The Glasgow And South Western Line to Glasgow via Dumfries and Kilmarnock
- The Settle and Carlisle Line
- The Cumbrian Coast Line around the Lake District to Barrow and Preston
- The Newcastle and Carlisle Line
- The Borders Railway to Edinburgh
The Borders Railway provides the missing link in the railways of the Borderlands.
So when the Scottish politicians discuss the project, they should take into account, the positive affects a complete line would have on England!
Should The Borders Railway Be Electrified?
This question could legitimately by asked about all the other lines meeting at Carlisle, that are not electrified.
But as Carlisle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle , Preston and Skipton are all electrified, I suspect all of the Carlisle lines have enough electrification to be run by modern four-car Aventra IPEMU trains, charging their batteries where overhead power is available and running on batteries as needed.
Some of the lines, including possibly the Borders Railway, are probably ready for Aventra IPEMUs now, with a bit of modification to platforms, track and signalling! Some like probably the Cumbria Coast Line would need some electrification or other means to charge the batteries en route.
So the answer to the electrification question must be yes, if Aventra IPEMUs are used.
But it would create a local railway network, as good as any in Europe, in an environmentally-friendly but totally affordable way.
It would be a showpiece of British technology and an attraction to rail enthusiasts from all over the world.
The network also connects to four World Heritage Sites and the Lake District, Hadrian’s Wall and the major cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Would An Extended Borders Railway Provide Extra Capacity Between England And Scotland?
The Borders Railway has a limited number of paths for trains and when a steam special is run, one of the diesel multiple units has to give up its slot. Read various criticisms on Wikipedia.
My scheduling experience, does suggest to me, that if the line was run by the faster and better accelerating electric trains, including Aventra IPEMUs, that this might create some extra capacity on the line.
Unless the line was fully electrified, it wouldn’t be a route for using the electric trains that run up the East and West Coast Main Lines.
But it would be able to take services run by Aventra IPEMUs or any diesel-hauled passenger or freight trains.
These capacity arguments would also apply to the Glasgow and South Western Line, so with a bit of selective electrification and Aventra IPEMUs, some extra capacity might be squeezed in.
I certainly think that a railway time-tabling expert could certainly find some extra capacity.
But it might be overnight freight trains?
Are There Any Branches To The Borders Railway That Could Be Created?
The original Waverley route had several branches including to Peebles and Hexham.
Midlothian Council have also thought about a branch to Penicuik.
Extra branches are up to the economics and the politicians.
Conclusion
In my view, not to extend the Borders Railway to Carlisle by way of Melrose and Hawick, would be total stupidity.
The problem is that despite being totally in Scotland, extending the Borders Railway to Carlisle, has substantial benefits for England too!
What will Nicola think?
Scotland’s Weather
Carol Kirkwood, the BBC’s Scottish weatherwoman with the large wardrobe of dresses, has just given statistics to show that Scotland is having a very wet summer.
It’s funny that the weather should get worse, after the General Election, where so many Scots voted for a party that believes in total independence.
If they do leave the UK, I hope they take all that wet weather with them.
It looks like she has made her decision, as I think Carol lives somewhere in the South of England. But then she has access to all the data!
Perhaps, now is the time, for people like me, who don’t particularly like hot weather, to take a holiday North of the Border.
Racing Trains To Scotland
As a child, I was never a great reader of books, except for encyclopaedias and other factual books. In an effort to get me to read more, my mother got me a book from the library about how the various train companies in the late 1800s tried to outperform each other to Edinburgh in 1888 and Aberdeen in 1895.
All of this has come back to me, as this month’s edition of Modern Railways is talking about developments in the services to Scotland, that could happen over the next few years.
The Press of the time, dubbed this Victorian rivalry as the Race To The North and in the section in the Wikipedia entry about the rivalry to Aberdeen in 1895, this is said.
In his 1958 book about the series of races, Oswald Nock wrote of the 22/23 August journey, “And at that astonishing average speed of 63.3 mph made sixty-three years ago the London–Aberdeen record still stands today”
The time was even more astounding, when you consider it wasn’t beaten until the 1970s by an InterCity125, which still work the route today.
The time on the night of the 22nd/23rd of August 1895 was eight hours forty-two minutes with Victorian steam locomotives and today the 200 kph diesel train takes just a few minutes over seven hours. But the modern train takes the shorter East Coast route!
The East and West Coast routes obviously don’t race each other these days, but according to Modern Railways, it looks like travel between London and Edinburgh is going to get faster and more interesting, as Virgin are aiming for quite a few four-hour trains throughout the day and two new companies are applying to run direct services between the two capitals.
If I understand the article correctly, by 2020 Virgin will be running three trains an hour between London and Edinburgh. The train from London on the hour will stop at Newcastle with York in alternate hours. The one stoppers will do the journey in four hours with the others just a few minutes slower.. Hopefully by 2020, the new Class 800 and Class 801 trains will be running the semi-fast services in four hours twenty-three minutes. The fastest trains now take four hours and twenty minutes.
Two new operators are applying to run trains on the route.
GNER which is ultimately a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn is planning to use 12×9-car Pendelinos to provide an hourly ‘fast’ service in three hours forty-three minutes from December 2018. They have said, that they are aiming to tempt passengers to switch from plane to train.
The article quotes that rail has a 30% share of the London-Edinburgh market, where there are 42 flights a day. They want to push rail’s share up to 50%.
In Edinburgh – Train or Plane? I compared a journey up by easyJet from Stansted with a return in First on East Coast. Both journeys cost and took about the same time from Hackney to the centre of Edinburgh.
FirstGroup is aiming to run five trains each way between London and Edinburgh in four hours from December 2018, using new Hitachi AT300 electric trains with three stops en route at Morpeth, Newcastle and Stevenage. First has said it will be targeting passengers from the low-cost airlines.
I’ve only talked about Edinburgh in this piece, but a lot of the analysis will also apply to the West Coast Main Line, which has already hsad a dose of a competing service, in the share of First TransPennine to Manchester.
If these plans come to fruition, it would look like the slowest trains on the Edinburgh route will be the Virgin semi-fasts, which will take just a few minutes longer than the fastest trains today.
Out of curiosity, I looked at trains and flights for tomorrow (today is a Monday). I could get the 08:00 out of Kings Cross, which gets me into Edinburgh at 12:20, just in time for lunch, for a Second Class cost of £33.95 and a First Class cost of £65.95 (both costs third-off with Railcard), whereas the easyJet flight from Gatwick or Stansted costs around £60, but would probably mean leaving home well before five in the morning.
This leads me to think, that if all these train services to Edinburgh come to fruition, that the only losers will be the airlines, especially if the large increase in capacity on the route brings down train fares.
The Anonymous Widower 