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james73 · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:16 pm Post subject:

Villages win campaign for half-hourly trains (Evening Times)

RAIL services to two East Ayrshire villages will be boosted by more than 50%
following a campaign by the communities.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said the number of trains serving Kilmaurs
and Dunlop would increase from the current 36 a day to 57 when the new
services are introduced in December.

Transport Scotland, the transport agency, had originally proposed the villages
would receive only an hourly service off-peak following a £28.5million track
upgrade on the Glasgow-Kilmarnock line.

However, this will now become a half-hourly service from December.

Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, described the increase in
services as "tremendous". The decision follows a vigorous campaign by the
people living in the two villages.

In May a petition signed by 1000 people in Dunlop and Kilmaurs was handed
to Transport Scotland complaining about the number of trains serving them.

And during the consultation process, bosses at Transport Scotland were accused
of using unfounded and misleading claims to justify a decision to reduce the
frequency of services to the two villages following the track upgrade.

Official explanations given by the government agency over the timetable for
the Glasgow-Kilmarnock line provoked an extraordinary snub from Network
Rail, the company in charge of the UK's rail infrastructure.

Earlier this year officials from Transport Scotland told two public meetings that
problems with congestion at Muirhouse Junction, a busy intersection on the
route, would make it difficult to provide a half-hourly service to Kilmaurs and
Dunlop during off-peak periods.

But in a letter to East Ayrshire councillor John McGhee, Network Rail public
affairs manager Dave Boyce said he was "surprised" at Transport Scotland's
explanation.

He claimed that previous modelling work had established the junction would
be able to support half-hourly stops, despite a "slight worsening in train performance".

James H

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The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

james73 · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 2:36 pm Post subject:

Glasgow to Edinburgh by train in just 35 minutes (Evening Times)

MINISTERS have agreed £1billion funding for Scotland's biggest package of
railway enhancements in a generation.

They will include electrifying the track between Glasgow and Edinburgh and
bringing fastest journey times down to just over half an hour.

Under a deal thrashed out over the last month between the government agency,
Transport Scotland, and track owners Network Rail, funding for the Edinburgh
Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) will be borrowed against the asset
value of the UK rail network.

Agreement over the funding mechanism will cause relief for ministers. They
have so far failed to win approval from Westminster for plans to borrow £2.3bn to
pay for a replacement Forth road crossing - a project whose size still threatens
to derail other major transport spending schemes over the next decade.

By contrast, the EGIP programme, which involves electrifying more than 350km
of track, a new interchange at Gogar and major improvements to track
infrastructure and stations, will not require any government borrowing.

It is understood the exact terms of the finance, including the repayment terms,
are yet to be ironed out, but that the principle of borrowing against Network
Rail's assets has been agreed and sanctioned by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Industry analysts have described it as the most significant improvement to
Scotland's railways since the electrification of routes in Ayrshire in the mid-1980s.

Key benefits of the scheme, which is set for completion in 2016, include
increasing the frequency of services between Glasgow Queen Street and
Edinburgh to around six an hour each way, with a fastest journey time of
35 minutes.

In addition, three services are expected to run hourly between Edinburgh and
Glasgow Central on the Shotts and Carstairs routes.

The project will involve electrifying the main line between Glasgow and Edinburgh,
including diversionary routes, as well as lines through Stirling to Dunblane and
Alloa.

Edinburgh Park Station will also be served by Glasgow-to-Edinburgh services
for the first time.

James H
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The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

norrie · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:25 pm Post subject:

Hi james that great for Glasgow and Edinburgh, any sign of the link to Glasgow Airport and the link betewen the south and north of the clyde.

Bye for now, norrie
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Bye for now, Norrie

Doog Doog · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:54 pm Post subject:

Thats good news,better get some pics before the linesides are transformed.
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jonno22 · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:14 pm Post subject:

It is going to be a very interesting six years to see this project progressing in stages. I will be taking a keen interest and in depth look into the project like I have been trying my best to do with all major railway projects tkaing place in Scotland at the moment.

norrie - The GARL project has been low profile news since the Evening Times newspaper article claiming cost and engineering design within the airport itself was a problem, need to see what happens with this one. It is definitely too late to back out of the project so cost isnt a reason for the project to be terminated because so much work has been done already to kick-start the project and get it under way. I am looking forward to The EGIP very much. It should have came long ago and has been promised for over two decades so it is about time we saw these improvements made to our railway system.

Best Regards

Jonathan McGurk

norrie · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject:

Hi jonno, when did work begin and finish on the Argyle low level line.

Bye for now, norrie
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Bye for now, Norrie

james73 · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject:

The Glasgow Central Railway, as it was originally known, was closed in 1964.

The Argyle Line was (re)opened in 1979. Dunno how long it took to relay the
track (they ripped the old track out and put a new concrete base down) but it
was first mentioned in the Clyderail Proposals of 1973. The stations along the
line that were reopened were the east side of Rutherglen, Dalmarnock, Bridgeton,
Central, Anderston and Finneston (formally Stobcross, later SECC). Glasgow
Cross and Glasgow Green were not reopened and the mainline part of Rutherglen
was closed.

Additionally, Partickhill was closed and the current Partick interchange was
newly built and opened in 1979 also.

A few things mentioned in that report never happened, like creating a new
junction and tunnel linking Bridgeton (Cross) station to the Bridgeton Central
line up to the High Street, meaning trains from Motherwell/Hamilton could
head into Queen Street low level as well as Central low level. I think they also
mentioned reopening the Bridgeton Cross to Carmyle section. Bits of this line
have now been built on, scuppering any chance of it being reopened any further
than Parkhead for the Commonwealth Games.

James H
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The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....

norrie · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject:

Hi james73, thanks for that information I had an idea it was late 70s

Bye for now, Norrie
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Bye for now, Norrie

james73 · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:53 pm Post subject:

£1bn plan kicks off by doubling rail services (Evening Times)

TRAIN services between Glasgow and Edinburgh will double in frequency from
December in the first part of a £1billion package of rail improvements.

A new limited-stop service travelling via Shotts will improve journey times for
passengers in Lanarkshire travelling to Edinburgh and for those in West Lothian
travelling to Glasgow, Transport Scotland said.

The government agency also unveiled a shake-up of early-morning departures
that will make it easier for passengers outside Scotland's two biggest cities
to make connections to London as part of the new timetable, starting on
December 13.

Early departures from Ayr and Gourock to Glasgow will be brought forward
by around half an hour to let passengers in Ayr make a six-hour journey to
London Euston, leaving at 5.10am and changing at Glasgow Central.

There will also be additional early morning and late evening services between
Dumfries and Carlisle, allowing passengers to connect with trains running along
the West Coast Main Line between Scotland and London.

The new timetable also includes a full half-hourly train service between Glasgow
and Kilmarnock, introduced following the construction of a £28.5million passing
loop at Lugton. It allows 32 extra trains per day to use the line.

The villages of Dunlop and Kilmaurs are included in the full half-hourly timetable
after pressure from campaigners in Ayrshire and opposition politicians.

The new timetable also aims to maintain better connections with the Stranraer
ferry services, Transport Scotland said. However, campaigners who have pushed
for improvements said they'd wait to see the detailed timetable to see if it lived
up to the pledge.

James H

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The blinding obvious is what you showed to me.....