A £650m rail electrification programme which is expected to see the fastest services on Scotland’s flagship route between Edinburgh and Glasgow reduced to 42 minutes, is pressing ahead according to the country’s Minister for Transport Keith Brown.
In addition to updating Parliament on the Edinburgh- Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), the minister also announced that the line between Glasgow, Rutherglen and Coatbridge (Whifflet route) will be fully electrified ahead of the Glasgow 2014 games as part of a wider electrification programme - four years ahead of schedule, in a deal worth nearly £30 million. Brown said: ‘Delivery of the deal, which will see an investment of some £29.6 million to electrify this stretch of track, will allow greater flexibility in deploying trains to help meet passenger demand during the games, as well as free up rolling stock to run elsewhere on the network, including during the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September 2014.’ Services on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line via Carstairs have been completed a year ahead of schedule, and electrification of the Cumbernauld line will be ready ahead of the Commonwealth Games next year, with the £27 million Haymarket station revamp opening at the end of 2013. Work to electrify the Stirling-Alloa-Dunblane line is due for completion by the end of 2018, and according to Brown, ‘The 42-minute fastest journey time between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk High will be implemented after completion of the electrification programme.’
The ‘outstanding achievement’ of volunteers at the Severn Valley Railway has been recognised with a Queen’s Award
for Voluntary service, announced on the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.
The team earned the Royal stamp of approval, steaming through regional and national committee assessments before being selected by the Queen to receive the award. Four long-
standing volunteers, Hugh McQuade, Columb Howell, Gary Williams and Martin White were invited to the mingle with royals at the Queen’s Garden Party, where they discovered that
the Princess Royal is a self-confessed steam enthusiast after once being invited to drive a steam train. One of the UK’s most popular heritage railway attractions, drawing in more than 200,000 visitors each year, the Severn Valley Railway is staffed by 1,300 volunteers.
East Coast has beaten its target to recycle 45 per cent of waste by March 2014 a year ahead of schedule, and the company is now moving towards its ultimate aim - to eliminate waste sent to landfill completely by the end of its franchise in February 2015. East Coast credits its network of more than 50 employees acting
as environmental champions as key to its recycling success story, which is now saving around £160,000 per year. Almost 3,500 tonnes of waste was collected from trains and stations on its network in 2011, including rubbish left on trains, at stations and within its offices and depots – at that time, only around eight per cent of this was recycled, with the rest of it going to landfill. Last year the company changed the way it deals with waste,
placing a stronger emphasis on reducing the carbon footprint of waste disposal, and increasing the amount it recycles. All East Coast stations now feature colour-coded recycling bins. Food and other waste which can be recycled is segregated behind the scenes on- board trains, while recycling of waste oils, glass and wooden pallets has been stepped up within its depots in London, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Head of Safety and Environment, Lesley Heath said: ‘We’ve built recycling into the way we work and more than half of all our depots’ waste is now being recycled. To put this in context, East Coast’s waste total is around the same amount produced by around 3,600 homes each year - and much of it can be recycled. We’re currently working on a plan to recycle food waste collected from trains at the end of each day - this will help us to raise recycling further, to around 60 per cent of all our waste.’
Page 12 July/August 2013
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