SCOTTISH RAIL FOCUS
Scottish winter timetable for rail announced
Above: Scottish transport leaders will be hoping for a milder winter than the past two.
New services have been added to the winter timetable in Scotland, with faster and more frequent trains running across the country, Transport Scotland and ScotRail have announced. Kate Ashley reports.
cotland’s winter timetable comes into operation on December 9, and includes earlier Sunday trains
S linking Edinburgh,
Glasgow and Ayr, as well as improved journey times and increased services on the Ayrshire route.
A new Sunday service between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh will also be introduced.
HS2 Scotland extension study announced
A study examining the extension of HS2 to Scotland will start later this year, UK transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced.
This could lead to journey times to London in under three hours. The review will look at capacity and journey times, and involve government agency Transport Scotland, to be completed in early 2013.
McLoughlin reiterated his support for the project, despite campaigners calling for a review of HS2 following the DfT’s errors over the West Coast franchise.
He said: “We can’t afford not to build it. Our competitors around the world are investing in the best transport, and we must too.
“We’re launching a study on the way to get fast journeys further north still, with the aim of getting the journey from Scotland to London to under three hours and making sure the North East benefi ts too, because this will be a scheme for every person in Britain.”
DfT and Transport Scotland offi cials will be meeting their counterparts to discuss routes, destinations and project management. It is not even clear if the line will end at Edinburgh, Glasgow, or both. Precise details on who will fund the Scotland elements, and how, are not due to be discussed at this stage.
More in the Dec/Jan edition of RTM Steve Montgomery, ScotRail’s managing
director, said: “The new timetable provides real benefi ts by improving frequency, journey times and connections on routes across the country.
“It underpins our focus on delivering more services and encourages more people than ever to switch to rail.”
Transport minister Keith Brown said: “Rail travel in Scotland is on the rise as more people come to realise the benefi ts of letting the train take the strain.
“The Scottish Government has an absolute commitment to rail services and to doing all we can to encourage more people on to the trains with all the benefi ts that entails – less congestion on the roads, a reduction in carbon emissions and increased job and investment opportunities.
“These service enhancements will encourage new passengers to travel by rail for commuting, educational and leisure opportunities and help current passengers to get out earlier, stay out later and get around more frequently.”
Other elements of the winter timetable include: • Extra weekday calls at Portlethen, Laurencekirk, Broughty Ferry and Invergowrie • Extra calls at Kilmaurs and Dunlop on Glasgow Central – Kilmarnock services • A new early-morning weekday service from Motherwell to Edinburgh and a late evening service in the opposite direction • A new weekday service between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh calling at Motherwell,
Wishaw, Carluke, Carstairs and Haymarket as part of the EGIP project being introduced and delivered ahead of schedule
• Improved journey times for services between Glasgow and Edinburgh to Inverness as result of new infrastructure works; and extra trains between Edinburgh and Dunbar on a Saturday.
These timetable changes will also mean more local calls between Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen.
Since September, Sunday services between Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street have been every half hour instead of hourly in the mornings and late evening, which will remain the case throughout the winter and in future timetables.
Anyone travelling from Glasgow Central to Ayr will have three trains an hour on weekdays, rather than two, and a fourth service will terminate at Irvine.
The new services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Carstairs and calling at Clydesdale stations are being introduced a year ahead of schedule.
There will also be extra calls at Kilmaurs and Dunlop on Glasgow Central – Kilmarnock services to give passengers at these stations a more regular service.
Scottish transport leaders will be hoping for a milder winter than the past two, both of which saw heavy weather-related disruption, and compensation payments from Network Rail to ScotRail totalling more than £2m, it has been reported.
This was more than outweighed by ScotRail’s loss of income, compensation payments to passengers, and its own spending on resilience measures.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.scotrail.co.uk
rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12 | 69
© Amanda Slater
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