(04/12/2012 19:54)507009 Wrote: [ -> ]The Paisley Canal line has been energised and electric trains are now operating part of the service. There have been several 314s and 380s used to far; with the upcoming December timetable change, DMU operation will cease. Off-peak services will be formed of 314s, with the busier peak time journeys handled by 380s. Have to get over to Glasgow for a ride on this line soon.
I intend to ride the Paisley Canal line when I go to Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games in 2014. (To digress, hopefully plenty more ex-Arriva buses will have been repainted into McGills livery or been replaced by then).
Due to an obstruction on the line at Portgower near to Helmsdale a rail replacement will be in operation between Helmsdale and Inverness , Scotrail are advising that the replacement Road transport will extend journey time by upto 2 hours .
Here is the reason for the replacement road transport
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_di...msdale.jpg
The first major building work for the new Borders Rail route started today .
The work that started today and has been eagerly awaited for quite a long time in the area is digging taking place in the Monktonhall area and the excavation of the Shawfair Station site .
Prior to this start of work there had been about six months of remediation work athe old Monktonhall Colliery site to make the land safe .
Network Rail has appointed BAM Nutall as main contractor for the work which for the work , the contract is worth £220m .
There will be stations at Shawfair (started today) , Eskbank , Newtongrange , Gorebridge , Stow , Galashiels and Tweedbank.
Hopefully in the future the line could continue on through the borders to Carlisle and rekindle an old route to Edinburgh avoiding the route from Carlisle via Carstairs in Lanarkshire .
(18/04/2013 10:31)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]The first major building work for the new Borders Rail route started today .
The work that started today and has been eagerly awaited for quite a long time in the area is digging taking place in the Monktonhall area and the excavation of the Shawfair Station site .
Prior to this start of work there had been about six months of remediation work athe old Monktonhall Colliery site to make the land safe .
Network Rail has appointed BAM Nutall as main contractor for the work which for the work , the contract is worth £220m .
There will be stations at Shawfair (started today) , Eskbank , Newtongrange , Gorebridge , Stow , Galashiels and Tweedbank.
Hopefully in the future the line could continue on through the borders to Carlisle and rekindle an old route to Edinburgh avoiding the route from Carlisle via Carstairs in Lanarkshire .
It would be fantastic if the old Waverley route to Carlisle was resurrected, but given the gradients, curves and slowness of the route, it would probably never be commercially viable given the speed of the electrified WCML.
In addition, south of Hawick, there are no towns of any great size to generate intermediate traffic along the route to Carlisle.
(18/04/2013 21:35)507022 Wrote: [ -> ] (18/04/2013 10:31)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]The first major building work for the new Borders Rail route started today .
The work that started today and has been eagerly awaited for quite a long time in the area is digging taking place in the Monktonhall area and the excavation of the Shawfair Station site .
Prior to this start of work there had been about six months of remediation work athe old Monktonhall Colliery site to make the land safe .
Network Rail has appointed BAM Nutall as main contractor for the work which for the work , the contract is worth £220m .
There will be stations at Shawfair (started today) , Eskbank , Newtongrange , Gorebridge , Stow , Galashiels and Tweedbank.
Hopefully in the future the line could continue on through the borders to Carlisle and rekindle an old route to Edinburgh avoiding the route from Carlisle via Carstairs in Lanarkshire .
It would be fantastic if the old Waverley route to Carlisle was resurrected, but given the gradients, curves and slowness of the route, it would probably never be commercially viable given the speed of the electrified WCML.
In addition, south of Hawick, there are no towns of any great size to generate intermediate traffic along the route to Carlisle.
As you say there really is nothing between Hawick and Carlisle and its probably just a very long term aspiration , to get back to Carlisle , for some peole it would bring back memories of time gone by.
314205 is reportedly at Glasgow Works currently. I wonder if it will take the Transport Scotland livery while here alongside its sisters? Even the newer repaints into the old carmine and cream livery are looking scruffy these days, in total contrast with the refreshed interiors.
Going back to the Waverley Route from Carlisle to Edinburgh , quite a bit of the old route south of Tweedbank actually has roads running on the original alignment .
Even after all this time you can still see on Google Maps the old alignments in some locations .
Modern Railways has an interesting feature on rail developments in Scotland. This includes electrification of lines to Whifflet and Cumbernauld, potentially in time for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games next summer.
I was in Milngavie just outside Glasgow yesterday afternoon and found myself with an hour and a half to spare before meeting up with the family, so decided to take a ride into Glasgow just for the sake of it. Milngavie has a combined 15 minute interval service to either Queen Street or Central.
I chose the 1557 Edinburgh service calling at Queen Street formed by 334001 Donald Dewar still in SPT livery but bright and cheerful inside. My return was on the 1647 from Queen Street which was a 6 car formation comprising 334020 and 334024 both in the new Scotrail livery and with refurbished interior. Overall a very pleasant experience on an intense suburban network late on a busy Saturday afternoon. Smart clean and punctual trains, plenty of spare seats, and friendly helpful staff. If only Merseyrail could be the same.
Out of interest, does anyone know why the middle cars of the 334s have 3x2 seating while the other two cars have 2x2. I know the middle car also has the toilet, but it does seem odd to have the different seating layouts in different cars of the same unit.
I think everybody is now waiting to see who will get the Scotrail franchise , now that the Scotrail sleeper franchise has been let to Serco.
Seems that Serco and the Scottish Government have a working relationship , don't forget they also operate the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland ) Ferry services as well.