Borders Railway - Now Open

[fegguk]

It appears you can now buy tickets from Galashiels (not the other new stations) on line if you put in a date after the 6th of September 2015. I am not sure where the price comes from.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The 24th edition of the Borders Rail e-newsletter has just appeared in my inbox.

 

[railjock]

It appears you can now buy tickets from Galashiels (not the other new stations) on line if you put in a date after the 6th of September 2015. I am not sure where the price comes from.

These are tickets for coach to Berwick on Tweed then train to Edinburgh I believe.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Just something I am curious about - why did they decide to call it the Borders Line rather than the more obvious Waverley Route ?

 

[Railsigns]

Just something I am curious about - why did they decide to call it the Borders Line rather than the more obvious Waverley Route ?

From Wikipedia:

Naming of the line

The first recorded use of the term Borders Railway to describe the reopened line was in a paper by the Corus Rail Consultancy in January 2004, entitled Delivering an innovative Borders Railway, which had been commissioned by the Waverley Route Trust. Previously, the Edinburgh–Tweedbank line had been variously described as the Waverley Railway and the Borders Rail Link. In mid-2014, Transport Scotland considered launching a competition for the public to submit their ideas for a name but the Scottish Borders Council was strongly opposed on the basis that Borders Railway had developed a strong brand identity. The use of Waverley Line or Waverley Route for the line was considered historically inaccurate by the Council and the Campaign for Borders Rail since these names were only ever used for the whole of the original line as far as Carlisle.

 

[railjock]

Just something I am curious about - why did they decide to call it the Borders Line rather than the more obvious Waverley Route ?

Given most of the stations, and passengers, are in Midlothian it's not a particularly accurate name.

 

[Pinza-C55]

I just looked at Newtongrange on Google Earth on my phone and bizarrely it shows the disused trackbed with a "British Rail" station symbol on the site of the original station !

 

[snowball]

I just looked at Newtongrange on Google Earth on my phone and bizarrely it shows the disused trackbed with a "British Rail" station symbol on the site of the original station !

Isn't it just that the symbol comes from the "maps" part of Google Earth's database, which is more up to date than the "satellite photographs" part?

 

[Gwenllian2001]

I just looked at Newtongrange on Google Earth on my phone and bizarrely it shows the disused trackbed with a "British Rail" station symbol on the site of the original station !

The 'British Rail' symbol is the now standard symbol for a railway station.

 

[Railsigns]

I just looked at Newtongrange on Google Earth on my phone and bizarrely it shows the disused trackbed with a "British Rail" station symbol on the site of the original station !

Larkhall station (reopened in 2005) is the same.

 

[Pinza-C55]

The 'British Rail' symbol is the now standard symbol for a railway station.

I know the BR symbol is still used but Newtongrange station is on a different site to the original station. If they leave the symbol where it is then anyone using it to find the station will end up at the wrong place.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Isn't it just that the symbol comes from the "maps" part of Google Earth's database, which is more up to date than the "satellite photographs" part?

I just checked Google Maps on my phone and it shows the same as Google Earth. I have used the "Suggest Edit" feature to put the station in it's correct position.

 

[chiltern trev]

Anyone able to advise what the current passenger loadings are on the existing service to Newcraighall? e.g. In the am peak are the units (how many cars) full on arrival at Waverley, and the inbound off-peak loadings? And then similar for evening peak outbound from Waverley? and outboun off-peak loadings?

 

[fegguk]

I managed to get a few shots today at Bowshank and the north end of Gala before other duties called me back home. I have cut in some scenes from last year to show the remarkable change. There were 2 DMU's running

https://youtu.be/gW1casVsupQ

 

[thealexweb]

Anyone able to advise what the current passenger loadings are on the existing service to Newcraighall? e.g. In the am peak are the units (how many cars) full on arrival at Waverley, and the inbound off-peak loadings? And then similar for evening peak outbound from Waverley? and outboun off-peak loadings?

The peak services are usually formed of two car or four car 158s. Never does the loading exceed 30% even at peak times. Off-peak the loadings are about 5%-10%. The novelty of having my own carriage half the time is good but it does underline how poorly Scotrail utilises its rolling stock. For example, I have recorded off-peak services leaving Newcraighall empty before now. My experience for this is having lived in the area for the past three, going on four, years.

 

[asylumxl]

I managed to get a few shots today at Bowshank and the north end of Gala before other duties called me back home. I have cut in some scenes from last year to show the remarkable change. There were 2 DMU's running


https://youtu.be/gW1casVsupQ

Great video. Glad to see that the 158s can travel a bit faster than the locomotive seemed to be in previous videos.

 

[reb0118]

The peak services are usually formed of two car or four car 158s. Never does the loading exceed 30% even at peak times.........

Morning peak trains are regularly full & standing heading to Edinburgh, esp. after Brunstane. They are busy returning from Edinburgh in the evening but not so busy as the morning as passengers stagger their return home.

Off peak the services are quiet but there are fluctuations e.g. when a coach trip disgorges its passengers at Newcraighall or Festival time when lots of passengers stay at the nearby hotel and use the train into town.

 

[chiltern trev]

Morning peak trains are regularly full & standing heading to Edinburgh, esp. after Brunstane. They are busy returning from Edinburgh in the evening but not so busy as the morning as passengers stagger their return home.

Off peak the services are quiet but there are fluctuations e.g. when a coach trip disgorges its passengers at Newcraighall or Festival time when lots of passengers stay at the nearby hotel and use the train into town.

Thanks for your responses on usage.

So if an inbound existing peak service is full, say 2 cars, then presumably for the new timetable to/from Tweedbank, the same inbound working will need to have 2+n cars so that there are 2 cars empty for Newcraighall and Brunstane passengers and the n cars is adequate for the new stations. This therefore means that a 2 car unit is not gain fully employed for around 2 hours, i.e the time taken to go out and back from Tweedbank empty.

And then apply the same argument to any other currently full Newcraghall/Brunstane train - so for more full services there are more 2 car units going miles empty.

Of course you could argue that at peak times it is probably the case that units work out from Edinburgh empty to come back full so the 'empty time' is the time (one way trip) from Tweedbank.

I would have thought that is the existing peak trains are full or nearly full, then it would make sense to have 2 short workings per hour at peak time as well as the 2 Tweedbank workings per hour - or is Edinburgh Waverley at capacity during peak hours?

Hence my asking about the usage.


On a different note, on Borders ITV this evening (18.00) was a story about the online ticketing system not being able to sell tickets yet. Tweedbank is not yet on the system. Galashiels <> Edinburgh tickets route via a bus to Berwick. So Borders TV catching up with earlier posts re ticketing.

 

[reb0118]

Hence my asking about the usage.

Remember, there may be a fair bit of abstraction from Newcraighall as passengers shift to the new stations.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Looking at the proposed timetable it seems that Stow is 46 minutes ride from Edinburgh - pretty reasonable commuting distance. It would be interesting to see whether this has an effect on house prices as these villages become dormitories for Edinburgh ?

 

[me123]

On a different note, on Borders ITV this evening (18.00) was a story about the online ticketing system not being able to sell tickets yet. Tweedbank is not yet on the system. Galashiels <> Edinburgh tickets route via a bus to Berwick. So Borders TV catching up with earlier posts re ticketing.

Bit of a panic down there in the Borders about this ticketing "issue". Or so you'd be led to believe by the tone of the news articles. It's being described as the "ticketing scandal". Scandal? Seriously, is this the most exciting thing that happens down there?

A number took to social media to voice their concerns at the situation.

BBC story

These people clearly need to get a life.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Bit of a panic down there in the Borders about this ticketing "issue". Or so you'd be led to believe by the tone of the news articles. It's being described as the "ticketing scandal". Scandal? Seriously, is this the most exciting thing that happens down there?


BBC story

These people clearly need to get a life.

A weekly season at £64 seems pretty good value.

 

[me123]

Yep, not a bad fare structure overall. If you don't go on a bus via Berwick, that is.

 

[oldman]

Looking at the proposed timetable it seems that Stow is 46 minutes ride from Edinburgh - pretty reasonable commuting distance. It would be interesting to see whether this has an effect on house prices as these villages become dormitories for Edinburgh ?

Stow already is a dormitory for Edinburgh and will become ever more so. Then there will be pressure for a station at Heriot and more housing there - all whitewashed so that they don't blend into the scenery. The suburbanisation of the countryside continues. 'There will be few, if any, railway journeys anywhere in Europe to match the outstanding scenery along the route of the new Borders Railway. (A. Salmond)' - not for long I fear.

 

[railjock]

Stow already is a dormitory for Edinburgh and will become ever more so. Then there will be pressure for a station at Heriot and more housing there - all whitewashed so that they don't blend into the scenery. The suburbanisation of the countryside continues. 'There will be few, if any, railway journeys anywhere in Europe to match the outstanding scenery along the route of the new Borders Railway. (A. Salmond)' - not for long I fear.

Hard to build much more at Stow as most of it is flood plain. They would have to build a hell of a lot of houses at Heriot to justify a station.

 

[adrock1976]

A question here - If and when the partially reopened Waverley route has wires, would there be a possibility of the Edinburgh Crossrail concept being reinstated?

In 2003 when Edinburgh Park, Newcraighall, and Brunstane stations opened, this was tied in with Edinburgh Crossrail, where (before the Airdrie - Bathgate section reopened in 2010) services from Newcraighall would run to Bathgate, Bathgate to Edinburgh Waverley, Edinburgh Waverley to Dunblane via Falkirk Grahamston, and Dunblane to Newcraighall.

In 2006/07, in preparation for Airdrie - Bathgate reopening, Edinburgh Crossrail was then based on Newcraighall - Fife loop service, with the Dunblane services reverting back to starting and terminating at Waverley.

Could the Borders service continue to either Cowdenbeath or Dunblane when those routes are wired up?

In peace

Adam

 

[NotATrainspott]

A question here - If and when the partially reopened Waverley route has wires, would there be a possibility of the Edinburgh Crossrail concept being reinstated?

In 2003 when Edinburgh Park, Newcraighall, and Brunstane stations opened, this was tied in with Edinburgh Crossrail, where (before the Airdrie - Bathgate section reopened in 2010) services from Newcraighall would run to Bathgate, Bathgate to Edinburgh Waverley, Edinburgh Waverley to Dunblane via Falkirk Grahamston, and Dunblane to Newcraighall.

In 2006/07, in preparation for Airdrie - Bathgate reopening, Edinburgh Crossrail was then based on Newcraighall - Fife loop service, with the Dunblane services reverting back to starting and terminating at Waverley.

Could the Borders service continue to either Cowdenbeath or Dunblane when those routes are wired up?

In peace

Adam

The Borders railway is kept separate because of the single-line sections, so unless the reliability of the Fife lines were high enough I doubt they would run trains from Tweedbank through to Fife. What they could do would be to add another 2tph to Gorebridge, as passive provision is available for such an additional service - which might be better to run through to the west.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Hard to build much more at Stow as most of it is flood plain..

A point well worth making.

 

[Altnabreac]

Hard to build much more at Stow as most of it is flood plain. They would have to build a hell of a lot of houses at Heriot to justify a station.

Indeed, one of the reasons why Stow was originally not included in the project by the promoter was the lack of available land for building new houses that would help to improve the business case.

It was eventually inserted into the Bill as a compulsory part of the project by the MSPs on the Bill Committee for reasons of social equity / to provide a benefit for an area undergoing disruption rather than an expectation that it would provide a good BCR (though an enhanced BCR taking into account wider economic factors might not be awful for Stow).


Both Heriot and Fountainhall were looked at by the committee but they suffer from a similar problem to Stow in that they are hemmed in between steep hills and wide flood plain with very little land suitable for development.

Frankly neither are remotely likely to happen.

The one other possible extra station for Borders Rail is at Redheugh, between Gorebridge and Newtongrange where I believe Midlothian Council have considered locating a major housing development with associated new station.

A number of factors including proximity to existing stations and journey time penalties for the Borders mean it is unlikely to happen until after the service is developed into a 2tph Gorebridge stopper and a 2tph Tweedbank (Hawick?) semi fast. So probably at least 5-10 years away.

 

[railjock]

Indeed, one of the reasons why Stow was originally not included in the project by the promoter was the lack of available land for building new houses that would help to improve the business case.

It was eventually inserted into the Bill as a compulsory part of the project by the MSPs on the Bill Committee for reasons of social equity / to provide a benefit for an area undergoing disruption rather than an expectation that it would provide a good BCR (though an enhanced BCR taking into account wider economic factors might not be awful for Stow).


Both Heriot and Fountainhall were looked at by the committee but they suffer from a similar problem to Stow in that they are hemmed in between steep hills and wide flood plain with very little land suitable for development.

Frankly neither are remotely likely to happen.

The one other possible extra station for Borders Rail is at Redheugh, between Gorebridge and Newtongrange where I believe Midlothian Council have considered locating a major housing development with associated new station.

A number of factors including proximity to existing stations and journey time penalties for the Borders mean it is unlikely to happen until after the service is developed into a 2tph Gorebridge stopper and a 2tph Tweedbank (Hawick?) semi fast. So probably at least 5-10 years away.

I agree with your last paragraph.

 

[me123]

Good news.

The fares have been uploaded, and the people of the Borders can sleep soundly again.