Inverclyde and Ayrshire line consultations

[glasgowniteowl]

I've not seen any other links to this, below is a link to the scotrail consultation on service changes proposed for the June 2024 timetable on the Inverclyde and Ayrshire lines

Ayrshire and Inverclyde Timetable Consultation

As part of our vision to support thriving, connected, and resilient communities and destinations that are great places to live, work, and visit, we are asking for customer feedback on a proposed new timetable for services between Glasgow, Ayr, Ardrossan, Largs, Wemyss Bay, and Gourock.

www.scotrail.co.uk

 

[Tayway]

Interesting proposals.

On the Inverclyde side it seems to be 2tph all stops to Wemyss Bay (1tph semi-fast in the evening) and 2tph semi-fast to Gourock (2tph all stops in the evening).

Ayrshire is 2tph semi-fast to Ayr (Only Paisley and Johnstone before Kilwinning), and 1tph stopping to each of Largs and Ardrossan.

There's also a handful of extra peak services to Greenock, Ayr and Largs with variable stopping patterns.

 

[hux385]

The plans make a lot of sense to me, it should bring faster journeys to Ayr and Gourock without needing many more diagrams, thus making sure reliability is maintained. I have always found it strange that Wemyss Bay currently has the semi-fast services.

 

[hexagon789]

How is the off-peak Ayrshire offering any different to present?

Did I miss something?

I think Inverclyde looks very interesting - doubling Wemyss Bay and accelerating Gourock.

 

[Falcon1200]

How is the off-peak Ayrshire offering any different to present?

Did I miss something?

No, as far as I can see it is the same as now! The great pity is that the pre-Covid six Ayrshire trains per hour is not returning - Will it ever? It provided every station on the route with an excellent service, the only strange thing IMHO was the express Ayr trains not stopping at Paisley Gilmour Street.

On the Inverclyde side it seems to be 2tph all stops to Wemyss Bay (1tph semi-fast in the evening) and 2tph semi-fast to Gourock (2tph all stops in the evening).

Wemyss Bay going to two trains an hour is a big improvement, and given that the Gourock trains will usually be the busier I can see the logic of those being fast and the Bays calling at all stations.

 

[louis97]

Wemyss Bay going to two trains an hour is a big improvement, and given that the Gourock trains will usually be the busier I can see the logic of those being fast and the Bays calling at all stations.

A big improvement at what costs to performance I ask. The single line re-occupation at Wemyss Bay Junction looks a little cosy to be happening every half hour. I guess worst case scenario is that the service reverts to what it is today during disruption, however with a slightly extended journey time. Scotrail don't skip stops anymore since the bad press, so I could see a service arriving Glasgow late and the return trip to Wemyss Bay cancelled rather than importing delay onto the single line.

 

[hexagon789]

No, as far as I can see it is the same as now! The great pity is that the pre-Covid six Ayrshire trains per hour is not returning - Will it ever? It provided every station on the route with an excellent service, the only strange thing IMHO was the express Ayr trains not stopping at Paisley Gilmour Street.

The same could be said about the 15-min interval Edinburgh / Glasgow service on weekdays off-peak.

I guess if growth and revenue is sufficient some further improvements might be seen.

Given the staffing issues that are still present, I'm not sure significant frequency uplifts are going to be seen anywhere soon.

 

[fisher2511]

I have commented on the 25 minute connection time when travelling from Largs and Ardrossan to Ayr and vice versa.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Re the Wemyss Bay service, the Glasgow bound service has 11-13 minutes between Inverkip and Branchton compared to the 8 minutes the other direction, seems that this service will be held at Dunrod loop to allow the Wemyss Bay service to pass

 

[HamworthyGoods]

On the Inverclyde side it seems to be 2tph all stops to Wemyss Bay (1tph semi-fast in the evening) and 2tph semi-fast to Gourock (2tph all stops in the evening).

I wonder what the logic is in swapping round the calling patterns in the evening is.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Oct 2023 ==

I've not seen any other links to this, below is a link to the scotrail consultation on service changes proposed for the June 2024 timetable on the Inverclyde and Ayrshire lines

Looks like this consultation is totally at odds with industry timescales. The June 24 timetable is due for bidding to Network Rail this month and the consultations runs into next….

 

[Watershed]

I wonder what the logic is in swapping round the calling patterns in the evening is.

Possibly something to do with Gourock being a traincrew depot? Just a guess.

 

[Tayway]

Possibly something to do with Gourock being a traincrew depot? Just a guess.

I think more likely is that it ensures all the stations between Port Glasgow and Glasgow Central the line get at least 2tph, instead of the smaller ones only getting the 1tph from Wemyss Bay.

 

[InOban]

There have been complaints that the schedule from Wemyss Bay will be slower than in the last days of sream!

 

[Dispatcherr]

Maybe future planning has somewhat to do with it, aswell as the demand for faster journeys from Gourock to Glasgow. A lot of new build houses have been planned in Inverclyde, especially at the old IBM site (Easdales are believed to build over 450 houses)

 

[hexagon789]

There have been complaints that the schedule from Wemyss Bay will be slower than in the last days of sream!

As far as I can see, back then it was essentially a two-hourly service and took mostly 60-62 mins with 4-5 stops. Even the summer Saturdays non-stops took 49-51 mins.

Now it will take 58-59 mins and run twice an hour...

 

[Kite159]

I presume with 2tph on the Wemyss Bay branch that Dunrod loop between Inverkip & the mothballed IBM will see regular use with trains passing there?

 

[Scotrail314209]

I presume with 2tph on the Wemyss Bay branch that Dunrod loop between Inverkip & the mothballed IBM will see regular use with trains passing there?

Yeah, the Glasgow bound trains during the day take an extra 5ish minutes between Inverkip and Branchton (presumably because they will be held at Dunrod)

 

[Falcon1200]

There have been complaints that the schedule from Wemyss Bay will be slower than in the last days of sream!

That comparison is between the standard proposed service and a handful of fast steam services, as @hexagon789 has shown. Given that the Gourock trains are always likely to be busier than the Wemyss Bay services, and even more so when the latter goes half-hourly, the planned stopping pattern does make sense.

 

[Class 170101]

Is there any reason why Ardrossan Town isn't served before 07:50 on a weekdayu heading towards Glasgow? Seems rather late to me.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

No ferries arriving that early in morning presumably not enough footfall to justify it considering south beach is roughly half a mile away and would be served by a largs service earlier, Majority of passenger numbers on that line is coming from ardrossan harbour presumably mostly from the ferry

 

[Christmas]

I have often wondered why the 00.15 to Ayr goes directly from Johnstone to Kilwinning, missing out 5 stations.

 

[snookertam]

I have often wondered why the 00.15 to Ayr goes directly from Johnstone to Kilwinning, missing out 5 stations.

It’s in keeping with the standard calling pattern for Glasgow Central to Ayr services.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Nov 2023 ==

A big improvement at what costs to performance I ask. The single line re-occupation at Wemyss Bay Junction looks a little cosy to be happening every half hour. I guess worst case scenario is that the service reverts to what it is today during disruption, however with a slightly extended journey time. Scotrail don't skip stops anymore since the bad press, so I could see a service arriving Glasgow late and the return trip to Wemyss Bay cancelled rather than importing delay onto the single line.

Yes, unworkable would be the phrase I would use. Think Borders line, where anything approaching 10 minutes delay results in a cancellation or service alteration of some sort. And Dunrod isn’t even a dynamic loop so means, as has been pointed out, that one train will have to stand for a period while the other one passes.

I’d suggest the old timetable of 2 all stops to Gourock, 1 semi fast Gourock and 1 semi fast Wemyss Bay was just fine.

 

[SC318250]

Hopefully if demands through the consultation seek a half hourly service, then maybe more of the line could be dualled. Without verging on speculative thread I do wonder if from Inverkip to Wemyss Bay could be dualled, or would that not make any difference?