East Kilbride/Barrhead electrification updates

[hexagon789]

So do we have a new estimated date for electric trains running to EK?

December timetable change

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

December timetable change

Thanks. Still a bit of time away then.

 

[Southsider]

Thanks. Still a bit of time away then.

And still partly diesel according to earlier posts. That’ll give the transport correspondents of the newspapers something to write about once the ferries have been delivered.

 

[Class 170101]

And still partly diesel according to earlier posts.

Is that due to a lack of EMUs or due to the way the fleet is then diagrammed to other routes? (eg Glasgow, EK, Glasgow, Dumfries, Glasgow - Dumfries being unwired)

 

[Trainbike46]

Is that due to a lack of EMUs or due to the way the fleet is then diagrammed to other routes? (eg Glasgow, EK, Glasgow, Dumfries, Glasgow - Dumfries being unwired)

The suggestion is that Scotrail doesn't have enough EMUs, given they've electrified a few routes recently, but not obtained any extra EMUs.

Of course, with the oldest Scotrail EMUs getting near end-of-life, it would make sense to start a procurement to replace those, and at the same time include some extras for the recently electrified (and possibly soon to be electrified) routes. Personally I hope Scotrail gets on this and starts sorting this sooner rather than later, but it will likely be a while before whatever new stock is selected enters service.

 

[Southsider]

Unlikely that new procurement could deliver before December. More 321s, possibly converted to 320, might have seemed the obvious, interim solution but they all seem destined for the scrapyard. 350s have been suggested. Wandering off onto the rolling stock thread ……

 

[hexagon789]

Is it capacity reasons or part of the works behind the rail replacement services not serving Thornliebank or Thorntonhall at all and Giffnock only on Sundays for the duration of the blockade?

 

[s55823ewj]

I think part of it must be a lack of suitable routes to link up, particularly between Pollokshaws West and Thornliebank with the bridge shut.
Thorntonhall has minimal passengers and gets skipped a lot by the trains also. Kennishead station isn't too far from Thornliebank, and I guess people in Giffnock have a regular bus going straight to Glasgow.

 

[hexagon789]

I think part of it must be a lack of suitable routes to link up, particularly between Pollokshaws West and Thornliebank with the bridge shut.
Thorntonhall has minimal passengers and gets skipped a lot by the trains also. Kennishead station isn't too far from Thornliebank, and I guess people in Giffnock have a regular bus going straight to Glasgow.

You've basically covered all the reasons I could think, so that would seem to be it then.

 

[MadMac]

I think part of it must be a lack of suitable routes to link up, particularly between Pollokshaws West and Thornliebank with the bridge shut.
Thorntonhall has minimal passengers and gets skipped a lot by the trains also. Kennishead station isn't too far from Thornliebank, and I guess people in Giffnock have a regular bus going straight to Glasgow.

Thorntonhall would be somewhat challenging to get a bus to. However, what happens to season ticket holders if no replacement bus service is offered? Refunded?

 

[route101]

Thorntonhall usually sees a shuttle service to Busby when rail replacement buses are on.

 

[apjsco]

You've basically covered all the reasons I could think, so that would seem to be it then.

Does the Giffnock shuttle bus go direct to Glasgow Central? I have never used the rail replacement service before and always opted to take the Bus instead but given the blockade period I may be persuaded to use the rail replacement service form Giffnock if its not doing a round robin between all the other stops en route to Glasgow Central.

The current 38 bus service from Giffnock to Glasgow city centre is appalling and so frustratingly slow, especially as it crawls through Shawlands. I've never considered it a viable option compared to the train...not to mention the train is half the price if you travel off peak!

 

[hexagon789]

Does the Giffnock shuttle bus go direct to Glasgow Central? I have never used the rail replacement service before and always opted to take the Bus instead but given the blockade period I may be persuaded to use the rail replacement service form Giffnock if its not doing a round robin between all the other stops en route to Glasgow Central.

The current 38 bus service from Giffnock to Glasgow city centre is appalling and so frustratingly slow, especially as it crawls through Shawlands. I've never considered it a viable option compared to the train...not to mention the train is half the price if you travel off peak!

What Giffnock bus shuttle, sorry?

 

[apjsco]

What Giffnock bus shuttle, sorry?

Sorry, I meant to say the rail replacement shuttle bus.

 

[hexagon789]

Sorry, I meant to say the rail replacement shuttle bus.

i realised you mean about the Rail Replacement Buses, but I thought you meant a specific service for Giffnock, just the way I read it sorry.

As far as I can see the replacement bus service consists of:

Mon-Sat Off-peak
1 bus per hour fast - Hairmyres and East Kilbride
2 buses per hour - Crossmyloof & Pollokshaws West (both pick-up only), Clarkston, Busby, Hairmyres, East Kilbride

Mon-Fri peak
4 buses per hour fast as above
2 buses per hour stopping as above

Sundays
2 buses per hour stopping - Crossmyloof (pick-up only), Pollokshaws West (pick-up only), Giffnock, Clarkston, Busby, Hairmyres, East Kilbride


So Giffnock is only served on Sundays, perhaps because the 374 bus does not run on Sundays making it difficult to get to Clarkston by public transport and catch the Replacement bus from there.

The timing on Sundays is 30 mins to Glasgow Central from Giffnock on the bus, and 32 mins back.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Thorntonhall usually sees a shuttle service to Busby when rail replacement buses are on.

Limousine service surely!!

 

[sannox]

i realised you mean about the Rail Replacement Buses, but I thought you meant a specific service for Giffnock, just the way I read it sorry.

As far as I can see the replacement bus service consists of:

Mon-Sat Off-peak
1 bus per hour fast - Hairmyres and East Kilbride
2 buses per hour - Crossmyloof & Pollokshaws West (both pick-up only), Clarkston, Busby, Hairmyres, East Kilbride

Mon-Fri peak
4 buses per hour fast as above
2 buses per hour stopping as above

Sundays
2 buses per hour stopping - Crossmyloof (pick-up only), Pollokshaws West (pick-up only), Giffnock, Clarkston, Busby, Hairmyres, East Kilbride


So Giffnock is only served on Sundays, perhaps because the 374 bus does not run on Sundays making it difficult to get to Clarkston by public transport and catch the Replacement bus from there.

The timing on Sundays is 30 mins to Glasgow Central from Giffnock on the bus, and 32 mins back.

Seems strange no bus is provided calling at Giffnock as you can route past it from Clarkston to Pollokshaws West without too much issue (although traffic is busy at Giffnock). Bit of a pain if you are travelling to intermediate stations or East Kilbride from Giffnock.

If I was in Giffnock going to Glasgow nd the trains were off I'd be going to Muirend / Williamwood / Whitecraigs depending on which part I was heading to as even with a 15 minute walk probably still be competitive with the bus. The 38 buses get held up by the bus lanes being choked in Shawlands by parked cars!

Thorntonhall I can understand and a taxi shuttle to Hairmyres probably would suffice if needed. Thornliebank would be difficult to get to with bridge works as roads nearby aren't great.

 

[Falcon1200]

Limousine service surely!!

Indeed! I would be amazed if any of the residents of Thorntonhall lowered themselves to travel by bus.....

 

[Southsider]

i realised you mean about the Rail Replacement Buses, but I thought you meant a specific service for Giffnock, just the way I read it sorry.

As far as I can see the replacement bus service consists of:

Mon-Sat Off-peak
1 bus per hour fast - Hairmyres and East Kilbride
2 buses per hour - Crossmyloof & Pollokshaws West (both pick-up only), Clarkston, Busby, Hairmyres, East Kilbride

Mon-Fri peak
4 buses per hour fast as above
2 buses per hour stopping as above

Sundays
2 buses per hour stopping - Crossmyloof (pick-up only), Pollokshaws West (pick-up only), Giffnock, Clarkston, Busby, Hairmyres, East Kilbride


So Giffnock is only served on Sundays, perhaps because the 374 bus does not run on Sundays making it difficult to get to Clarkston by public transport and catch the Replacement bus from there.

The timing on Sundays is 30 mins to Glasgow Central from Giffnock on the bus, and 32 mins back.

While most Giffnock traffic is headed toward Glasgow, there’s a fair amount in the other direction that doesn’t seem to be catered for.

 

[apjsco]

Seems strange no bus is provided calling at Giffnock as you can route past it from Clarkston to Pollokshaws West without too much issue (although traffic is busy at Giffnock). Bit of a pain if you are travelling to intermediate stations or East Kilbride from Giffnock.

If I was in Giffnock going to Glasgow nd the trains were off I'd be going to Muirend / Williamwood / Whitecraigs depending on which part I was heading to as even with a 15 minute walk probably still be competitive with the bus. The 38 buses get held up by the bus lanes being choked in Shawlands by parked cars!

Thorntonhall I can understand and a taxi shuttle to Hairmyres probably would suffice if needed. Thornliebank would be difficult to get to with bridge works as roads nearby aren't great.

I agree - but why provide a bus replacement service for Pollokshaws West & Crossmyloof when they are already served by alternative Scotrail services via the Barrhead & Kilmarnock trains, it makes no sense to offer them a replacement bus service, yet exclude other areas such as Giffnock & Thorntonhall. Scotrail are going to get a lot of well deserved flack for this oversight.

 

[hexagon789]

I agree - but why provide a bus replacement service for Pollokshaws West & Crossmyloof when they are already served by alternative Scotrail services via the Barrhead & Kilmarnock trains, it makes no sense to offer them a replacement bus service, yet exclude other areas such as Giffnock & Thorntonhall. Scotrail are going to get a lot of well deserved flack for this oversight.

The calls at Crossmyloof and Pollokshaws West are down as pick-up away from Glasgow and set-dow towards - the intention clearly being that passengers doing Pollokshaws/Crossmyloof to Central and vice-versa use the Barrhead/Lillie trains, with the replacement bus calls being for traffic towards/from Clarkston, East Kilbride etc only.

(I assume the departure boards at Central will show the buses as being first stop Clarkston.)

 

[sannox]

The calls at Crossmyloof and Pollokshaws West are down as pick-up away from Glasgow and set-dow towards - the intention clearly being that passengers doing Pollokshaws/Crossmyloof to Central and vice-versa use the Barrhead/Lillie trains, with the replacement bus calls being for traffic towards/from Clarkston, East Kilbride etc only.

(I assume the departure boards at Central will show the buses as being first stop Clarkston.)

Which is fine, but why not provide the same for Giffnock? It's not a particularly onerous diversion.

 

[drb61]

Would it not be much quicker for passengers to catch a train to Williamwood and pick up the replacement bus from there? The bus takes around 37 minutes to get to Clarkston (presumably passing Williamwood a few minutes earlier). Central to Williamwood is around 18 minutes. Only drawback I can see is capacity on the Neilston services (normally 4 car 380/1s). Could they be increased to six car 318s/320s by rejigging EMU diagrams?

 

[OB23Gone]

16 Week EK Blockade Engineering Trains (RTT Listing): - I Don’t know if too many people will be interested in this. There are 2 trains before the blockade in January on the 5 & 12th. Previous to Jan there have been numerous Rail Drop Trains so a great deal of track renewal to be carried out. There are no engineering trains in the first 9 days of the Blockade. After 3rd of Feb until 11th March there will be 98* Engineers trains in and out but not including a few tamper and fine line finishing machine visits. Tonnage In 63800 t and 68000 out.

* RTT is only showing 97 in but 98 Out. The additional inward would be 6K55 on 6th Feb. Unable to say where each Worksite will be on any given day. After the 11th I am assuming that the OHL will be being Installed. Over the weekend 6th Jan loads of masts were installed from EK Station, beyond Strathfillan Rd Bridge towards Kirktonholme Rd towards Hairmyres Loop this leaves very few to go up now which could happen before 3rd of Feb.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Wow that seems a lot of trains. Fantastic to see though. Thanks for posting.

 

[Starmill]

It seems very unlikely to be drawn wrong, since it is the actual application to allow them to build. I'm guessing from the images there were space constraints, since the new bridge is much larger than the existing one. The images also make it clear the new bridge has much greater clearance than the old - they're demolishing the eastbound shelter and removing some benches to make room for the extra steps needed.

A little worrying in the context of the reasonable adjustments if so. Thanks for the link

 

[sannox]

Would it not be much quicker for passengers to catch a train to Williamwood and pick up the replacement bus from there? The bus takes around 37 minutes to get to Clarkston (presumably passing Williamwood a few minutes earlier). Central to Williamwood is around 18 minutes. Only drawback I can see is capacity on the Neilston services (normally 4 car 380/1s). Could they be increased to six car 318s/320s by rejigging EMU diagrams?

Williamwood is a pretty poor station for accessibility which limits it's use for picking up rail again as part of a rail replacement service.

Given the bus isn't serving Giffnock, it may not actually pass Williamwood station anyway! I suspect most Clarkston passengers to Glasgow will just switch to using Williamwood.

 

[s55823ewj]

A little worrying in the context of the reasonable adjustments if so. Thanks for the link

Honestly personally I was surprised they were planning a lift on the bridge at Clarkston, it seems like Busby would have been a much better option (although even greater space constraints). Clarkston has comparably good disabled access to both sides by ramp already.

 

[Starmill]

Honestly personally I was surprised they were planning a lift on the bridge at Clarkston, it seems like Busby would have been a much better option (although even greater space constraints). Clarkston has comparably good disabled access to both sides by ramp already.

Sometimes all it would take to improve a ramp is new handrails, or a new resting place at the top or bottom. Perhaps that's planned anyway, it's a shame not to state it more openly. Who knows, I guess we don't have to wait long.

 

[ThreeIfByAir]

The calls at Crossmyloof and Pollokshaws West are down as pick-up away from Glasgow and set-dow towards - the intention clearly being that passengers doing Pollokshaws/Crossmyloof to Central and vice-versa use the Barrhead/Lillie trains, with the replacement bus calls being for traffic towards/from Clarkston, East Kilbride etc only.

For instance, there is (or at least was when I was at school!) a pretty significant contingent of kids taking the train from the EK line to Crossmyloof for Hutchesons' Grammar School. I think it was that daily journey that got me into trains in the first place!