I was thinking it was clear enough that if Alloa to Dunfermline was to be reinstated, the direct line is probably a better bet than the winding and slow coastal route, and probably more likely to be used.
I agree that the direct route would be preferable, but the coastal route has the advantage of at least existing.
.....and the possibility of a certain amount of tourist traffic to and from Culross, should a suitable site for a station or halt be identified.I agree that the direct route would be preferable, but the coastal route has the advantage of at least existing.
no idea how you're calculating that journey time, Glasgow to Alloa is 45 minutes currently and its 13 miles as the crow flies from Alloa to Dunfermline Upper. Its no faster than routing via Dalmeny
13 miles at an average speed of 40mph is 20 minutes. The alignment is pretty straight so as far as I can tell there’s no reason why that speed (or higher) wouldn’t be achievable.
Not just that, but plenty of cheap brownfield land at Longannet adjacent to the line for potential residential or light commercial redevelopment (which could supply passengers to a new station).
When the line was still in regular use until 1968, IIRC the maximum permitted line speed was 45 mph....but there were numerous lower permanent restrictions due to mining subsidence. In order to achieve an average speed of 40 mph, extensive and extremely expensive underground remedial works would have to be undertaken prior to rebuilding and reopening. It's a non-starter I'm afraid.
That is news to me. Though I know that area of Fife is riddled with tunnels so perhaps not surprising.
What's an awful lot of money? A Glasgow - Alloa - Dunfermline - Leuchars - Dundee service would connect western Scotland to a massive swathe of Fife, in addition to the more local connectivity benefits (including enabling lots of housebuilding in southern Fife)?
it would be good to see back-of-an-envelope calculations for that, it could even be a good investment in terms of public spending.
To be fair, compared to some other projects that get more support (e.g. Leuchars - St. Andrews), that's not terrible value for money.
I like it! The more I think about it (admittedly from an outsider's perspective) it ticks a lot of boxes.
and attractive land prices with communications will hopefully attract employment too.
The Longannet site by itself could probably support a few thousand homes, depending on density.
Indeed, and this is just upgrading a railway on the existing route. It isn't a total diversion as far as I know.
Longannet being redeveloped for housing would follow the precedent of a town just down the road/track (Dalgety Bay) being redeveloped on what could be described as military land (RNAS Donibret). Plus there is plenty of land around Valleyfield, Cairneyhill, Crossford and a few other villages/towns near the route.
The point was that drilling and grouting under an operating main line would have been much more difficult than doing it under the adjacent lifted goods lines and sidings and then moving the main line over afterwards. Here the prep works would hopefully be easier...
True.
Way too many unknowns to start designing timetables, methinks.
The average doesn’t really signify - look for the shortest headway!
