Borders Railway - Now Open

[PaxVobiscum]

Following the "discovery" of a 132kV cable buried across the line at the proposed Tweedbank Station site in 2010, the plans had to be altered. I am not sure if the final plans which IIRC include the ability to handle charter trains have incorporated the rather expensive relocation of the cable.

Photo of warning sign here: http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/photo/scaled/10949/

If the cable is still in place under the solum, that would be a bit inconvenient for any extension towards Melrose.

 

[fegguk]

Following the "discovery" of a 132kV cable buried across the line at the proposed Tweedbank Station site in 2010, the plans had to be altered. I am not sure if the final plans which IIRC include the ability to handle charter trains have incorporated the rather expensive relocation of the cable.

Photo of warning sign here: http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/photo/scaled/10949/

If the cable is still in place under the solum, that would be a bit inconvenient for any extension towards Melrose.

Moving the cable would be a fairly small portion of the bill for extending the line to Hawick, not a deal breaker but another weight against the econmic case. It will presumably eventually need to be replaced its over 30years old.

They have had to move the station 4 meters to accomodate the cable and have apparently made alterations to the plans to accomodate charter trains. The engineering plans on the Borders railway website do not show any run round facilities, it is dated last year so may not be fully up to date. Charter trains could be top and tailed offcourse, the other concern relating to the was around platform length which look to be 6 coaches on the plan.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

From the Campaign for Borders Railwebsite
http://campaignforbordersrail.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/another-campaign-success-for-cbr/

Today’s historic announcement of the Borders Railway contract signing by Transport Scotland and Network Rail also brought confirmation of the success of CBR’s campaign (together with the Waverley Route Trust) for Tweedbank station to be redesigned to accommodate tourist charter trains.
The Tweedbank terminus platform tracks will now be extended to 285m length, enabling commercially viable 12-coach charters to use the Borders Railway – and bringing in new visitor spend to attractions such as Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford, Melrose and the Borders abbeys.

Charter trains without retention tanks will presumably be able to make use of a sign saying

132kV - DANGER of DEATH
Please do not flush the toilet while the train is in the station

 

[Chris125]

Charter trains could be top and tailed offcourse, the other concern relating to the was around platform length which look to be 6 coaches on the plan.

The CBR have confirmed that there won't be a run-round, though with dynamic loops set out for 170's it's been suggested it might not be practical to path charters anyway.

Chris

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Article on BBC Scotland today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22510460

Joining the Borders railway dots after 40 years

The Borders Railway Project will connect the Borders with Edinburgh for the first time in 40 years.

The scheme involves the construction of seven new stations, the laying of 30 miles of track and dealing with 137 bridges along the way between Waverley station and Tweedbank.

Hugh Wark, from Network Rail, said it is partly thanks to the good work of the Victorians whose bridges and viaducts still stand today.

BBC Reporting Scotland's Cameron Buttle has been given special access to the works which stretch from Edinburgh to Galashiels.

 

[Zoidberg]

What I think is an interesting development is reported in today's Edinburgh Evening News at http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-e...il-link-150m-plan-for-penicuik-spur-1-2927786

An extract:

Borders rail link: £150m plan for Penicuik spur

A VITAL £150 million rail line connecting Penicuik to central Edinburgh could be reopened for the first time in half a century.

Heriot-Watt University has been asked to carry out a feasibility study into opening ten miles of rail line that would allow passenger trains to run into Penicuik off the new Borders rail link.

At least six miles of the potential route have been preserved as a rail corridor and already crosses the City Bypass, meaning the project could come in cheaper than early estimates of £150 million.

One option being considered is for the rail link to connect Penicuik to the new Shawfair station being built on the 35-mile Borders rail route running from Waverley to 
Tweedbank.

The feasibility study requested by Midlothian Council is due to be completed next year.

 

[michael769]

It is probably pie in the sky, but would make a lot of sense given it's potential to divert commuters away from a fairly congested section of the road network.

 

[HSTEd]

Wouldn't running trains there eat up capacity meant for Tweedbank?

How are they going to fit the extra trains in.

 

[Eagle]

Wouldn't running trains there eat up capacity meant for Tweedbank?

How are they going to fit the extra trains in.

Could make them extensions of the Fife–Newcraighall trains (which according to the current plans will remain separate from the Edinburgh–Tweedbank ones).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Following the "discovery" of a 132kV cable buried across the line at the proposed Tweedbank Station site in 2010, the plans had to be altered.

Why was this cable not noticed at a much earlier stage in the proceedings. A 132kV cable is something that is not exactly one that would not be not clearly shown in any documentary evidence that was examined in the very early stages of research work on this project.

 

[Liam]

Could make them extensions of the Fife–Newcraighall trains (which according to the current plans will remain separate from the Edinburgh–Tweedbank ones).

I thought the Newcraighall services would become the Tweedbank services? I.e. Tweedbank-Glenrothes.

 

[railjock]

I thought the Newcraighall services would become the Tweedbank services? I.e. Tweedbank-Glenrothes.

They will. Don't think there is any extra capacity east of waverley for additional services at present.

 

[tbtc]

Wouldn't running trains there eat up capacity meant for Tweedbank?

How are they going to fit the extra trains in.

Beyond the Dalkeith area, the "Borders" trains really won't be that busy - Dalkeith is the "steak", Galashiels is the "sizzle".

Something that increases the number of services from Edinburgh to Shawfair is a good thing - there should be plenty of capacity through Newcraighall - the issue is the tunnels outside Waverley.

 

[Eagle]

Something that increases the number of services from Edinburgh to Shawfair is a good thing - there should be plenty of capacity through Newcraighall - the issue is the tunnels outside Waverley.

Thinking outside the box, perhaps we could send it west from Waverley instead and round the Suburban line. Reopen Blackford station and add some platforms on the suburban at Newcraighall.

 

[michael769]

Why was this cable not noticed at a much earlier stage in the proceedings. A 132kV cable is something that is not exactly one that would not be not clearly shown in any documentary evidence that was examined in the very early stages of research work on this project.

Problem is that the plans of underground services are woeful. Either the contractor will not follow them and puts the service in the wrong place, or they scrawl a vague line on an OS map and hand it it the office where it gets transcribed into an official survey.

And that's in the unlikely event there is a plan....

In built up areas underground excavations are an absolute nightmare as you usually have no idea what is down there and 9 times out of 10 the first you know about it is when the shovel hits something. It is easy to look to blame someone but a lot of services have been down there for decades. Less common in a more rural area, but it still happens. There is a reason why so much of that kind of work is still done by hand.

In this case they would have known there was a cable somewhere in the area, but i'll lay odds the plan they got from the power company had it nowhere near where it was found.

There is a centralised register for this stuff now and things are improving, but it will be 20-30 years (or longer in rural areas) before all the legacy stuff that is down there is located and mapped.

 

[railjock]

Thinking outside the box, perhaps we could send it west from Waverley instead and round the Suburban line. Reopen Blackford station and add some platforms on the suburban at Newcraighall.

Journey time to central edinburgh would be too long if that was to happen.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Thinking outside the box, perhaps we could send it west from Waverley instead and round the Suburban line. Reopen Blackford station and add some platforms on the suburban at Newcraighall.

Your comment about reopening the closed railway station of Blackford has confused me somewhat, as this was the next station to Gleneagles on the Scottish Central Railway.

Were you thinking of the closed railway station of Blackford Hill in Edinburgh ?

 

[Eagle]

The name of the locale is simply Blackford, and the name of the bus destination there is Blackford Station.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The name of the locale is simply Blackford, and the name of the bus destination there is Blackford Station.

It was that, as you will see, your posting referred to the reopening of closed railway station of Blackford ....Not any reference to the area or to the bus destinations.

 

[gingerheid]

It was that, as you will see, your posting referred to the reopening of closed railway station of Blackford ....Not any reference to the area or to the bus destinations.

We know what he meant...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

We know what he meant...

Mea culpa...Pedanticity escaped from its shackles...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Journey time to central edinburgh would be too long if that was to happen.

Could that be eased by terminating/returning Northbound Borders services operating one way round the loop created by the 'Sub', possibly on a 'tidal flow' basis? It might free up some paths at least- vital if the Penicuik branch somehow manages to be tacked on and given the green light by Holyrood!

 

[Chris125]

They will. Don't think there is any extra capacity east of waverley for additional services at present.

Are you sure it's not the west end? That's surely the end that's seen the majority of extra services into Waverley in recent years.

Chris

 

[matchmaker]

It was that, as you will see, your posting referred to the reopening of closed railway station of Blackford ....Not any reference to the area or to the bus destinations.

There is a campaign (and has been for some time) to re-open Blackford (Perthshire!) Station.

 

[tbtc]

Are you sure it's not the west end? That's surely the end that's seen the majority of extra services into Waverley in recent years.

Chris

At the moment the eastern end of Waverley sees (up to):

• 2x EC to London
• 1x XC to Plymouth
• 2x FSR to North Berwick/ Dunbar
• 2x FSR to Newcraighall (extending to Midlothian/ Borders in a few years)
• ?x freight (though there's the "sub" for this too)

So, not a huge amount compared to some double track lines in the UK (look at Partick station!) - I presume that the speed differentials/ poorly co-ordinated services (and the flat crossings) are the main problem?

 

[alexf380]

If the Penicuik branch is approved, would it not be possible to double up the units and have them split (one portion to the Borders, one to Penicuik) at Shawfair or Dalkeith or wherever the junction would be located? It works fine in the South East.

 

[railjock]

If the Penicuik branch is approved, would it not be possible to double up the units and have them split (one portion to the Borders, one to Penicuik) at Shawfair or Dalkeith or wherever the junction would be located? It works fine in the South East.

The junction would need to be around Shawfair as the 'proposal' is based around the line that went through Loanhead and not the one through Bonnyrigg. Personally I think it's a non-starter.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Whilst we are in that general area, what is the general condition of the Bilston Glen viaduct like these days ?

 

[reb0118]

Whilst we are in that general area, what is the general condition of the Bilston Glen viaduct like these days ?

Does this help?

 

[railjock]

Whilst we are in that general area, what is the general condition of the Bilston Glen viaduct like these days ?

Refurbished and turned into a walkway between Roslin and Loanhead about 10 years ago. I remember getting a dmu up there on a rail tour to Bilston Glen colliery in the early 80s. The line stopped just short of the viaduct then though.