Unfortunately not awash with spares. There is effectively one 8 coach rake as a maintenance spare so if maintenance could be magically ignored you would only have enough for half of 8 coaches in each direction. Rather a waste of locomotives and staff if you were to run only a 25% length train. Coaches are a new enough design for extras to be ordered but I fear the economics will not hold up.
Indeed. Question will be is the seasonal worth of an extra Inverness higher than the Aberdeens regular (if any ?) carryings.
I don't think it could get much worse. I hold out hope that it will improve once Serco are no longer involved. Hoping the Aberdeen leg doesn't go.
Is there such a thing as "SNP rail"? If we are classifying TOCs by the ruling party, then does this make Avanti "Conservatives Rail"? Framed in such a way, I would take the former each and every time given the ScotRail services I use normally run on time and get to the destination!
Why do you say this? Does HS2 actually have a planned link to the WCML now the Golborne link has been cancelled? With HS2 stock being non-tilting, will the trains be faster or slower than the current 390s once they leave the HS2 track? Will journey times to Scotland actually improve at all?
Quite simply, yes. Saturday night into Sunday morning is the only time the WCML between Carlisle and Carstairs, and the Cobbinshaw line between Carstairs and Haymarket is available for line blockages/possessions/isolations of more than a couple of hours. It’s not insurmountable if the will is there but possible solutions may not be acceptable to either the operator (diversion via G&SW or ECML) or Network Rail (Single Line Working).
why wouldn't running via the ECML or G&SW be acceptable?
Is it this that originally drove the arrangement of having no sleepers on a Saturday night, or was it to do with demand, perhaps in times when it was more business travel oriented?
Unless a solution to run a full set without a 92 is found, G&SW might be a tad difficult.
Fair point, but there's nothing wrong with running to/from King's Cross some days is there?
None at all, its a standard thing for 12 weeks normally, and if the WCML is blocked for engineering works.
Not attractive for Inverness due to much longer journey time but could transfer pass for Elgin Forres and Nairn off the Inverness - not sure how many there are for these stations as Inverness itself will surely be the main market on that train.
Problem is that by the time the Lowlander is in Edinburgh, it is mixing in with the daytime service. Southbound it might be more practical.
Until circa 1980 Inverness only had one train - mixed seats and sleepers, with a second train (also seats and sleepers) northbound Friday nights and southbound Sunday nights
Operationally it would have to be split in Edinburgh - Crianlarich is fine for Sprinters but unless running with a loco in the middle of the train a no go for loco hauled split/and particularly join plus the full train would be overlength for loops and platforms. Times have changed since the Up FW ran load 11 or 12 on Summer Sat evenings!
I have been trying to book Thursday 29 Dec or Wed 28 Dec for about 6 weeks now. The website shows 'no service' (although the Friday is bookable). I rang up CS and messaged on Twitter. The response was the same - Network Rail are updating the timetable and you should keep checking. They could not even book me over the phone as they said they can only use the same method i would be using by booking online and it is not showing. Also mentioned something about Fridays being different when NR update timetable. All sounds a bit fishy to me and with Xmas approaching i want to get it booked soon so may just pick an alternative method which i dont want to do.
Just seen this, I'd have been in the same carriage that night. Also my first experience of seated/the sleeper and can agree that it was an agreeable temperature. The person next to me did put their coat over their lap, so perhaps they prefer it a bit warmer than it was, but better too cool than too warm in my opinion. The seats weren't quite so comfortable for a short guy as although the headrests are very clever in giving you somewhere to properly rest your head, I'm slightly to short to reach them if I "recline" the seat all the way. I'd have probably preferred a seat that was close enough to the window to lean on it, but I'd been up since 02.30 the previous morning to get down to London, so by that time I didn't really care.
67s could be used with no time penalty for Aberdeen and Inverness, for Fort William you'd have to go back to the speed restrictions over various bridges.
These were the time savings announced in Parliament before the scrapping of Golborne. The current assessment is, by connecting to the WCML near Crewe, HS2 will slow journey times to Scotland:
www.newcivilengineer.com
