Edinburgh South Sub - feasibility study

[Acfb]

I'm pretty ambivalent about this as I can get the 400 to Fort Kinnaird in 35 minutes anyway and indeed I often walk through the Jewel (only 10 minute walk) to catch the East Lothian services as opposed to going into town and then out again.

The 38 bus also needs to be improved again first (back to every 20 minutes, at least during the week).

 

[Esker-pades]

My guess is that the South Sub route that would have the most demand would be for a service between Newcraighall and Edinburgh Gateway (for the Airport). If one had parallel crossings at Haymarket West Jn, that would only be two slots per hour (assuming a 2tph service). Trains would turnaround in the Dalmeny loops. I have no idea if the paths over at West Jn and between Haymarket and Dalmeny would link up. I am broadly in the "eh; why bother?" category. But, if the powers that be really want this, that's where I'd start the search.

 

[waverley47]

My guess is that the South Sub route that would have the most demand would be for a service between Newcraighall and Edinburgh Gateway (for the Airport). If one had parallel crossings at Haymarket West Jn, that would only be two slots per hour (assuming a 2tph service). Trains would turnaround in the Dalmeny loops. I have no idea if the paths over at West Jn and between Haymarket and Dalmeny would link up. I am broadly in the "eh; why bother?" category. But, if the powers that be really want this, that's where I'd start the search.

Under the 2019 timetable, which is still a baseline, as all the paths are still there, you cannot path anything reliable onto the E&G during the daytime.

You definitely couldn't path 2tph each way across the E&G to join the Fife lines. You'd be laughed out of the room

 

[Esker-pades]

Under the 2019 timetable, which is still a baseline, as all the paths are still there, you cannot path anything reliable onto the E&G during the daytime.

You definitely couldn't path 2tph each way across the E&G to join the Fife lines. You'd be laughed out of the room

Oh, I don't doubt it wouldn't get any distance without it being part of a complete restructuring.

 

[Kingston Dan]

Under the 2019 timetable, which is still a baseline, as all the paths are still there, you cannot path anything reliable onto the E&G during the daytime.

You definitely couldn't path 2tph each way across the E&G to join the Fife lines. You'd be laughed out of the room

Is there any room for a fly over/under either east or west facing from the south sub to the Fife lines at Haymarket junction?

 

[waverley47]

Is there any room for a fly over/under either east or west facing from the south sub to the Fife lines at Haymarket junction?

This is getting dangerously silly now...

If you want this for freight, there's no point. There's a speed/weight limit over both the Forth and Tay bridges, so freight gets sent around via Stirling.*

If you want to build this new flyover for your hypothetical new passenger service via the sub, good luck ever getting those sums to work out. It would be silly to invest probably upward of £100m for new infrastructure to allow a new service to run, and a speculative new service at that.

There isn't any provable demand for this new service, and nor will there be until you build three new stations. That's a lot of money spent on guessing there might be demand for an orbital Edinburgh railway.

There isn't even any space along the sub, or at Gorgie, for three or four new, accessible, compliant stations.



*Actually, most freight gets sent via Slateford, Shotts, Holytown, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld and then via Stirling, but that's inconsequential.

 

[Taunton]

This is getting dangerously silly now...

It's been getting silly for the last 50 years, as progressive generations of "Oh look, there's a railway, lets have a passenger service" enthusiasts come along. It merited multiple mentions in various transport studies the city council paid for in the 1960s-70s.

In my fitter days I could have run from Newington station (South Sub mid-point) to Waverley quicker than any train by the elongated oval route could then or can now. I'd have been passed by about 50 buses along the way. The South Sub ceased to be a useful passenger facility in the 1890s, when Edinburgh built the cable trams direct to Morningside, Newington, etc.

The buses are still very much there. My fitness, alas, not so much.

 

[takno]

It's been getting silly for the last 50 years, as progressive generations of "Oh look, there's a railway, lets have a passenger service" enthusiasts come along. It merited multiple mentions in various transport studies the city council paid for in the 1960s-70s.

In my fitter days I could have run from Newington station (South Sub mid-point) to Waverley quicker than any train by the elongated oval route could then or can now. I'd have been passed by about 50 buses along the way. The South Sub ceased to be a useful passenger facility in the 1890s, when Edinburgh built the cable trams direct to Morningside, Newington, etc.

The buses are still very much there. My fitness, alas, not so much.

The sheer number of buses is the main reason my fitness is gone. It's futile trying to walk in every day when you could obviously arrive so much earlier on a bus...