Kite159
Veteran Member
Especially since there are multiple routes between the two cities so if the route via Polmont is closed the services can get diverted into Glasgow Central via Shotts/Carstairs
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Scotrail Franchise - Abellio
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Especially since there are multiple routes between the two cities so if the route via Polmont is closed the services can get diverted into Glasgow Central via Shotts/Carstairs
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RailUK Forums
Citylink buses have just started running 24hrs in the last month or so. I’ve no idea what the usage is like though.
There is definitely a market there for later services at the very least. A midnight and 0030 service would be a good first step.
I’ve had the misfortune to be on the midnight bus from Glasgow back to Edinburgh on many an occasion and its always been busy.
Highlandspring
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With several electrified diversionary routes there are opportunities to fit a basic overnight service around a maintenance strategy. Look at how the Cobbinshaw and the WCML are maintained while keeping them open for overnight traffic - a big Saturday night job and midweek line blockages in the early hours. Other NR Routes manage it so there's no reason why Scotland should be any different.
Would great , though if you dont stay near the City Centre its still a taxi ride from Glasgow or Edinburgh .
Seen a 318 on a Newton service , is that common?
ScottDarg
Member
318s and 320s have been working alongside the 314s for a while now, on a 318 from Newton to Glasgow via Kirkhill now.
A 380 appears on those services every once in a while too.
Interesting , used to get a 318 in the peak to Neilston .
See the 320s on Newtons but never a 318.
Or more likely via Bathgate and Airdrie.
Depends where the closure is - if it's in the Edinburgh Park area, that blocks both via Polmont and via Bathgate.
Would services terminate at Queen St level?
Theres no reason why not that I can think of, and it has been done before.
I don't think there's the facility to turn round trains at QS LL. And anyway it would make more sense to run through to Dalmuir, since the depot is at Yoker. Intermediate traffic is a major part of the traffic. So there are several possible routes - all stations via Falkirk high, all via Grahamston, via Grahamston and Cumbernauld, or Bathgate and Airdrie, but the routes to Central wouldn't work.
Highlandspring
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Typically you'd terminate at Hyndland or Garscadden and run off to Yoker yard.
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You could run a direct service using the 170s then avoiding Polmont doesn't become an issue (run via Dalmeny and reverse). The first thing would be just a direct Edinburgh to Glasgow service (non-stop) then the route taken wouldn't matter. So a 23:59 and 00:30 departure each way could operate.
Don't understand. Dalmeny and reverse avoids Winchburgh tunnel, but still takes you through Linlithgow and polmont. I would hope that all the engineering has left both the Bathgate and Falkirk routes needing minimal attention for many years.
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Oh Yes so it does. However I doubt there will be a maintenance holiday NR will doubtless find something else that needs doing - that probably could have been done in the various blockades but wasn't.
Cha-ching!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Or have any calls as being set-down only, hence allowing the service to go an alternative route providing road transport for any passengers wanting (for example) Falkirk High
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The idea would be to avoid the need for alternative road transport - just like the 23:30 Kings Cross to Leeds, which doesn't call at Retford and more prominently Wakefield Westgate.
47271
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A while since we've had anything on this thread but this very long twin piece interview with Dominic Booth of Abellio from yesterday's Herald, too lengthy to quote, may be of interest.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15901547.ScotRail_boss__no_risk_of_losing_franchise/
Meanwhile, over at Scotland on Sunday today, unbelievably the big front page story is skip stopping, also too long to quote.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/trans...ns-a-day-skip-their-scheduled-stops-1-4674632
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15901547.ScotRail_boss__no_risk_of_losing_franchise/
Meanwhile, over at Scotland on Sunday today, unbelievably the big front page story is skip stopping, also too long to quote.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/trans...ns-a-day-skip-their-scheduled-stops-1-4674632
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Had my first skipping experience last week when we missed out Newcraighall and Brunstane on a borders service , not a fast bit of line that .
Why is it unbelievable? As a practise its very poor PR and is increasing the view amongst the public that the trains are too unreliable for commuting.
But not the only one.
Highlandspring
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The other technique being full cancellations throughout...
Express running is a function of the incredibly tight timetable, set and crew diagrams we run these days. Put simply, too many trains and not enough railway. For the vast majority of ScotRail services the trigger for missing stops is 7 mins late or greater - we work to a rule of thumb that each missed stop will gain back 2 minutes. We do try not to do two services in a row or if that's unavoidable then not to hit the same stations twice. For example a late running 2Exx Balloch - Airdrie service might run express from Balloch to Dalmuir, so if we also needed to express the next 2Exx then it would do Dalmuir - Hyndland. There are also various options to terminate services short of destination to start their own back workings on time. No one involved in operating the railway day to day in Scotland likes expressing services because we're all aware of how people rely on railway and how much people are paying for tickets but at the moment it is the only way to promptly recover the timetable.
Express running is a function of the incredibly tight timetable, set and crew diagrams we run these days. Put simply, too many trains and not enough railway. For the vast majority of ScotRail services the trigger for missing stops is 7 mins late or greater - we work to a rule of thumb that each missed stop will gain back 2 minutes. We do try not to do two services in a row or if that's unavoidable then not to hit the same stations twice. For example a late running 2Exx Balloch - Airdrie service might run express from Balloch to Dalmuir, so if we also needed to express the next 2Exx then it would do Dalmuir - Hyndland. There are also various options to terminate services short of destination to start their own back workings on time. No one involved in operating the railway day to day in Scotland likes expressing services because we're all aware of how people rely on railway and how much people are paying for tickets but at the moment it is the only way to promptly recover the timetable.
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Or, having enough slack in the working timetable (ie not having turn arounds of less than 10 minutes at the terminus) or having spare stock to run in its place.
These techniques were all common years ago. Yes, they do involve costs, but so does skip-stopping.
Fair enough following major disruption but not for a train that may only be 5 minutes late. Some of the descisions Ive seen have been farcical with stations served with a half hourly service bypassed by a train which is on time or early!
A better technique might be to add a little redundancy to the timetables, Slacker turnaround times and maybe more spare crews in strategic locations.
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