Scottish Electrification updates & discussion

[Class 170101]

As far as Whifflet and Cumbernauld are concerned the existing EMU fleets are going to be worked harder. I don't believe these schemes needed new EMUs to resource their services.

 

[clc]

Network Rail has said on twitter that Whifflet electrification will be finished end of August with driver training after that.

How long is driver training likely to take?

 

[Photohunter71]

I've found out the 2 bridges in question re the sub loop in Edinburgh. They are the bridges at Duddingston Road west and Peffermill road near the 2 tower blocks at Craigmillar.

 

[170401]

As far as Whifflet and Cumbernauld are concerned the existing EMU fleets are going to be worked harder. I don't believe these schemes needed new EMUs to resource their services.

Theirs plenty of slack in the Glasgow EMU fleet at the moment. When the 380s were delivered the 314s were supposed to be consigned to the bin. After delivery the decision was taken to keep the 314 fleet with the resulting slack intended to be taken up by the current electrification projects (amongst other things). When the new fleet is ordered with the new franchise a cascade will see the end of the 314s.

 

[Class 170101]

But will the Scots be desperate to scrap their 314s as desperately as some are here to scrap Pacers?

 

[NotATrainspott]

But will the Scots be desperate to scrap their 314s as desperately as some are here to scrap Pacers?

There's nothing really that wrong with them, to the best of my knowledge. As always it is nice to have new and shiny trains but since they're just bog-standard AC electrics without a toilet or air-con there isn't much to go wrong on them anyway. They aren't fitted with passenger information systems and they haven't seen much of an interior redesign ever (unlike the Merseyrail examples of the similar 508 stock) but I imagine they could be fitted if required. They are mostly used on the short distance and low speed lines such as Paisley Canal or the Cathcart Circle where the additional features of 380s aren't really that useful at all.

 

[clc]

Network Rail is currently raising a bridge over the Grangemouth line at Beancross Rd. Has electrification of this line in CP5 been confirmed?

https://mobile.twitter.com/NetworkRailEGIP/status/470487216574455808?p=v

 

[Altnabreac]

Network Rail is currently raising a bridge over the Grangemouth line at Beancross Rd. Has electrification of this line in CP5 been confirmed?

https://mobile.twitter.com/NetworkRailEGIP/status/470487216574455808?p=v

The NR CP5 Delivery Plan suggests the scheme is intended to be funded by the £31M Scottish Strategic Rail Freight Investment Fund:

There are significant interfaces for the Greenhill to Polmont and Dunblane/Alloa routes in respect of aligning the access requirements for construction with the need to protect diversionary routes during the core EGIP works. There are interfaces with the following projects:

• Electrification of the Grangemouth branch (planned to be funded from the Scottish Strategic Rail Freight Investment Fund);

Trying to find confirmation of which schemes are to be funded from the £31M Scottish Strategic Rail Freight Investment Fund on the Transport Scotland website isn't throwing up any obvious definite confirmation that this has been agreed.

It does seem a really obvious add on as otherwise the Tesco Daventry - Grangemouth traffic would operate under the wires on a 99% electrified route.

 

[clc]

NR must be confident it'll happen if going to the expense of raising the bridge.

I suppose it wouldn't be EGIP without a degree of ambiguity.

 

[Altnabreac]

NR must be confident it'll happen if going to the expense of raising the bridge.

I suppose it wouldn't be EGIP without a degree of ambiguity.

It does seem like there is a different set of included schemes every week!

 

[fgwrich]

NR must be confident it'll happen if going to the expense of raising the bridge.

I suppose it wouldn't be EGIP without a degree of ambiguity.

I'm also rather surprised with this one - it's nice to see an older bridge being retained for once and jacked up, rather than replaced. I wonder, with by the sounds of it Electrification to Grangemouth on the cards, will the next move for the branch be to include a proposal of a reinstating of a passenger service down there - possibly an extension of the Cumbernaulds?

 

[Altnabreac]

SEStran (The Regional Transport Partnership for SE Scotland) have listed reopening Grangemouth as one of the potential SE Scotland schemes for reopening with funding from the £30M Scottish Stations Fund in CP5.
http://www.sestran.gov.uk/files/1390317318.pdf

Only snag is there is no private sector funding, no committed local authority funding and it is one of 7 new station schemes (plus improvement schemes for 20 odd more stations) in SE Scotland alone so there is no way the money will cover even a fraction of the proposed schemes.

Winchburgh, East Linton, Reston and Cambus are probably all ahead of Grangemouth in the queue so my guess would be Grangemouth gets pushed back into CP6 at the earliest.

 

[snowball]

Why are they raising the bridge now if it's not certain the wiring will happen soon? Is it to allow kelpies to canter under it?

 

[matchmaker]

Why are they raising the bridge now if it's not certain the wiring will happen soon? Is it to allow kelpies to canter under it?

I doubt that the kelpies would fit under!

 

[318259]

That's the timetables changed, and new services to Cumbernauld have started.

The Dalmuir - Yoker - Queen Street - Springburn trains are now Dalmuir - Yoker - Queen Street - Springburn - Cumbernauld.

The peak time Dalmuir - Glasgow Central - Motherwell - Coatbridge Central trains are also extended to Cumbernauld.

 

[NotATrainspott]

Why are they raising the bridge now if it's not certain the wiring will happen soon? Is it to allow kelpies to canter under it?

I'm guessing they have the resources in place to do it now. Wiring it is a matter of when rather than a matter of if (especially when those few kilometres of extra wiring allows the Grangemouth-Daventry freights to be electric) so there's no worry about the investment being wasted. It is also cheaper to provide for it now - e.g. designing the feeder stations to have enough supply capacity for it - than it is to tack it on later once all the rest of the FKG line has been done.

I assume the M9 overbridge was designed with electrification clearance when that section was built back in 1968. Once Beancross Road is cleared the only remaining overbridge seems to be Station Road, so there's not a vast amount in the way of electrifying the branch. Depending on what sort of electric traction were used it might not be necessary to do any works here if last-mile engines were used and it weren't possible to have OHLE in container yards. EMU services would very likely terminate just short of the bridge at a new platform where the wires would end. If wires were needed all the way to the oil terminal then the bridge would probably have to be modified though.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Does anyone know what is happening to the bridge which takes Bath St over the ends of the platforms at Glasgow Queen Street? It is covered in scaffolding from the platforms under all the bridge deck. The work doesn't seem to be part of the station redevelopment for EGIP.

 

[Railsigns]

Does anyone know what is happening to the bridge which takes Bath St over the ends of the platforms at Glasgow Queen Street? It is covered in scaffolding from the platforms under all the bridge deck. The work doesn't seem to be part of the station redevelopment for EGIP.

That's Cathedral Street. Bath Street is west of Buchanan Street.

This is what's happening.

 

[Altnabreac]

Driving under Cutty Sark bridge yesterday the OLE now looks to be fully strung on that part of the Whifflet line.

Official completion date still seems to be end of September (required to free up more DMUs for extra Ryder Cup services) but I wonder if testing might be starting in the next week or two before a full opening in early October?

 

[deltic08]

I thought Cumbernauld and Whifflett electrification was to free up 5x156 units for cascade to Northern to help with loss of 158s to TPE.

 

[NotATrainspott]

I thought Cumbernauld and Whifflett electrification was to free up 5x156 units for cascade to Northern to help with loss of 158s to TPE.

Paisley Canal was done to help free up DMUs to help provide capacity up in Inverness when the Kessock Bridge was being resurfaced - the reopening of Conon Bridge station was also part of this.

The Borders Railway will require around 6 units, I believe, when it opens for business on the 6th of September 2015, so the Cumbernauld and Whifflet (+Motherwell-Cumbernauld) DMUs will be used there almost immediately. The first possible cascades down south can only happen after the Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk High service transfers from 2x3 170s to 3+4 EMUs.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Driving under Cutty Sark bridge yesterday the OLE now looks to be fully strung on that part of the Whifflet line.

Official completion date still seems to be end of September (required to free up more DMUs for extra Ryder Cup services) but I wonder if testing might be starting in the next week or two before a full opening in early October?

That section through to past Carmyle has been wired for a while now. Last week there remained a bit of work to do on the wiring between around the Fullarton Road overbridge (just before it crosses the Clyde), and Rutherglen East Junction where it joins the main WCML. Time I had a look again.

Seems to be the far end of September before it's ready:

Engineering works on Whifflet line

Due to Network Rail work to electrify this line, work will be ongoing to complete this project by September 2014 which will mean evening train services, Monday to Saturday, will be replaced by buses from 19 May to 27 September.

• Last train from Glasgow Central to Whifflet will be the 20:16 Monday-Friday, & 19:16 on Saturdays.
• Last train from Whifflet to Glasgow Central will be the 20:36 Monday-Friday, & 19:36 on Saturdays.

EDIT: Still unfinished at Kirkwood yesterday (22/8/14) - no prizes for spotting what has still to be fitted in the OHLE rig in the pic

 

[clc]

Not electrification but Network Rail is preparing to install a new bridge at Carfin to enable dualling of A723:
http://twitpic.com/eakzua

 

[thealexweb]

Paisley Canal was done to help free up DMUs to help provide capacity up in Inverness when the Kessock Bridge was being resurfaced - the reopening of Conon Bridge station was also part of this.

The Borders Railway will require around 6 units, I believe, when it opens for business on the 6th of September 2015, so the Cumbernauld and Whifflet (+Motherwell-Cumbernauld) DMUs will be used there almost immediately. The first possible cascades down south can only happen after the Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk High service transfers from 2x3 170s to 3+4 EMUs.

As the 318s are more heavily used thanks to electrification of more lines where are these 156s going? They may be needed for one-off events like Ryders Cup, etc but beyond that it really is time to send them on their way to Northern Rail. Enough is enough, stock should be sent where it is most needed. Not where the Scottish Government wants it for political gain.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

EDIT: Still unfinished at Kirkwood yesterday (22/8/14) - no prizes for spotting what has still to be fitted in the OHLE rig in the pic

As far as I could see on a trip to foreign parts today, just the last couple of miles towards Whifflet is missing its contact wire.
All the others seem to be up, but the auto-tensioners are not connected yet.
There are no wires on the west-north curve from Langloan Jn towards Coatbridge (though registration arms are in place).

I was also surprised to note that the goods loop at Greenfoot on the live Springburn-Cumbernauld line is also devoid of wires, despite having registration arms in place.
I also noted that the Cumbernauld and Carmyle schemes both use the new Series 2 wiring with auto-tensioners, and the masts have piled foundations.
Meanwhile the earlier Paisley Canal wiring uses the old system of tensioning using pulleys and weights, and some of the masts have concrete bases.

 

[NotATrainspott]

As the 318s are more heavily used thanks to electrification of more lines where are these 156s going? They may be needed for one-off events like Ryders Cup, etc but beyond that it really is time to send them on their way to Northern Rail. Enough is enough, stock should be sent where it is most needed. Not where the Scottish Government wants it for political gain.

The Borders line needs around 6 DMUs, I believe, so there's not going to be any DMUs to send down south. In any case, it's not a matter for the Scottish Government, it's a matter for the new ScotRail franchise holder. The only trains that they are absolutely required to use are the 380s and they are required to lead the procurement of the new EGIP fleet.

 

[herschell]

my closest line is Aberdeen-Dundee though must admit I think they should electrify the line sooner as we know it's a major route along the ECML, I will admit I long for the day to see the work starting especially to sort out the bottle neck from Montrose-Usan

 

[clc]

Page 3 of this SPT report confirms that the draft December 2014 timetable includes electrified services between Whifflet and Central low level. Also refers to an Argyle line recast which will deliver significant journey time enhancements on Argyle line services:

http://www.spt.co.uk/documents/latest/sp220814_agenda7.pdf

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Whifflet line update - driver training on class 318 EMUs has been running since Tuesday (30/9/14). Some earth bonding on is still being carried out on station platform 'furniture' but DOO mirrors and CCTV are operational. Meanwhile the timetabled services to Glasgow Central high level continue on 2 coach 156 & 158 DMUs, and of course the coal trains are running as usual. Busy little line at the moment.

EDIT: I see RailScot now have a photo of an EMU running on the Whifflet line.

 

[thealexweb]

To clarify, from December will all Whifflet passenger services go over to EMU operation?