Scottish Electrification updates & discussion

[clc]

I saw a surveyor working next to the line near Crossmyloof station on Saturday. Could be related to electrification?

 

[Southsider]

I saw a surveyor working next to the line near Crossmyloof station on Saturday. Could be related to electrification?

Possibly trying to figure out if the rebuilt bridge at Minard Road is too low for the new regulations??

 

[QueensCurve]

I saw a surveyor working next to the line near Crossmyloof station on Saturday. Could be related to electrification?

Perhaps he just wanted his loof crossed?

 

[clc]

Perhaps he just wanted his loof crossed?

I'll get your coat.

 

[GrimShady]

What is taking so long to rebuild Queen Street? Its a shadow of its former self and looks terrible!

 

[najaB]

What is taking so long to rebuild Queen Street? Its a shadow of its former self and looks terrible!

Have you ever tried to rebuild a busy city-centre railway station while keeping it open?

 

[47271]

This story from The Herald on 6 February sheds some light on why nothing is happening at Queen Street. It's useful to quote the full story since the holdups have implications for the city centre as a whole.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15071995.Station_delays_sparks_fears_for___400m_leisure_plans/

Queen's Street Station delays sparks fears for Buchanan Galleries' £400m leisure plans

ONGOING delays to the revamp of one of Scotland’s biggest railway stations have thrown into jeopardy latest plans for a £400m city centre retail and leisure development.

A flurry of meetings have been held in recent days between ministers, transport officials, business groups and the owners of Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries amid concerns over the economic and financial impact of the already over-running Queen Street redevelopment.

The rail scheme was due to get underway last July but remains caught up in major contractual and legal wrangling before the green light can be given for work to begin.

Galleries owners Land Securities had previously put the brakes on its long-discussed expansion in 2015 when it was unable to agree how to coordinate its works with those at the adjoining station and insiders claim the latest timetable risks also being paralysed by Queen Street hold-ups.

Now business leaders have raised concerns that, with Glasgow’s retail environment rapidly changing and under threat from out-of-town malls, the city centre economy and vibrancy will take a massive blow if the new seven-year plan for the landmark shopping centre are not delivered.

One said: “The city centre is suffering from your Silverburns and Forts where shopping is part of an overall leisure experience with cinemas and dining. Buchanan Galleries is 20 years old, a bit down at heel and needs to change what it offers to compete. Retailers are conservative, they go where the footfall is and the city centre can’t afford for that to drain further.”

Both projects, which will be physically connected when complete, were initially scheduled to run in tandem. But the complexity of the engineering works on the Queen Street Tunnel meant this was too risky.

The Herald understands that in the intervening period there has been speculation in transport and political circles that Land Securities was preparing to cut its losses and abandon the scheme.

However the property firm has rescheduled its plans, with a £100m first phase planned understood to be ready to commence on a gap site on Buchanan Street and including a revival of controversial plans for the steps at the Royal Concert Hall. A second phase, understood to include plans for a relocation of Marks and Spencer from elsewhere in the city, would start once Queen Street was complete.

But the required Government authorisations, knows as TAWS orders, are currently up to nine months delayed, impacting on the Galleries’ project.

A draft has been concluded in recent days but the impact on timescales is still unclear.

One source said already the changes to the 2015 timetables means there is unlikely to be any major retail offering within the completed Queen Street for several years due to second phase of the shopping centre works, adding: “Queen Street will probably be a big empty glass box until about 2025.”

Land Securities director Nick Davis said: “We put on hold our plans to extend because of a conflict between our development programme and rail improvement works at the adjacent Queen Street station. Whilst these works progress we are continuing to work on our plans to improve the retail, leisure and food offer at the centre.”

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The redevelopment of Queen Street station continues to make progress with some advance works already underway. A further package of enabling works was authorised in December. The Transport Minister had a positive meeting with Land Securities and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce last week where they re-affirmed their commitment to continue to invest in the city.”

 

[route101]

Possibly trying to figure out if the rebuilt bridge at Minard Road is too low for the new regulations??

Wasn't that bridge rebuilt to allow pendolinos to divert ?

 

[GrimShady]

Have you ever tried to rebuild a busy city-centre railway station while keeping it open?

Right that must be why ZERO has been done since reopening last year?

 

[Southsider]

Wasn't that bridge rebuilt to allow pendolinos to divert ?

I doubt it - the route's not electrified. I think it was a highways department scheme as the old bridge was weak. Took them years to do it, or at least it seems so!

 

[GrimShady]

This story from The Herald on 6 February sheds some light on why nothing is happening at Queen Street. It's useful to quote the full story since the holdups have implications for the city centre as a whole.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15071995.Station_delays_sparks_fears_for___400m_leisure_plans/

Thanks for the info 47271. As I expected nothing is taking place and probably wont for many years to come. Another shining example of yet another project in Glasgow hitting the buffers!

 

[qpsnapper]

Wasn't that bridge rebuilt to allow pendolinos to divert ?

They go via Mount Florida to Newton when diverted, it's not unusual to see them going that way on a Sunday morning even when there's no diversions, presumably keeping up route knowledge.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Right that must be why ZERO has been done since reopening last year?

Well they do now have the temporary Travel Centre ready in Dundas Street opposite the west entrance to Queen Street.

Also, little birdies have been twittering (the old fashioned way, not on social media) about the OHLE going live 4 weeks from now, and pigeons have to know about these things.

 

[47271]

Thanks for the info 47271. As I expected nothing is taking place and probably wont for many years to come. Another shining example of yet another project in Glasgow hitting the buffers!

I agree that the standstill since August has been frustrating, especially if it's been caused by nothing more than a bureaucratic backlog, but to be fair I hope that we might see some action fairly soon. The Boots Pharmacy - where I often bought my lunch of a morning and the last remaining functioning retail unit on the station - has shut in the past few weeks. Annoying for my sandwich, but maybe an early sign of progress about to be made...

 

[NotATrainspott]

Quite frankly the Buchanan Galleries extension plans were rubbish. The St James Centre has set a new standard for huge city centre retail developments, especially when it comes to integration with the surrounding area. Buchanan Quarter across the road is what we should be aiming for today, with shops fronting onto the streets rather than inwards into a tacky mall interior. A proper redevelopment could activate the Cathedral Street bridge and draw shoppers eastwards to lead to even more development in future.

 

[route101]

I doubt it - the route's not electrified. I think it was a highways department scheme as the old bridge was weak. Took them years to do it, or at least it seems so!

Ive been through Crossmyloof on a diverted pendo and voyager .

 

[me123]

^Was the Pendo dragged by a 57 or something? A Pendo wouldn't manage going that way under its own power as Crossmyloof has no OHLE to speak of (yet).

 

[IanXC]

Well they do now have the temporary Travel Centre ready in Dundas Street opposite the west entrance to Queen Street.

Does anyone have a picture of this?

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Before,
during and
after.

 

[47271]

A splendid choice by Scotrail. If a colleague and myself had been working late we often used to go in The Vale for a carry out before catching the train back to Edinburgh - in the days before the 9pm booze ban of course.

 

[GrimShady]

I cant say I'm sold on the new QS building however the lacack of retail units is a joke. Wasn't the old goods yard supposed to have a proper car park and car drop off/bus stop? Also i remember seeing plans for a bi level retail area?

 

[92002]

I cant say I'm sold on the new QS building however the lacack of retail units is a joke. Wasn't the old goods yard supposed to have a proper car park and car drop off/bus stop? Also i remember seeing plans for a bi level retail area?

What you currently have is the interim arrangements till the new building is manufactured.

More retail units will disappear and be replaced till after the transformation takes place.

 

[IanXC]

Before,
during and
after.

Many thanks!

 

[NotATrainspott]

What you currently have is the interim arrangements till the new building is manufactured.

More retail units will disappear and be replaced till after the transformation takes place.

The new station includes no retail or space that could be turned into retail. All of it was to be in the Buchanan Galleries extension in the car park. If the Buchanan Galleries work does not go ahead, then there will be no retail provision.

Network Rail are actually building a new staff accommodation block in the car park because it was also planned to move into the BG extension. Unlike retail however there is no way that the station can operate without it, and the demolition of the existing station buildings can't begin until their replacement is ready. The new building is deliberately not the grandest architecture in the world and is clearly sacrificial, but it's going to cause a bit of a problem for any future development. As far as I'm aware the plan was for these railway-essential parts of the BG extension to be built first, before the rest of the station is demolished. Now that an essential part of the station is in the way of any new development it won't be anywhere as easy to move forward.

Joining up the shopping centre and station redevelopments sounds like a great idea on paper and in theory, but in practice it seems like it's been a bit of a nightmare. Shopping centre redevelopments are notoriously fickle in economic terms, as no investor will want to build if they perceive a downturn is around the corner, while the station works need to happen regardless as they're all planned ahead on a strict timetable. Making matters significantly worse in this case compared to other station+shopping developments is that the station redevelopment is also a necessary part of the railway environment. Without the changes happening there won't be enough platform space for the trains that they've ordered and to deliver the benefits that made the government fund the scheme in the first place.

 

[route101]

^Was the Pendo dragged by a 57 or something? A Pendo wouldn't manage going that way under its own power as Crossmyloof has no OHLE to speak of (yet).

Yes Class 57 , has happened as recently as last year ,
Well hopefully the EK line gets electrified soonish

 

[me123]

^Brilliant, I'm jealous!

 

[Class 170101]

I can't find the picture in question. However is the stanchion that was photographed near Greenhill junctions in the road still there? Any prospects of it changing?

 

[GrimShady]

The whole things a joke to be honest. I firmly believe QS will be a bomb site for many years to come. The place is hideous now. It would have been nice finaly to have a proper car drop off area where you weren't bucking for space with the taxis or getting the 50 yard stare for daring to venture in there.

 

[GrimShady]

In this case NR should press on with building what the original plan was and then sell it to BG at a later date.

 

[Blindtraveler]

A fantastic example for Glasgow and all the many tourists that sturgen says will fund an independant Scotland. A station that looks and feels like a wrecking machine paid a visit the night before, not a coffee or booking office to be had with such facilities located off site.