Winchburgh station - developers report

[och aye]

The developers of Winchburgh have launched a new campaign to get the station built and released a report (which they commissioned).

A copy of the full report is available at the bottom of their website:

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A new rail connection for Winchburgh Our ambition is for greater connectivity for Winchburgh.Winchburgh has already benefitted from more than £50 million of private investment in transport infrastructure and connectivity.From new roads and junctions for a faster transfer to Edinburgh and...

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A new rail connection for Winchburgh

Our ambition is for greater connectivity for Winchburgh.

Winchburgh has already benefitted from more than £50 million of private investment in transport infrastructure and connectivity.

From new roads and junctions for a faster transfer to Edinburgh and Glasgow, to new local roads to nearby settlements. Winchburgh is now one of the best-connected towns in West Lothian.

Over the last few years, many communities across Scotland have benefitted from a new rail connection – now, it’s Winchburgh’s turn.

A new train station and rail connection for Winchburgh, and an active travel hub, will bring significant benefits for all in our community.

But to make a new train station for Winchburgh a reality, we need you to show your support, and demonstrate that it is a priority for local people.

Please consider writing to your local MSP to ask them to support a new rail connection for Winchburgh.

You can use our online tool to send an email to your MSP. It only takes a few minutes! Just fill in your details on the right, and follow our instructions.

When you receive a response from your MSP, please let us know by emailing us at info@winchburghdevelopments.com

There have been a few news articles generated in the local press as a result of the report. Let's see if this leads to anything. My guess is Whinburgh Developers Ltd. are trying to get some public funding to build the station and be part of one of the committed projects for the upcoming CP7.

 

[Carntyne]

Did they not commit to pay for it?

 

[takno]

It's not a great proposal for a station even if the developers did pay for it, but if they don't then it's an absolute non-starter. Unless perhaps they can put that useless carbuncle at Reston on a lorry and move it over.

 

[och aye]

Did they not commit to pay for it?

From memory, I think they committed to pay for it in full, then the price doubled and they got cold feet so kicked the plans into the long grass. In recent years they have been asking West Lothian Council and Transport Scotland to contribute funds for it with public money. Interestingly they had no problem paying for the new Junction 1B connection on the M9 which opened last year.

 

[kaysha]

The original plan for EGIP was that the station was going to be on the winchburgh cord when the almond cord was a thing.
When that went, adding another stopping service on the glw edn main line would give rise to a whole lot of timetable / reliability issues and the station was put on to the back burner as too hard to do

 

[Altnabreac]

The original plan for EGIP was that the station was going to be on the winchburgh cord when the almond cord was a thing.
When that went, adding another stopping service on the glw edn main line would give rise to a whole lot of timetable / reliability issues and the station was put on to the back burner as too hard to do

That’s not quite what happened.

The developers committed to pay for the station and West Lothian Council were going to include a requirement to build it in the Legal Agreement back in 2011 when they were issuing the planning permission.

Transport Scotland objected to the station being included in the Masterplan at all.

West Lothian Council insisted on including it but the compromise was Transport Scotland insisted it could only go ahead after electrification and if a working timetable arrangement could be found. Importantly (and unfortunately) Transport Scotland blocked the council from including a clause preventing house building from proceeding if a station wasn’t built.

Electrification went ahead and a timetable solution was found that allows the Stirling services to stop (this timetable is in operation and the trains wait at Linlithgow with extra dwell time because of the missing stop).

By this point costs had risen and the developer was only committed to paying the estimated cost from 2012.

Transport Scotland still hated the station and wanted it moved to the proposed new chord but eventually as we know the chord idea was ditched.

Costs had then gone up even more.

So we now have a situation where the following people are in favour of a station:
Developer
Locals
Council
Scotrail
Network Rail
Transport Minister (who is the local MSP).

And the only remaining opposition is from Transport Scotland although they don’t admit that publically.

However there is a significant cash shortfall for the station so it will only happen if there is significant political pressure put on Scottish Government and Transport Scotland.

That is what the developers report and press release is aiming to do.

 

[kaysha]

Thanks Altnabreac. That's a really interesting summary of the situation. Transport Scotland dragging their heels. Who would have thought!!

 

[och aye]

That’s not quite what happened.

The developers committed to pay for the station and West Lothian Council were going to include a requirement to build it in the Legal Agreement back in 2011 when they were issuing the planning permission.

Transport Scotland objected to the station being included in the Masterplan at all.

West Lothian Council insisted on including it but the compromise was Transport Scotland insisted it could only go ahead after electrification and if a working timetable arrangement could be found. Importantly (and unfortunately) Transport Scotland blocked the council from including a clause preventing house building from proceeding if a station wasn’t built.

Electrification went ahead and a timetable solution was found that allows the Stirling services to stop (this timetable is in operation and the trains wait at Linlithgow with extra dwell time because of the missing stop).

By this point costs had risen and the developer was only committed to paying the estimated cost from 2012.

Transport Scotland still hated the station and wanted it moved to the proposed new chord but eventually as we know the chord idea was ditched.

Costs had then gone up even more.

So we now have a situation where the following people are in favour of a station:
Developer
Locals
Council
Scotrail
Network Rail
Transport Minister (who is the local MSP).

And the only remaining opposition is from Transport Scotland although they don’t admit that publically.

However there is a significant cash shortfall for the station so it will only happen if there is significant political pressure put on Scottish Government and Transport Scotland.

That is what the developers report and press release is aiming to do.

Thanks for that summary. As I initially thought, the report is a bit of PR spin by the developers to put pressure on getting the Scot Gov/Transport Scotland to provide funding for the funding shortfall. Perhaps having Fiona Hyslop as the local MSP and Transport Minister might make it easier to persuade her to commit to the funding for the station.

Do we know the reasons why TS aren't a fan of building the station?

 

[snookertam]

I can’t believe Transport Scotland would behave so detrimentally. Shocked I am.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Thanks for that summary. As I initially thought, the report is a bit of PR spin by the developers to put pressure on getting the Scot Gov/Transport Scotland to provide funding for the funding shortfall. Perhaps having Fiona Hyslop as the local MSP and Transport Minister might make it easier to persuade her to commit to the funding for the station.

Do we know the reasons why TS aren't a fan of building the station?

I think it's partly a punctuality risk, because if a service spends more time than booked there, then it could delay not just the Falkirk planned to stop there, but the Glasgow - Edinburgh fasts.

 

[lachlan]

I think it's very poor that they allowed the motorway junction to be built before the railway. Make driving convenient and people will get into the habit, commuting into Edinburgh by car. The funds put into the junction could have helped improve infrastructure on the line to enable the station to be built.

I did note this when they did consultations on building the junction.

 

[Altnabreac]

Thanks for that summary. As I initially thought, the report is a bit of PR spin by the developers to put pressure on getting the Scot Gov/Transport Scotland to provide funding for the funding shortfall. Perhaps having Fiona Hyslop as the local MSP and Transport Minister might make it easier to persuade her to commit to the funding for the station.

Do we know the reasons why TS aren't a fan of building the station?

In general TS hate station reopenings as they usually make the railway slower for existing passengers, more expensive to run and there is often a good reason why stations closed in the first place.

They rarely make good business cases but when they do happen it’s more likely to be due to political pressure or for social inclusion reasons.

Ironically the one time they do make genuine good sense is where you have a rapidly growing population, on a route into a major city with a clear pattern of commuters moving into the new houses.

Basically Winchburgh is about as good a business case for a new station as you can possibly get.

Just needs the money now. There’s enough all party pressure that it will happen but as ever TS will need to put up token resistance first before conceding to political reality.

 

[clc]

Perhaps it would be better to keep the new station on hold until the Almond Chord is resurrected and the station can be located on the new chord?

 

[lachlan]

Perhaps it would be better to keep the new station on hold until the Almond Chord is resurrected and the station can be located on the new chord?

While it may be beneficial from an operational view (you could run trains calling at both Kirkliston and Winchburgh), the location would be much less convenient for the residents of Winchburgh

 

[Altnabreac]

While it may be beneficial from an operational view (you could run trains calling at both Kirkliston and Winchburgh), the location would be much less convenient for the residents of Winchburgh

Not least because the chord isn’t happening in the next 10 years whereas the station is needed ASAP.

If the chord were happening the location isn’t that much worse than the proposed one but it isn’t as good.

 

[waverley47]

The station is needed asap. Unfortunately timetabling is still an issue.

The original plan for EGIP was that the station was going to be on the winchburgh cord when the almond cord was a thing.
When that went, adding another stopping service on the glw edn main line would give rise to a whole lot of timetable / reliability issues and the station was put on to the back burner as too hard to do

This is half true. There were plans for both a station on the chord (poorly positioned for the town) however the most widely accepted position now is just north of the tunnel, underneath the new road bridge.

That means you can build the station without the Almond Chord, however timetabling is difficult without the Almond Chord.

Finding two or four slots in each direction per hour for a call is really difficult, which is why Transport Scotland is hesitant. Basically you could build it now, as they should be, but it's more nuanced than just whack down a cookie-cutter station and have done with it.

 

[Boff]

Finding two or four slots in each direction per hour for a call is really difficult, which is why Transport Scotland is hesitant. Basically you could build it now, as they should be, but it's more nuanced than just whack down a cookie-cutter station and have done with it.

I might be wrong, but I always assumed that the station call was already timetabled into the Edinburgh - Dunblane service (2tph), as trains usually wait at Linlithgow for at least a couple minutes.

And looking at Realtime trains, the trains on those services seem to have a unusually large performance allowance at Newbridge junction that the Edinburgh - Glasgow fasts don't have - for example: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W58141/2024-01-15/detailed

 

[takno]

I might be wrong, but I always assumed that the station call was already timetabled into the Edinburgh - Dunblane service (2tph), as trains usually wait at Linlithgow for at least a couple minutes.

And looking at Realtime trains, the trains on those services seem to have a unusually large performance allowance at Newbridge junction that the Edinburgh - Glasgow fasts don't have - for example: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W58141/2024-01-15/detailed

The fact that a slot has been crammed in to the timetable doesn't mean the thing can run effectively. Right now the Edinburgh-Glasgows are still running at half their previous frequency for a chunk of the day, and you'd expect to see that rise again at some point in the next couple of years. If that happens then the minute there's some disruption those winchburgh stops are going to start backing up fast trains behind them.

Transport Scotland clearly don't want to spend several million quid they don't have building a station to potentially make their only likely profitable service run less well. The whole plan needed the almond chord to work, and without the Almond Chord winchburgh is unfortunately one of the things that needs to go.

 

[Altnabreac]

The current timetable includes a Winchburgh slot and has been signed off by Transport Scotland.

It just needs the money to build the station now. Location is north of the new bridge, rather than under it.

 

[och aye]

An article from the Falkirk Herald quoting Scot Gov minister Patrick Harvie:

Welcome update from Minister on proposal for new station at Winchburgh

Linlithgow MSP Fiona Hyslop, who has been campaigning for Winchburgh Train station along with the local community for years, has received a welcome update.

www.falkirkherald.co.uk

Scottish Government Minister Patrick Harvie has advised that he is attending a meeting of stakeholders following the completion of Transport Scotland’s review of the design proposals for a new station at Winchburgh.

In it, he said: “Transport Scotland reviewed the design proposals for a new station at Winchburgh and proactively suggested amendments to these, which would see any new station delivered more efficiently.

“Transport Scotland officials advise that Network Rail has revised this proposal and is able to share the revised proposal with the developer.”

 

[overthewater]

It was reported a few days ago a stakeholder meeting took place to try and move the project forward. Further meetings are planned, so keep your ears to the ground.

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The first meeting of the reconvened steering group for the Winchburgh rail station took place on Wednesday 31st July, comprising attendees from Transport Scotland, West Lothian Council, Network Rail, Winchburgh Developments LTD, South East of Scotland Transport Partnership and the City Region Deal.
The meeting is a significant milestone in the development of a proposed railway station at Winchburgh, and although a number of considerable challenges remain, all parties agreed upon a set of actions which will now enable us to move this project forward together.

The meeting was a productive session and more meetings have been scheduled in the coming weeks to track progress. All members of the steering group extended their gratitude to Winchburgh residents for their warm hospitality and to the community who have been instrumental in maintaining widespread awareness of this important project.

 

[smsm1]

On the question of reliability would there be space to have a middle overtaking track? Not the first time I've been on a train from Edinburgh to Camelon which has pulled over to a siding between Edinburgh Park and Winchburgh for the late running fast train to Glasgow or Inverness or similar past. Having the passing places in stations could reduce dwell times for the trains that need to pull over.

 

[najaB]

On the question of reliability would there be space to have a middle overtaking track? Not the first time I've been on a train from Edinburgh to Camelon which has pulled over to a siding between Edinburgh Park and Winchburgh for the late running fast train to Glasgow or Inverness or similar past. Having the passing places in stations could reduce dwell times for the trains that need to pull over.

I was thinking the same, but the S&C might be interesting.