Scottish high-speed

Regarding Scottish HSTs being capable of extending their repertoire ( Open Access, RAIL 837): in the Scottish Region 1983-84 timetable, my involvement with BR in Glasgow HQ at that time was as a carriage diagrammer and compiler of the passenger train marshalling book for the Region.

HST services ran on the Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Queen Street main line via Falkirk High. A weekday 0830 Glasgow Queen Street-London King’s Cross worked through from Edinburgh Waverley as the 0730, and similarly the 1700 from London King’s Cross to Glasgow Queen Street returned to Edinburgh Waverley as the 2300.

Sunday services went one better with the 1015 Glasgow Queen Street-London King’s Cross coming through on the 0830 from Edinburgh Waverley, the 0930 from London King’s Cross to Glasgow Queen Street (1540 from Edinburgh) forming the 1730 Glasgow Queen Street to Leeds, and (again) the 1700 from London King’s Cross to Glasgow Queen Street back to Edinburgh Waverley as the 2300.

These were eight-coach HSTs that we somehow ‘shoe-horned’ into Platform 2 at Glasgow Queen Street, although each train only took about ten minutes to turn around on weekdays. Sunday was less critical in this aspect. Blockage otherwise was minimal!

There is nothing new in using otherwise empty stock workings in a revenue-earning service, as noted and as advocated by Stephen Walker, and it is hoped this will continue as far as practicable.

I do take note of the forthcoming Scottish HSTs and agree that their life extension, however venerable these units are, will not be long. Much expense is being undertaken and lavished on them for their sunset years - will it all be worth it?

Politics will play a major part within Scotland in the next few years, regarding the future of ScotRail in its entirety, and will be the governing factor. In the years 2021 and 2022 there will be Scottish parliamentary elections and the end of the current franchise respectively. Much will depend on the outcome of these events.

John Macnab, Falkirk