Signalling work heralds faster journeys to Inverness

Signal boxes at Aviemore and Pitlochry will close in March 2019, as Network Rail resignals their areas to cut journey times along the largely single-track line between Perth and Inverness.

New signalling will permit trains to enter passing loops at each end simultaneously, which is expected to speed up journeys compared with current arrangements that stipulate one train waiting until the other is stationary in the loop before entering.

Work at Aviemore will also extend its loop by 350 metres to the north. Signalling control will shift to Inverness, closing the box that the Highland Railway built in 1898. Network Rail plans to make Pitlochry’s platforms longer and transfer signalling control to Stanley Junction, seven miles north of Perth.

NR Scheme Sponsor Graeme Stewart said the work would take place over five weekend closures in October and November 2018, and would be commissioned into service over a weekend in March 2019. ScotRail will introduce a new timetable in May 2019.

ScotRail Head of Business Development Scott Prentice said the new timetable would concentrate on delivering faster journeys because there were more passengers travelling along the length of the route between Inverness and Glasgow/ Edinburgh than there were to all the intermediate stations combined. He said the new timetable intended to add station calls at times useful to passengers, rather than simply operationally convenient for the railway.

Draft timetables available for consultation show an earlier arrival at Inverness from Edinburgh - 1005 direct compared with today’s 1028 changing at Stirling. Journey times will vary around 3hrs 15mins from Edinburgh and Glasgow, cutting around seven minutes compared with today.

Prentice said work continued to improve the timetable, noting that three afternoon services heading to Edinburgh in a row reflected problems with capacity at Glasgow Queen Street, and that there were long gaps between services at Dunkeld & Birnam station. Overall, there would be eight trains a day to Edinburgh (six today), six to Glasgow (five today) and one to Perth (unchanged).

Southbound, the first train for Edinburgh will leave at 0549 (0536 today), taking 3hrs 29mins (3hrs 48mins today) to reach the capital. This timetable also has three afternoon Edinburgh trains in a row and an early-evening gap at Dunkeld & Birnam. Prentice added that ScotRail was trying to shift a proposed 0901 arrival into Perth from Inverness to 0850. On average, journeys between Inverness and Edinburgh/Glasgow would be about 18 minutes faster.

Rolling stock will switch from Class 170s to High Speed Trains, increasing daily seats from 4,100 to 6,600.

ScotRail’s formal timetable bid must be with NR in August 2018.