A shift from cars: Scotland’s ra

PHILIP HAIGH examines the country’s rail plans, with a fresh programme of wiring and light rail development

DELVE into the Scottish Government’s updated climate change plan and on the title page of the chapter about transport there’s a picture of an electrified railway.

Look past the profusion of bushes growing from the viaduct and there’s a diesel Voyager. Thus, in one picture, is a summary of rail: it wants to be electric but is too often diesel, and it’s a network in need of repair.

The plan contains a bold pledge to “almost completely decarbonise our passenger railways” by 2032, while “car kilometres will have reduced by 20%”.

That commits the Scottish Government to reducing rail’s already very low proportion (1.2% in 2017) of transport’s carbon emissions, while recognising that shifting people from car to rail

(or other low-carbon transport such as walking, cycling or buses) is important in cutting overall emissions.

Momentum fell away from Scotland’s rail electrification project after it converted the main Edinburgh-Glasgow route in 2018, together with routes via Shotts and Falkirk Grahamston, and the line northwards through Stirling to Dunblane and Alloa.

Wiring is to restart with the branch line to East Kilbride and the line to Barrhead. There’s also development work to wire the Borders line to Tweedbank, as well as the line to Levenmouth that Network Rail is currently rebuilding from dereliction.

To bring electric trains to Levenmouth will likely need parts of Fife’s network to be electrified. Extending wires through Fife towards Dundee sets Transport Scotland up to continue onwards to Aberdeen.

The Scottish Government is committing £550 million towards rail decarbonisation, according to its latest infrastructure investment plan, published in February. It’s part of a wider £1.23 billion improvement programme that includes £200m for improvements between the Central Belt and

Aberdeen, which is likely to result in new signalling (much of the route north of Dundee is signalled under absolute block regulations by a string of mechanical boxes), line speed improvements and changes to loops.

There has been a slew of documents about Scottish transport planning in recent weeks. They’ve unleashed a forest of acronyms (NTS2, NPF4 and STPR2, to name a few) which can make deciphering what the Scottish Government plans difficult to see.

Even STPR2 (the second edition of the Strategic Transport Projects Review) admits this when it says: “The policy, plan and investment landscape that we are presented with is complex and multilayered.”

But it provides a clear view, as it continues: “There is an overarching and urgent imperative to address climate change and to achieve net zero carbon by 2045.”

December’s National Transport Strategy Delivery Plan adds a little more clarity. It explains that STPR2 has two stages. The first outlines a short-term programme for delivery in the next three years. The

Scottish Government published this in February 2021. The second stage is coming later in 2021 and will set out a transport investment plan for the next 20 years.

The rail options in this first phase concentrate on developing major stations. Edinburgh Waverley’s masterplan moves forward ( RAIL 876), and Transport Scotland will review capacity at Glasgow Central to find short-term ways of allowing longer and perhaps more frequent trains to run.

A masterplan beckons too for Inverness, in line with longstanding local wishes. The fourth major station is Perth. Here the station’s dingy roof detracts from its overall design and it has a track layout and signalling from a different era.

STRP2 says: “Track and signalling infrastructure enhancements on the approaches to the station will support faster journey times and better service performance.” Remodelling is also a vital precursor to electrification.

Transport Scotland’s station improvements follow the radical rebuilding of Glasgow Queen Street over the past few years, while STPR2 also notes imminent improvements for Aberdeen, Motherwell and Stirling.

Stepping away from heavy rail, the document reveals ambitions to build ‘Glasgow Metro’. It explains that this is an ‘umbrella term’ to describe a new public transport system that serves Glasgow and its surrounding areas of East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire.

This system might be light rail ( RAIL 879), tram or bus rapid transport, but Transport Scotland