Timetabling of essential rail plans across the country need to get back on track
THE potential shortfall in capacity for both freight and passenger trains between Scotland and England is worrying (“Demand may derail hopes of extra trains”, The Herald, March 23).
With the future levels of oil availability and price unknown, it is vital that freight between the two countries continues to flow and this may mean a huge growth in rail freight to make oil resources go further.
There are also bottlenecks in Scotland. One is in accommodating more freight trains on the single track lines from Perth and Aberdeen to Inverness. Two out of the promised four additional passenger trains from Inverness to the south have recently started running causing two of the services to Glasgow to be diverted via Cumbernauld, adding 12 minutes on to the journey time. This is due to an existing bottleneck at the junction with the Edinburgh to Glasgow main line.
The Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Project will lead to improved service frequencies between those two cities and also to Stirling and Dunblane. It is therefore vital that the much delayed Highland line improvements are sorted out at the same time so that the extra trains from Inverness to Glasgow and Edinburgh can be properly timetabled in.
The chambers of commerce have asked for first train arrivals in both directions soon after 9am. At present the first arrival in Inverness is at 10.28am which is too late for business needs. Co-ordination of the timetabling for all new projects is essential. RJ Ardern, Southside Road, Inverness. I CANNOT comprehend that failure of the Cumbernauld line being electrified by 2014 jeopardises an integral part of the transport strategy for the Commonwealth Games (“Delay fears for £1bn rail programme”, The Herald, March 24).
It is undoubtedly an integral part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). This particular line of the route also involves services to and from Falkirk Grahamston which I now understand will not run into Glasgow Queen Street high level but into the low level.
A standalone electrified service to/from Cumbernauld, if this is the intention and not also to/from Falkirk Grahamston, running into Glasgow Queen Street (whichever one) makes no sense in my opinion. It will be hurriedly created in advance of all else purely for the benefit of a short-lived sporting occasion.
Although contracts have already been placed for certain aspects of the EGIP programme, namely a new station at Haymarket, a bridgework contract that has already started and track alterations, a great deal still awaits confirmation and the go-ahead. That includes overhead wiring, depots for new stock that themselves still await specification and order as well as re-signalling in parts.
My feeling is that 2016 has already slipped over the horizon for completion of the entire project and I rather imagine it will be 2017/8 before it all comes to pass. John Macnab, 175 Grahamsdyke Street, Laurieston, Falkirk.