Scottish Borders Railway - rebuilt Waverley Route link to Edinburgh

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

The same will probably be said of the Portishead line when it reopens. You have to move with the times!

[Red Squirrel]

Some new station codes to get used to:

TWB
GAL
SOI
GBG
NEG
EKB
SFI

...tickets on sale now!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From STV News:

Queen to mark becoming longest reigning monarch with railway visit

The Queen will carry out an official engagement on the day she becomes the longest reigning monarch in British history ^ opening the new Scottish Borders Railway.

On September 9, she will pass the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

Buckingham Palace has calculated that Queen Victoria reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes, taking into account 63 years, 15 leap days and the precise timings of her accession and death.

On the historic day the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be joined by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on a steam train travelling along the new route with celebrations planned for the start and end of the journey.

The ^294m railway, which opens to the public on Sunday September 6, will re-establish passenger services from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank in the Borders for the first time in more than 40 years.

Keith Brown, the Scottish Government's cabinet secretary for infrastructure, said: "It is a great honour for us that Her Majesty has chosen to mark this milestone by leading the celebrations for the opening of the Borders Railway. The people of the Borders and Midlothian have waited almost half a century to see the return of their railway and it is fitting that these two such historic events coincide. This will be a double celebration and we are also ensuring that the people who have campaigned, worked hard and shown such patience throughout this process are able to play a full part in the celebrations, with a separate day dedicated just to them."

The day will begin with the Queen and Philip arriving at Waverley Station in Edinburgh to board the train drawn by the steam locomotive Union of South Africa.

With Ms Sturgeon they will travel the new route, stopping off at Newtongrange in Midlothian before carrying on to the final station on the new line, the Borders town of Tweedbank.

Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: "Royal connections to Scotland are incredibly strong, and so there is no better place to be than our wonderful capital city, launching one of our most exciting new attractions ^ the Borders Railway. The new Borders Railway, which delves deep into Sir Walter Scott country, presents a huge opportunity for Scottish tourism."

He added: "The romanticism captured by the steam trains that will be travelling on the line for the first six weeks after opening will give the route added value, following in the tracks of the Jacobite steam train journey from Fort William to Mallaig which welcomes thousands of visitors every year."

Work started on the Borders Railway in 2013 with the last bridge installed in May this year and driving and conductor training beginning the following month. Seven new stations have been constructed along the ten-stop route.

It was built by Network Rail in partnership with local authorities from the area, Transport Scotland and the main contractor, construction group Bam Nuttall, with services run by ScotRail.

[grahame]

On the historic day the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be joined by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on a steam train travelling along the new route with celebrations planned for the start and end of the journey.

Am I alone in finding it a bit ironic that they're celebrating / looking forward to the future pulled by an anachronistic and CO2 unfriendly piece of equipment that was in service at the time the line was closed.

[TonyK]

Am I alone in finding it a bit ironic that they're celebrating / looking forward to the future pulled by an anachronistic and CO2 unfriendly piece of equipment that was in service at the time the line was closed.

Quite possibly...

Ironic also that she will become the longest reigning Queen of Scotland on the same day, having once survived a legal challenge to her title "Queen Elizabeth II" from a Scotsman who correctly argued that there had never been a Queen Elizabeth I of Scotland.

[grahame]

Line open - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-34108746

Line to be re-opened (officially!) later today 

[CLPGMS]

Yes, it did reopen today - about 40 minutes late.  Not the railway's fault.  The Queen's helicopter to Edinburgh was delayed by low cloud/fog.

[grahame]

Yes, it did reopen today - about 40 minutes late.  Not the railway's fault.  The Queen's helicopter to Edinburgh was delayed by low cloud/fog.

Did the train wait to make the connection?

[Worcester_Passenger]

I love this...

[rower40]

Yes, it did reopen today - about 40 minutes late.  Not the railway's fault.  The Queen's helicopter to Edinburgh was delayed by low cloud/fog.

Did the train wait to make the connection?

Not only did it wait, but various other Borders Line trains were cancelled to make space for it on the single-track sections.  Some had been planned to be cancelled (and therefore could, on the day, have run); others were CAPEd while waiting to depart Tweedbank.

[Red Squirrel]

It's a shame that the requirement to handle excursions and specials (of which Ma Windsor's was one of many to come) was not factored into the build, if (as politicians are telling us) these are to play an important role in the future of the line. I wonder how much they saved by value-engineering it until the pips squeaked?

[rower40]

There's an old railway saying (and I joined BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) in 1988);
"There's never enough money to do the job properly ... but there's always enough to do it twice."

[ellendune]

It's a shame that the requirement to handle excursions and specials (of which Ma Windsor's was one of many to come) was not factored into the build, if (as politicians are telling us) these are to play an important role in the future of the line. I wonder how much they saved by value-engineering it until the pips squeaked?

Ah but as the bean counters have redefined value engineering it is not about obtaining best value, but instead it is about engineering all the valuie out of the project.

[John R]

The general complaint has been that the reduction in double track has limited the ability of excursion trains to operate without disruption to the normal timetable, and this is certainly true of the Mon to Sat service, as evidenced by the need to remove trains from the timetable when the steam excursions are running. However, the second platform (of appropriate length) was added to the specification at a fairly late stage, so at least they can run.

Though it wouldn't take more double track to enable excursions to be run - just a couple of low speed passing loops. Whilst undoubtedly they will cost more to install than if done at outset, I'm inclined to think that it was the right decision to pare the cost and get the line built, given it has still cost ^300m.

What does appear shortsighted was the decision to build bridges (particularly those where the road runs above the railway) only wide enough for single track.  I can't imagine it costs much more to add the additional width when constructed, but you will be looking at complete reconstruction if the decision is taken to rebuild.

I'd also suggest that a run around facility near Tweedbank should be high on the list of future enhancements, to avoid the need for two locos and enable steam haulage both ways, which would reduce costs and increase the attractiveness of the steam proposition. 

[rower40]

I'd also suggest that a run around facility near Tweedbank should be high on the list of future enhancements, to avoid the need for two locos and enable steam haulage both ways, which would reduce costs and increase the attractiveness of the steam proposition. 

This.  Extend both platforms into a headshunt.  One more set of points, 3 additional signals.  But I don't know the terrain and geography - there may be buildings in the way just beyond the buffers.
For even better kettle-LOLs^▸ (laughing out loud), make that headshunt a turntable, like at Thomas-Land at Drayton Manor Park...