Scottish Borders Railway - rebuilt Waverley Route link to Edinburgh

[whole diary]

[caliwag]

Has anyone seen any articles or realistic suggestions that some loco hauled stock should substitute for the inadequate 158s?

[phile]

After the Ebbw Vale line re-opened in 2008, the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) allocated 2 cars (150) to the service.  They are not enough and some 153s have been squeezed to strengthen some trains at Peak times.   It is a typical case of underestimating.

[grahame]

I was interested in the original:

the replacement of the unreliable Class 158 diesel trains

Which is not the same thing as

inadequate 158s

Both Bristol (St Philip's Marsh) and Salisbury depots in our area seem to turn out 158s that are pretty reliable - and I was wondering what the problem is in Scotland.   Naughty comment ... if they're not reliable enough on the borders railway, send a couple to us and we'll get 'em looked after by a local depot and run them up and down on the TransWilts.  Sad to see her go, but  we could sent our 153 up to Tweedbank in return 

[caliwag]

I understand...I've read that as there tends to be some steep sections of track, they overheat and 'cutout'. Don't know how regular this is, nor where I read it. I agree some lines would welcome them though!

[caliwag]

A rather vague article about proposals for the Borders Line

http://www.bordertelegraph.com/news/14741385.__14_million_of_improvements_planned_for_Borders_Railway/?

[TonyK]

I'm glad to see that flooring is to be installed. The sight of sleepers whizzing past underfoot as you walk gingerly across the joists must be disconcerting.

[martyjon]

Off to Glasgow tomorrow (30 Nov) and during my stay I intend to travel this line from Edinburgh to Tweedbank and back lunching in a hostelry not too far from the lines terminus..

[ChrisB]

Better food in Galashiels....

[bobm]

Better food in Galashiels....

I'd second that - there is also more to see in Galashiels



..than Tweedbank

[rogerw]

little, if anything, at Tweedbank - especially on a cold winters day. Not even a loo.

[martyjon]

Thanks for the advice fellow forum members, I'll drop off at Galashiels one way or other.

[grahame]

From The Southern Reporter

Fears that a forthcoming report for Transport Scotland will advise against extending the Borders Railway south of Tweedbank have been mitigated by a reassurance that a second opinion is set to be sought in any event.

A transport corridors study by consultant Jacobs UK^▸ (United Kingdom) assessing the viability of extending the 30-mile track by almost 70 miles into England is due to be published later this month, and unconfirmed reports suggest that it will give any such plans the thumbs-down.

However, all hope would not be lost for campaigners calling for the recreation of the old Waverley Route from Edinburgh to Carlisle even in that case as the UK Government plans to have a feasibility study of its own carried out too.

Interesting to note two contrasting TransWilts pieces of work - the Park report of 2000 and the Jacobs report of 2004 (that's the one on which the service for the 2005 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) / GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) franchise was based).  Both reports are now so old that the numbers and metrics are radially different, and so the conclusions of historic interest as to "how it was at the time" only.

[TonyK]

Isn't it normal in Scotland to decide which answer you want before asking the question? It is in England, although I wouldn't say it works often.

[Timmer]

I sighed when I saw the consultants were Jacobs. Memories of 2006 come flooding back.

[trainbuff]

Yes.

Jacobs did a report into the Northern Route (Plymouth to Exeter via Okehampton) for Devon County which was overly pessimistic. Especially compared to the Greengauge 21 report for the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. You would have thought they were talking about a totally different railway!!!

They are overly cautious