Far North Line "facing closure" (slight hyperbole alert).

[cf111]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transp...rtherly-railway-line-facing-closure-1-4235667

ALASTAIR DALTON

The “shambolic” performance of Scotland’s most northerly railway could lead to its eventual closure, a book published today claims.

Passenger numbers are falling on the route between Inverness, Wick and Thurso, which has been plagued by chronic unreliability and frequent cancellations.

In Highland Survivor: the story of the Far North Line, rail consultant David Spaven argues for urgent action to reverse its fortunes.

The 168-mile route was the biggest reprieve among those earmarked for closure by the Beeching report 50 years ago.

However, unlike most Scottish lines which have enjoyed booming traffic, Britain’s longest rural route is declining and many journeys are far quicker by road.

Spaven wrote: “Closing the line – in the short to medium term – is politically unthinkable.

“However, this is not the same as saying the Far North Line will be impregnable in the longer term: once the current [ScotRail] franchise ends [in 2022/25] and/or after nuclear traffic finishes and/or in the event of future economic recession, or even depression.”

Spaven estimated the line lost up to £20 million a year - or £40 per passenger.

He said: “Bus campaigners could reasonably argue a tiny fraction of the financial support needed to maintain the line would deliver state-of-the art road-based public transport.”

The Friends of the Far North Line called for significant extra spending, including on more passing loops, to “reverse this shameful decline in standards”.

Convenor Mike Lunan said: “The service has deteriorated hugely in the last 15 years.

“Trains are timetabled to take over 30 minutes longer than in 2001, and yet less than half of them manage to arrive on time. Caithness has been appallingly let down.”

A ScotRail Alliance spokeswoman said: “We have no plans to close the Far North line and have recently invested £6m in improving infrastructure along the route.

“We are working hard to deliver improved performance and are committed to providing as punctual and reliable a service as we can.”

A Transport Scotland spokesman said:

“We recognise the importance of the Far North Line to those communities which rely on it as a vital public transport link.‎ As part of the current investment programme there has been significant track and signalling upgrades as well as improvements to level crossings along the route.

“Of course, the unique nature of the line poses certain challenges, however ‎it will be part of ScotRail’s Great Scenic Railways of Scotland which will market Scotland’s scenery, its heritage and its tourist attractions to a wider audience.

“Network Rail will introduce line speed enhancements at some level crossings in the near future. In addition, Transport Scotland has asked ScotRail to undertake timetable development to improve passenger experience and stimulate growth on the route.

“ScotRail is obliged to upgrade all of the C158 trains which operates on the FNL. This will see £‎14M of investment delivering significant upgrades such as power sockets, new seating, lighting, wheelchair spaces and carpeting across the fleet by 2018.”

The Scotsman obviously looking for hits with the headline, but I think there's merit in David Spaven's comments.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transp...rtherly-railway-line-facing-closure-1-4235667



The Scotsman obviously looking for hits with the headline, but I think there's merit in David Spaven's comments.

No mention of train-crew issues leading to cancellations. Has this now been sorted?

No point having new loops, signalling, track and trains if there are no staff to drive/guard them!

 

[yorksrob]

Does it give any reason for the decline in timings and reliability over the past couple of decades ?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

No mention of train-crew issues leading to cancellations. Has this now been sorted?

What were the issues? I can imagine if you were a man short at Wick depot then you can be in quite a bit of trouble!

 

[cf111]

No mention of train-crew issues leading to cancellations. Has this now been sorted?

No point having new loops, signalling, track and trains if there are no staff to drive/guard them!

Things are getting better on that front. Nearly every time I take the train there is more than one person in the front cab so I'm assuming they're there for route training.

Does it give any reason for the decline in timings and reliability over the past couple of decades ?

The main issue is that the line south of Tain is much more heavily used that it was 10 years but there's been no real investment in the infrastructure so if anything goes wrong there's no wiggle room. Further up the line there are 4 services instead of 3 each way between Wick and Inverness and more often than not in times of disruption a train is having to sit at either Forsinard or Helmsdale for up to an hour because of the long single-line between the two.

The 158s have been less reliable recently, but I think that is true across the board in Scotland.

 

[yorksrob]

Things are getting better on that front. Nearly every time I take the train there is more than one person in the front cab so I'm assuming they're there for route training.



The main issue is that the line south of Tain is much more heavily used that it was 10 years but there's been no real investment in the infrastructure so if anything goes wrong there's no wiggle room. Further up the line there are 4 services instead of 3 each way between Wick and Inverness and more often than not in times of disruption a train is having to sit at either Forsinard or Helmsdale for up to an hour because of the long single-line between the two.

The 158s have been less reliable recently, but I think that is true across the board in Scotland.

Ah, lots to be worked on !

 

[Class 170101]

Does it give any reason for the decline in timings and reliability over the past couple of decades ?

The number of un-barriered level Crossings doesn't help. ASLEF I believe has told drivers to stop and check before proceeding or something along those lines.

 

[Trucker Glen]

The number of un-barriered level Crossings doesn't help. ASLEF I believe has told drivers to stop and check before proceeding or something along those lines.

There's only one automatic open crossing on the Far North Line, at Delny, the rest have all had barriers added.

 

[Class 170101]

Still don't drive over them that fast.

 

[thenorthern]

Got to remember as well given the line runs though vast amounts of nothingness if Network Rail needs to see to something such as an obstruction on the line it takes much longer to get there than it does to most other places.

 

[Ash Bridge]

It seems road transport has an unfair advantage over rail north of Tain since the opening of the new Dornoch Bridge in the early nineties, why could this have not been built as a joint road and rail crossing at the time?

 

[najaB]

Why could [the new Dornock Bridge] have not been built as a joint road and rail crossing at the time?

Like most things, it comes down to money. The offer was on the table, but BR/Railtrack couldn't afford it.

 

[6Gman]

It seems road transport has an unfair advantage over rail north of Tain since the opening of the new Dornock Bridge in the early nineties, why could this have not been built as a joint road and rail crossing at the time?

Well, the fact that it would have needed around 10 miles of new railway on the north side and it would have left Lairg isolated might be relevant.

Oh, and it's Dornoch not Dornock.

 

[thenorthern]

It seems road transport has an unfair advantage over rail north of Tain since the opening of the new Dornock Bridge in the early nineties, why could this have not been built as a joint road and rail crossing at the time?

The Far North of Scotland is a very car dependent area as even if people were to mostly use the train it would be impractical not to own a car so most people just drive.

Also I reckon Wick Airport is taking some of the passenger traffic from the railways as well.

 

[class26]

Well, the fact that it would have needed around 10 miles of new railway on the north side and it would have left Lairg isolated might be relevant.

Oh, and it's Dornoch not Dornock.

But these days with the advent of the "commuter" services on the southern half of the line the simple solution would be a Dornoch crossing for Thurso / Wick trains and start the commuter services are Lairg so it would be only Rogart that lost services

 

[47271]

Which is more likely to close first, the Far North Line or The Scotsman?

 

[Trucker Glen]

To be fair the BBC News website also reported on what is basically David Spaven trying to promote his latest book.

 

[Clansman]

It sounds like a crazy, and indeed, a hyperbole idea to close the rail line - but taking a think about what needs improvement would be a good place to start.

So, what could be improved on the Far North Line that's realistic?

A revamp of Inverness station to accommodate an extra platform (or 2?) on the Far North side at, plus a duelled relayed line to Invergordon would be a good starting point in my opinion. Could potentially contribute to a minor speed increase as well as improve connectivity by providing extra capacity for services, and most certainly increase punctuality along that stretch of the network where there would be less knock on effects of a single delayed train compared to today. The increased reliability could sway people off the roads and provide more justification for later improvements.

Although the only problem would be the hurdle of trying to dual the Inverness to Beauly stretch fully, as there are a few areas where there is scarce space to allow a parallel line to be built. Not to mention the high cost - but I think something which requires a degree of investment to the line has to happen in the next 10-20 years. Otherwise as time goes on the cost will no doubt increase significantly than it already would be.

 

[najaB]

A revamp of Inverness station to accommodate an extra platform (or 2?) on the Far North side at, plus a duelled relayed line to Invergordon would be a good starting point in my opinion.

Doesn't need doubling all the way through to Invergordon. The Lentran long loop would radically improve the reliability and performance of the FNL for not that much money (in the grand scheme).

 

[Class 170101]

A loop at Lentran would be better. It would improve the reliability of the critical section between Inverness and Dingwall. Convential signalling controlled by Inverness PSB with ARS. Extra platforms aren't needed on that side of Inverness. Platform 7 is booked to be used once a day at 21:00. Not exactly a heavily used platform.

Faster turnout on loops. Current maximum is 15mph over points.

 

[cf111]

A loop at Lentran would be better. It would improve the reliability of the critical section between Inverness and Dingwall. Convential signalling controlled by Inverness PSB with ARS. Extra platforms aren't needed on that side of Inverness. Platform 7 is booked to be used once a day at 21:00. Not exactly a heavily used platform.

Faster turnout on loops. Current maximum is 15mph over points.

I agree that 3 platforms (5, 6 and 7) is plenty, 5 and 6 can also hold 2x158 so there's plenty of room.

RETB itself is an issue, I'm not sure if next-gen has solved issues to any extent but it's not uncommon to be waiting to enter the next section for ~2-3 minutes at a time because the token hasn't come through the radio and this all adds up, it's especially bad at Georgemas.

Doubling the whole line to Beauly is a non-starter because of the swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal at Clachnaharry.

 

[Bob M]

I am surprised the subsidy isn't more than that. I went up there last month. Schools were back so presumably there was the normal local use, plus it was still tourist season. But apart from the first bit from Inverness there can't have been more than a dozen passengers at any stage.

 

[Class 170101]

I agree that 3 platforms (5, 6 and 7) is plenty, 5 and 6 can also hold 2x158 so there's plenty of room.

RETB itself is an issue, I'm not sure if next-gen has solved issues to any extent but it's not uncommon to be waiting to enter the next section for ~2-3 minutes at a time because the token hasn't come through the radio and this all adds up, it's especially bad at Georgemas.

Doubling the whole line to Beauly is a non-starter because of the swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal at Clachnaharry.

In addition to the physical infrastruture there is only one signaller controlling the RETB and only one token can be issued / rescinded at any one time so in constructing the timetable one has to consider the physical constraints as well as the radio constraints. So although there may be an empty track at Georgemas the radio timetable may require the train to wait for its slot.

I would argue that it could be possible to replace RETB signalling with probably a computer based signalling like ARS which would NOT increase the workload of the existing signallers at Inverness PSB nor require the employment of additional signallers. This will need to be done at some point as the RETB won't last forever.

I agree that doubling the whole line through Lentran is impractial as you note. However only a short length is needed and indeed the local campaign group are campaigning hard for this.

The Swingbridge at Clachnaharry itself though could do with being replaced to increase the low line speed there. There is strong braking and acceleration either side of the bridge which is quite penalising. However I doubt this is cheap to do.

 

[QueensCurve]

It seems road transport has an unfair advantage over rail north of Tain since the opening of the new Dornoch Bridge in the early nineties, why could this have not been built as a joint road and rail crossing at the time?

That was much discussed at the time the Dornoch Firth bridge was planned.

There was if I remember rightly potentially EU funding for a single track railway across the bridge but it didn't happen. The politics of it seem to have been quite intricate.

One of the controversies surrounded the fate of the Lairg Loop if it went ahead.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

But these days with the advent of the "commuter" services on the southern half of the line the simple solution would be a Dornoch crossing for Thurso / Wick trains and start the commuter services are Lairg so it would be only Rogart that lost services

That was my suggestion at the time.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The Swingbridge at Clachnaharry itself though could do with being replaced to increase the low line speed there. There is strong braking and acceleration either side of the bridge which is quite penalising. However I doubt this is cheap to do.

Speeds on the whole route are very low. If these could be increased it would potentially be more competitive with other modes.

 

[class26]

I am surprised the subsidy isn't more than that. I went up there last month. Schools were back so presumably there was the normal local use, plus it was still tourist season. But apart from the first bit from Inverness there can't have been more than a dozen passengers at any stage.

I was also on the far north line last month (August 25 to be precise), travelling between Lairg and Wick and my train was probably about 40% full from Lairg going north but at Forsinard we passed a southbound train which looked to be loaded c.75% and presumably would fill further as it went south

 

[paul1609]

I was also on the far north line last month (August 25 to be precise), travelling between Lairg and Wick and my train was probably about 40% full from Lairg going north but at Forsinard we passed a southbound train which looked to be loaded c.75% and presumably would fill further as it went south

That sounds about right in my experience but once the summer season has finished many services don't have double figures of passengers north of lairg, the west highland line is pretty sparse north of Crianlarich after about the end of September too most locals either drive or use the faster city link bus.

 

[Millisle]

Inverness-Wick by rail 161.5 miles (add two chances to see Georgemas Jcn and it is about 175). I was wondering where 168 miles came from, but it must be going to Thurso and then returning to Georgemas by magic carpet. The road distance is 102.66m. There is just no answer to that. It would be a bit like my going from where I am now to Newton Stewart before I began my journey to where I might actually want to get to, but I may be losing the thread...

 

[dk1]

Speeds on the whole route are very low. If these could be increased it would potentially be more competitive with other modes.

Well you have dumbfounded me there. I used the route & was amazed at just how fast some sections where in comparison with one line that I work & call rural, The East Suffolk. That now has many many more passengers yet is treated to a 55mph top speed. I'm sure much of the Far North are 75-90mph. We can only dream.

 

[backontrack]

I am really surprised that the Lentran Long Loop is so infrequently mentioned in here. It's so very important that it goes ahead in CP6 at the latest.

Here's a frightening statistic: of all the trains from Inverness to Wick this year, only 25% have actually arrived at Wick on time. 25%. A quarter.

That is because there is no Lentran Loop. And while we're at it, a Kinbrace Loop would be good to.

Phil Verster says we need doubling between Beauly and Inverness. He's not the only one, either. Some councillors are sympathetic. But the SNP just won't listen...Derek MacKay didn't do anything about it. Humza Yousaf probably doesn't care about it. I'd like to be proved wrong, we all would...

The onus is on Messrs Yousaf and Ewing to stop our troubles. This needs to go ahead, as soon as possible. Or, yes, the line may as well close. We don't want that, do we?

Bring on the Lentran Loop.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That is pretty terrible - but absent the loop could it be fixed with more realistic timetabling? What is the primary cause of the problem?