But is it busy or just carrying fresh air?
I'm not aware that it's being subsidised by Edinburgh airport, so I assume that it's profitable. Mind you, a coach doesn't need to be full to cover its costs.
But is it busy or just carrying fresh air?
On first glance reducing runway capacity seems almost Beeching-esque but it is very rare that the second runway sees any use these days.The latest plans from the airport involve building across the secondary (the original)runway, almost as far as the railway.....
Assume that means electrifying up to the Forth Bridge at the same time - do you know what that section is like in terms of structures needing cleared?
Indeed - if you aren't going to create an underground station and the chord is delayed, then you might as well get on with building the station anyway so people can make use of it in the meantime.
Options for a heavy rail link to the airport were discussed in 2007 when EARL was cancelled. This website presented a couple of options that were designed to meet the objections that the Scottish Government put forward at the time:
http://www.eisl.org.uk
Very interesting.
Hopefully they Dalmeny chord will be built after/the same time as Alloa and Stirling are wired up.
Dalmeny Chord is an unconfirmed option for CP6 / Post 2019.
So there is no chance of at the same time but hopefully it will happen not too far into the future.
You're looking at around 19 bridges on that section. Only 13 of them are likely to be needed for just the Dalmeny Chord electrification
7 Bridges on the east (South Gyle) section
Ladywell Avenue - rebuild
B701 - should be ok
South Gyle Road - rebuild
A8 Glasgow Road - should be ok
Meadowfield Farm bridge - should be ok
Turnhouse Road - rebuild
Lennymuir - rebuild
6 bridges on the west (Winchburgh) section
Armours - should be ok
M9 - should be ok
Swineburn - should be ok
Humbie Quarry - might be ok?
Humbie - might be ok?
M90 / M9 Spur overbridge - should be ok
6 extra bridges to the north if you electrify to Dalmeny Station as well.
Dolphinton - rebuild
Dalmeny South A90 - should be ok
Dalmeny North - should be ok
Dalmeny Station Footbridge - rebuild
Craigbrae - might be ok?
Almond Hill - might be ok?
While there might be some marginal value in electrifying as far as Dalmeny station for diversions / overrun etc given it will likely require 2 extra bridge rebuilds I'm not sure if it would be included in an initial phase.
And this is on a day where Gogarburn is empty - they follow the UK Bank Holidays there.
Do you mean the English Bank Holidays?
There's still a lot of work goes on on BH these days - the Internet never sleeps.
To educate our English friends. Scottish banks are closed on English bank holidays. But nothing else is. As with 'Wakes weeks' or 'Trades holidays' different towns have general public holidays on different days. For example,this year the Edinburgh September holiday will be on the third Monday, ie 18th, while Glasgow is a week later. We're sensible up here.
Dalmeny station footbridge would be I think perhaps an easy one to obtain part funding for given the tourist potential of the already moneyed South Queensferry area so iether ramps or lifts and a general sprucing up of wating area/booking office would be welcomed to the point where CEC might chip in along with others
What a load of tosh
The St Andrews Day Bank Holiday (Nov 30th or nearest Mon if a sat or sun) is not a proper Bank Holiday. The only people who get the day off (suprisingly) are Scottish Government Staff. I have never been paid double bubble for working it. It's a total joke and everything is open as normal. Also the Edinburgh and Glasgow holidays you mention are not proper Bank Holidays either worked on both in the two Cities and they are insignificant and hardly observed - no double bubble !!
Building the Dalmeny Chord will pretty much kill off any chance of a proper on-airport station for Edinburgh. The ideas set out in the EISL paper, and the original EARL proposals, all had an airport station. They also proposed track layouts that more than fulfilled the requirements of the Dalmeny chord, so it is either Dalmeny Chord or a full-blown EISL / EARL resurrection.
An airport station need not be right on the tarmac but it does need to look and feel like the passenger has arrived at the airport campus. Birmingham International and Gatwick are good examples. The shuttles there to the airport (to the North terminal at Gatwick) are branded as the airport so passengers feel they have arrived at the airport when they get off the train and know that they will not need to go out into the rain again, or pay any more fares, before they reach their aircraft, even though they might have some distance to travel on shuttles within the airport.
Edinburgh Gateway gives no sense at all of being near the airport and has no airport ambience. Thus travellers will regard it as an interchange on their way to the airport, not as the airport station.
It is probably now too hopeful to wish for an on-airport station in Edinburgh, but, if that idea is to be kept alive, building the Dalmeny Chord will not help it. Unless Edinburgh Airport were to propose and finance building a new terminal next to Edinburgh Gateway station, on the old 12/30 runway, I don't see that station ever becoming part of the airport infrastructure.
Sounds like a Scottish equivalent to Ebbsfleet on Eurostar then!I have always been one of about 3 people getting off
I recently spoke to a guard on Scotrail who suggested that South Gyle could be closed, now that Edinburgh Gateway is open. The rationale being that they are very close to each other, and Edinburgh Gateway is better for revenue protection compared to South Gyle. Of course, the low usage figures don't help to justify this, but then if Gyle were to close then perhaps Gateway would see more passengers?
An airport station need not be right on the tarmac but it does need to look and feel like the passenger has arrived at the airport campus. Birmingham International and Gatwick are good examples. The shuttles there to the airport (to the North terminal at Gatwick) are branded as the airport so passengers feel they have arrived at the airport when they get off the train and know that they will not need to go out into the rain again, or pay any more fares, before they reach their aircraft, even though they might have some distance to travel on shuttles within the airport.
Edinburgh Gateway gives no sense at all of being near the airport and has no airport ambience. Thus travellers will regard it as an interchange on their way to the airport, not as the airport station.
Hasn't South Gyle gone down to 2tph each way? If it were to be closed, it should be slowly wound down so that everyone else has a chance to adjust. For travel into the city centre the tram provides an alternative option. The people getting off there for Edinburgh Park shouldn't be much more worse off getting off at the Gateway. When things start getting built at the IBG, the number of people for whom the Gateway is a better station will increase proportionately.
Edinburgh Gateway numbers are significantly lower than expected. The 500,000 estimate did seem a bit high although I thought it would have been higher than what it currently is.
And it also appears to have cost significantly more than was planned.
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...tracts-third-of-expected-passengers-1-4543692
Correct me if I am wrong, but at the time it was planned it was intended that the Dalmeny chord would be built and Edinburgh Gateway could have been served by trains on the Edinburgh to Glasgow main line. That did not happen.
On the many journeys in which I passed what would become the site of the station, I thought that a short heavy rail spur to the airport would have been desirable and easily built.
There was then the "necessary but not doable" proposal for the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link. Sadly when this idea collapsed, the tram system was conceived as the replacement rather than a simple heavy rail spur.
The problems which have afflicted the tram scheme are of course well known. Edinburgh Gateway is now needed to connect into trams to and from the airport.
Which line would you put the spur onto, and what direction would it face?On the many journeys in which I passed what would become the site of the station, I thought that a short heavy rail spur to the airport would have been desirable and easily built.
Most of the complaints about the tram are rooted in an obsession with end-to-end journey times.
Most of the complaints about the tram in this context now are rooted in a failure to promote the link from Gateway, obscure ticketing arrangements and, worst of all, when you finally do realise it's there and learn how to use it, the shocking add-on cost charged to get from the railway station to the airport.
Seriously hoping this isn't considered. I live a two minute walk away from South Gyle station and it is so convenient for me to use to get to Haymarket/Waverley (a return is £1.85 with a 16-25 railcard, even without the railcard it's a cheaper option than by bus/tram at £3.20). For buses/trams you usually have to walk 15 minutes for a bus/tram stop elsewhere.
Whilst I am still to try out Gateway, it would mean a 25 minute walk from where I live if South Gyle closed (realistically Edinburgh Park is closer). Also there's usually a regular shuttle bus from the station to the business park and having used this myself it's very popular for those travelling to Fife and even the peak services to Tweedbank.
Despite the timetable frequency reduced to 2tph from 4, it's still very popular for residents in South Gyle and nearby Costorphine. To me, there doesn't seem to be much of a case to close it despite the opening of Gateway.