As one of the people who suggested a shuttle to speed journey times, perhaps I should clarify that I suggested it as part of a raft of measures to get the Wick-Inverness journey time down below 3 hours. By itself, I wouldn't regard it as top priority - that would seem to be the Lentran loop, probably followed by the Dornoch link, both of which would benefit many more people.
But since several flaws with the idea have emerged from this discussion. Thinking along a different tack... Suppose the Halkirk chord was built and Georgemas Junction closed. How much time would that knock off the Wick journey times? (That would have the advantage of reducing Thurso-Inverness times too, something that a shuttle wouldn't achieve).
Looking at the current timetable, for journeys to Wick, the 29 minutes delay due to going via Thurso comprises:
- 4 minutes waiting a Georgemas Junction
- 10 minutes to Thurso
- 3 minutes waiting at Thurso
- 10 minutes to Georgemas Junction
- 2 minutes waiting at Georgemas junction (why???? - there's no reverse this time)
So by not waiting/reversing at Georgemas, you immediately lose 6 minutes of waiting (minus 30 seconds of waiting at Halkirk). Also, Georgemas to Thurso is just over 6 miles. and 10 minutes seems a long time for that distance. Could you knock a few minutes off that in both directions with linespeed improvements? Plus saving a few minutes by not having to slow/down speed up for Georgemas because Thurso-Wick becomes non-stop.
How much time could you realistically save? If you could save 6-8 minutes between Inverness and Thurso, and another 6-8 minutes between Thurso and Wick, I'm guessing that would be very significant.