So we're a year on from the last post. What is the latest on WHL 158s?
I have a funny feeling it's another broken ScotRail promise.
That's the works I was referring to. I've seen a schedule of the dates by which each section is down to be cleared. AIRC, the whole route to Oban by May.
We've had a couple of w/e closures of the Oban branch and Craigendoran to Crianlarich is closed today.
I don't think tge West Highlands need any workto bring winter to themAh right sorry, didn't catch what you meant there. Although the work being carried out might be the usual winterisation work which gets done annually.
As much as I love the 156s, there is no way I would be able to handle sat on one for 5 and a half hours from Glasgow to Mallaig.
I think I would be able to handle being on a 158 for that amount of time.
It really is about time the West Highland Line was given a decent service from Glasgow to Fort William. 2 hourly intervals would be great for a start but the 156s,after 31 years of service over the route,really do need to go.
Again I would be happy with a 158,but the Scottish Government really does need to pull their finger out and fully exploit this line.
The prime reason I have never travelled the full length of the West Highland is purely down to the 156s and a sparse service.Exactly!
Have you tried the recent 156 refurb? They have acutely managed to make the interior worse!
What they need is a follow on of HST refurbs as even the scenic 158s are pretty naff tbh.
As much as I love the 156s, there is no way I would be able to handle sat on one for 5 and a half hours from Glasgow to Mallaig.
I think I would be able to handle being on a 158 for that amount of time.
It really is about time the West Highland Line was given a decent service from Glasgow to Fort William. 2 hourly intervals would be great for a start but the 156s,after 31 years of service over the route,really do need to go.
Again I would be happy with a 158,but the Scottish Government really does need to pull their finger out and fully exploit this line.
What I am trying to say snookertam is the Glasgow to Fort William service really is inadequate. I'm leaving aside the Oban branch and Mallaig extension.There has been some suggestion of a revamp to the West Highland Line timetable in the pipeline. Whether this becomes as you suggest is another matter entirely though. I think four day time trains in each direction, similar to the Far North line, may be more likely. Whilst Fort William itself has a population of 10,000, you'd be lucky if anywhere else on the route had a population of even 1,000, save for maybe Garelochhead (which is a short drive to Helensburgh anyway) and Spean Bridge.
West of Corpach - which would be included within the Fort William population above - there's pretty much no meaningful settlement until Arisaig. Whilst the railway does serve the local populace, there's very few people there, and so running trains back and forth every two hours won't really be much good to anyone. And that's before you work out fitting them all in on the single line, and all competing for radio time on the RETB system. And running too many trains on the Mallaig extension in the summer (There's already six per day each way in summer if you include the steam trains) actually runs the risk of over tourism like has been seen with the North Coast 500.
So to answer your question, not only would a two hourly service be quite a challenge, it's not necessarily the case that it would be worthwhile. Oban currently has six trains per day, and the rail service is comparable to road in terms of journey times. That level of service is, arguably, quite generous.
It's incredible to note that the class 156s have been the primary passenger stock on the West Highland line longer than pretty much any class in the line's history. You've got to go back to the Reid "Glen" 4-4-0s of 1913 before you find a class of comparable longevity overall, and they didn't have a monopoly on daytime passenger services for anywhere near the same amount of time or to the same extent as the 156s.It really is about time the West Highland Line was given a decent service from Glasgow to Fort William. 2 hourly intervals would be great for a start but the 156s,after 31 years of service over the route,really do need to go.
156s have had manual vestibule doors since they were built, but nobody ever closes them for some reason. In Germany you'd get a proper stare for not doing so.
156s have had manual vestibule doors since they were built, but nobody ever closes them for some reason. In Germany you'd get a proper stare for not doing so.