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Dalmeny chord

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Citybreak1

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Is there any plans to use this line again? I notice since the pandemic no Glasgow to Markinch trains have run. Is the line now disused? I assume the station in Winchbrough won’t happen either?
 
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waverley47

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The Dalmeny chord is still used by occasional stock moves. It's definitely not the busiest of lines however it's a useful bit of line. When Perth station is blockaded for rebuilding/ electrification in a few years it's likely that the Glasgow to Dundee/Aberdeen trains will be slotted in this way as well.

However you seem to be a bit confused. The two daily timetabled trips from Glasgow to Fife and return were a timetable anomaly. Winchburgh station did not depend on these becoming more regular, and indeed it would have been impossible to timetable these in with any sort of regularity.

Winchburgh station instead depends* on the building of the Winchburgh chord from the Edinburgh direction, to allow an evening out of departures between the north and south lines at Waverley. This would mean some of the theoretical 14tph each way through the south lines could be shifted north, allowing easier timetabling and opening up gaps in the stable for calls at Winchburgh.

*It's not a done deal. One could happen without the other. The chord would make timekeeping and reliability much more easily across the central belt, but with the post covid timetable you could theoretically add Winchburgh calls regardless. If the timetable went back up to pre-covid levels you'd be struggling to add stops, but again someone might be able to work it out.

The station also depends on a great deal of private money funded by a levy on the massive expansion of Winchburgh village itself, which has had some difficulty.
 
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The line was used today following an incident in the South gyle area - 1L10 and 2G08 were sent along the chord, reversed at Winchburgh Junction and then headed to Waverley from there. This happened a few weeks ago with an Arbroath to Edinburgh service too following an incident at Edinburgh Gateway

 

HamBuoy

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With the intention to electrify from Haymarket to Dalmeny would there be a reasonable case for the electrification of the Dalmeny Chord to give more flexibility as a diversionary route?
 

fgwrich

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It certainly does get used for diversionary purposes - during the storms of summer 2019 when Winchburgh tunnel had flooded, ScotRail eventually did re-instate a service along the E&G using 170s via a reversal at Dalmeny. I was rather pleased they manage to find a spare Turbostar + staff for that, otherwise it was looking like a rather expensive taxi ride back to Linlithgow that night!
 

Scotrail84

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Not a lot of crews sign that now as its too difficult to maintain the knowledge with no booked passenger services using the route unless the token one train a day still runs in the morning and evening peak.
 
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Not a lot of crews sign that now as its too difficult to maintain the knowledge with no booked passenger services using the route unless the token one train a day still runs in the morning and evening peak.
5N91 I assume only exists to maintain route retention over the Dalmeny chord, there’s the 5L70 Cardenden - Cadder HST ECS too but this seems to be more for operational convenience to save having to reverse at Haymarket

When the line between Dalmeny and South Gyle is blocked for whatever reason I’m guessing it’s just pot luck whether any services caught up in disruption as a result have crews that sign the chord, hence why only 2 services were diverted yesterday - everything else was either cancelled or waited for the line to reopen, unless securing a path along the E&G is an issue
 

InOban

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It would be more useful when Newbridge junction falls over again and would allow E-G services to continue. As used to happen before electrification.
 

MrBurnz

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Regarding Winchburgh,
In my job, I deliver regularly to all of the house building site’s in Winchburgh, as my work supplies building materials.
The expansion of Winchburgh is massive, & I mean massive. It’s also well underway now.

There are plans to make a slip road off the M9 to Winchburgh, So I would not be surprised at all if Winchburgh does indeed get a new station.
 

Scotrail84

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5N91 I assume only exists to maintain route retention over the Dalmeny chord, there’s the 5L70 Cardenden - Cadder HST ECS too but this seems to be more for operational convenience to save having to reverse at Haymarket

When the line between Dalmeny and South Gyle is blocked for whatever reason I’m guessing it’s just pot luck whether any services caught up in disruption as a result have crews that sign the chord, hence why only 2 services were diverted yesterday - everything else was either cancelled or waited for the line to reopen, unless securing a path along the E&G is an issue


Theres almost certainly more drivers than guards that sign it now as its just too difficult to retain the knowledge for guards. Years ago there used to be a booked Edinburgh job, empties to Carmuirs West then change ends, through the road and this went via the chord both directions and that had both a driver and guard and solely existed to retain knowledge and to get a set out the station during the day. Even the HST empties move will be a top link driver as only links 1 and possibly 2 sign HSTs

Regarding Winchburgh,
In my job, I deliver regularly to all of the house building site’s in Winchburgh, as my work supplies building materials.
The expansion of Winchburgh is massive, & I mean massive. It’s also well underway now.

There are plans to make a slip road off the M9 to Winchburgh, So I would not be surprised at all if Winchburgh does indeed get a new station.


Putting a new station in there is a massive job. Would involve excavating a large portion of the cutting, draining the old quarry too. They could in theory built a 4 platform station similar to Kilwinning but that would cost millions.
 
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MrBurnz

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Theres almost certainly more drivers than guards that sign it now as its just too difficult to retain the knowledge for guards. Years ago there used to be a booked Edinburgh job, empties to Carmuirs West then change ends, through the road and this went via the chord both directions and that had both a driver and guard and solely existed to retain knowledge and to get a set out the station during the day. Even the HST empties move will be a top link driver as only links 1 and possibly 2 sign HSTs




Putting a new station in there is a massive job. Would involve excavating a large portion of the cutting, draining the old quarry too. They could in theory built a 4 platform station similar to Kilwinning but that would cost millions.

I understand what you are saying about the size of the job to put a new station in, however, the way that they are building & the sheer size of the development, It would not surprise me if they were to.
I believe that the old quarry is earmarked for future development.

I will ask about the station when I am next at one of the sites, as like I say, I am there regularly with everything from pipes, to cement, to concrete rings, the list goes on.
They have already spent millions & are continuing to spend millions, so it would not surprise me if they did.
 

waverley47

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Winchburgh station, like the almond chord, exists in the superposition of "not yet authorised but not yet cancelled."

Many things on the railway exist in that superposition. This particular pair sits closer to existing than being cancelled, but still, it's a long way through various piles of paper on various desks before either are signed off on.
 

clc

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A media report today stated that the developer is backing away from building a station at Winchburgh citing rising construction costs. Basically they want public funding or it isn’t happening.
 

Class 170101

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New commuter town for Edinburgh may never get train station despite promises

Many were sold a lifestyle with the development of Winchburgh but the developers are backing away from promised rail links to Edinburgh and Glasgow saying the cost of providing a station has soared.

Could you actually path services to stop there?
 
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