Extending Larkhall rail-link

[Dennyboy]

I read with interest MSP Linda Fabianni's support for extending newly reopened Larkhall Rail Link, esp' with as few CPO-notices as possible being served on conflicting landowners. Anyhow I'm convinced of Stonehouse, Strathaven and beyond having sufficient Economic Ties with Ayrshire to warrant reinstatement of redundant trackbed. Ayr, afterall, is a city (albeit already connected more directly with Glasgow) and need only be a 75/90 min commute from Edinburgh. The reduction in Double Handling of Container/Parcel Freight may also benefit the economy. That's not to mention the intermediate journeys removed from road.

 

[Gloster]

Well, getting to Strathaven might not be too difficult, except that only the piers of Stonehouse Viaduct are left and Broomhill Viaduct doesn’t look in very good condition on Google Earth. I can’t see it being justified by anything other than passenger traffic towards Hamilton and Glasgow, but even that case looks dubious to me. I don’t know what Fabianni’s idea consists of, but heading west looks like pie in the sky to me.

 

[gingerheid]

I like to think it might go to Strathaven one day. Kilmarnock to Darvel seems desirable but a bit unlikely. Darvel to Strathaven seems even more unlikely, and while always desirable, less clearly so!

 

[Dennyboy]

Well, getting to Strathaven might not be too difficult, except that only the piers of Stonehouse Viaduct are left and Broomhill Viaduct doesn’t look in very good condition on Google Earth. I can’t see it being justified by anything other than passenger traffic towards Hamilton and Glasgow, but even that case looks dubious to me. I don’t know what Fabianni’s idea consists of, but heading west looks like pie in the sky to me.

PS 'Correction ie Christina McKelvie, not Linda Fabianni. 'Welcome her aspirations to have Lesmahagow reconnected yet the Stagecoach X74 ('Citylink?) currently links the Star truck-stop with Buchanan Bus Stn.

 

[Carntyne]

Not a hope that will happen!

 

[fisher2511]

I like to think it might go to Strathaven one day. Kilmarnock to Darvel seems desirable but a bit unlikely. Darvel to Strathaven seems even more unlikely, and while always desirable, less clearly so!

Darvel to Strathaven can’t even support a bus service.

 

[Peter0124]

Stonehouse/Strathaven could in theory be connected to Larkhall to provide a train service into Glasgow, but I highly doubt it'll be connected to Ayr, even the former mentioned has probably a slim chance of happening.

 

[waverley47]

The current climate means that any line that couldn't fill two trains an hour has no hope of happening. Add it to the bucket of "if the line existed today, we wouldn't close it, but given that it has been closed, it's not worth reopening"

I'm not going to go into the BCR methodology here, but taking twenty minutes to look at it, I could probably get the BCR to a maximum of 0.2 over fifty years.

 

[AMD]

Never say never for Strathaven, but I don't see a reinstatement west towards Ayr.
The vast majority of traffic from the town is towards Glasgow. As an indicator of how much potential traffic there is the 3C bus, which has just had its service upped from 12 to 17 buses a day this month due to demand (needing 3 coaches in the peak) - having only started in October 2022 with one coach, as people of Stonehouse were regularly being left behind due to full buses.

 

[Christian Schm]

Note that when Larkhall was planned it didn't have a business case under rail passenger demand handbook either. But SPTE had its own model, thought they knew better, and was able to fund it out of their own resources. And they were of course right, patronage is as expected. Since then the PTE/regional transport partnership legislation has changed, so I am not sure if SPT would actually be able to pull it off even if they thought there was a case.

Having said that, when it comes to rail planning it seems that Transport Scotland is also happy to take its own decisions - certainly the Borders line didn't had a traditional rail business case, and I doubt Leven did.

 

[gingerheid]

But SPTE had its own model, thought they knew better, and was able to fund it out of their own resources. And they were of course right, patronage is as expected.

I wish SPTE could have been in charge of railways for the whole of Scotland. What percentage of UK station openings in the 80s and 90s were in Strathclyde?

Having said that, when it comes to rail planning it seems that Transport Scotland is also happy to take its own decisions - certainly the Borders line didn't had a traditional rail business case, and I doubt Leven did.

As for Reston

 

[reb0118]

As for Reston

Reston, IMO, has suffered many "injustices" since opening. Not least the TPE reliability shenanigans & LNER's chaotic & nonsensical pricing policy. Then we have lack of through pricing & timetabling to Eyemouth & Duns.

There's certainly suppressed demand from Reston, albeit not a lot, but it is there - and could be captured by implementing a sensible integrated fares system that reflects reality.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Reston, IMO, has suffered many "injustices" since opening. Not least the TPE reliability shenanigans & LNER's chaotic & nonsensical pricing policy. Then we have lack of through pricing & timetabling to Eyemouth & Duns.

There's certainly suppressed demand from Reston, albeit not a lot, but it is there - and could be captured by implementing a sensible integrated fares system that reflects reality.

Reston strikes me as the Scottish government flying too close to the sun after a sequence of wins. It would look healthier numbers-wise if there was an hourly stopping service between Berwick and Edinburgh operated by ScotRail. That would also make integrated bus links more achievable.

 

[Christian Schm]

I wish SPTE could have been in charge of railways for the whole of Scotland.

Well to a degree they are. Malcolm Reed, the first boss of TS, was the then boss of SPT. The SPT rail team was transferred to TS whole. Many more of the initial TS jobs went to SPT staff.

 

[gingerheid]

Reston, IMO, has suffered many "injustices" since opening. Not least the TPE reliability shenanigans & LNER's chaotic & nonsensical pricing policy. Then we have lack of through pricing & timetabling to Eyemouth & Duns.

There's certainly suppressed demand from Reston, albeit not a lot, but it is there - and could be captured by implementing a sensible integrated fares system that reflects reality.

All of this is true. However much of it (TPE reliability excepted) is so much part of how we run railways in the UK that, unless we're actually ever going to change something, it needs to be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to open a railway station! Is there one station anywhere in the UK that has the integrated bus links it should have? (Apart from ones with no road access, or any where for some other reaon the correct number of buslinks is none?)

If we could fix these things then the sky would be the limit! Everyone would travel by public transport and everywhere would have railway lines*.

*Even then though; possibly still not Darvel to Strathaven!!!

 

[Falcon1200]

What percentage of UK station openings in the 80s and 90s were in Strathclyde?

Is that not as much to do with the population, and therefore potential for rail use, in Strathclyde as opposed to most of the rest of Scotland?

 

[gingerheid]

Is that not as much to do with the population, and therefore potential for rail use, in Strathclyde as opposed to most of the rest of Scotland?

I could be wrong and I haven't added it up, but I feel like by head of population Srathclyde would beat anywhere in the UK in that time period (or come close to it)? I'm thinking that London (via the DLR) would provide the toughest competition, but in an area with a far higher population?