Has there ever been a Thurso-Wick shuttle service?

[Gathursty]

Whilst considering my holiday plans, I was thinking about the Far North Line and in particular the section between Thurso and Wick.

Currently there are less than 5 services up here a day which mustn't be good as a commuting option. Has there ever been a regular shuttle service between the two towns though? Is there a market for it (against bus services?)?

 

[Sloppyjag]

Until the end of loco hauled services there wasn't even a direct service between the two towns. Travelling by rail between Wick and Thurso involved a lengthy fester at Georgemas Junction.

 

[radamfi]

Getting from Inverness to Wick required a change at Georgemas Junction well into the 90s when the service was run by 156s.

 

[IanXC]

Getting from Inverness to Wick required a change at Georgemas Junction well into the 90s when the service was run by 156s.

Wasn't the 156 service operated as 2x 156 to Georgemas Junction, dividing there with one unit going to Thurso and one to Wick?

 

[Harlesden]

The daily service for such an isolated area seems pretty good.
There are only 5-6 trains per day between Newark Northgate and Grimsby Town both of which have much greater populations than any location in the extreme north of Scotland

 

[MidnightFlyer]

An intriguing idea but beyond perhaps one train in either peak I really do think you'd struggle to justify it. At least there's a crew depot at Wick so the staff would be there (though you'd probably need a couple more to cover it adequately).

The daily service for such an isolated area seems pretty good.
There are only 5-6 trains per day between Newark Northgate and Grimsby Town both of which have much greater populations than any location in the extreme north of Scotland

How is Newark-Grimsby anything like Wick-Thurso?

 

[radamfi]

Wasn't the 156 service operated as 2x 156 to Georgemas Junction, dividing there with one unit going to Thurso and one to Wick?

Yes. This practice ended with the replacement of the 4 car train with a single 158.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Wasn't the 156 service operated as 2x 156 to Georgemas Junction, dividing there with one unit going to Thurso and one to Wick?

I believe so. My understanding is that the current arrangements came about with the introduction of the much better (in my mind) 158 workings on the far north.

The local bus network up there is not great however there are a gød number of journeys between wick and thurso, the only big problem being the limmited accessabilitty of many of the vehicles. Unsure on price difference between bus and rail im afraid.

 

[radamfi]

The direct bus between Wick and Thurso runs hourly:

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_27640_82 83 182 183 Caithness.pdf

There are also indirect buses:

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_37031_77 80 81 181 Caithness .pdf

 

[cf111]

I don't think it would be viable. The major employer in the county, Dounreay, is served by dedicated buses.

 

[Bevan Price]

Looking at some old steam age timetables, there were once a handful of through trains (or much better connections) between Thurso and Wick, serving the long-closed intermediate stations of Hoy, Bower, Watten & Bilbster. However none of the times would have been much use for commuting to/from work. {e.g. Bradshaw 1910 reprint - earliest possible arrival in Wick from Thurso was 10:40 (ThX) or 11:30 (ThO)]

 

[tbtc]

Interesting idea.

There's obviously some demand for local journeys at the far end of branches - in the way that Cornish services aren't *just* about being convenient for tourists coming down from London.

Okay, you're only talking around eight thousand population each (if Wikipedia is correct), not huge but maybe worth considering.

I think that the two objections I'd come up with are the times (possibly too far for one unit to work a clockface hourly service? It'd be squeeze!) and the units (a 158 would be overkill, but it'd be far too costly to have any other DMU up there when 158s run all Far North services).

 

[route:oxford]

A PPM shuttling back and forth perhaps?

 

[pjnathanail]

A PPM shuttling back and forth perhaps?

Would that not conflict with the existing service?
I thought PPMs had to be isolated like it is at Stourbridge

Or would the proposal be to have a the PPM and then terminate the existing ones at Georgemas for a connection?

 

[Bevan Price]

I don't think it would be viable. The major employer in the county, Dounreay, is served by dedicated buses.

And it is about 3 miles outside Thurso, so any rail passengers would need to change to buses to get there.

 

[PHILIPE]

In the 80s a Class 26 & coaches ran between Thurso and Geogemas Jcn to connect with the Inverness to Wick services and vice versa.

 

[route:oxford]

Would that not conflict with the existing service?
I thought PPMs had to be isolated like it is at Stourbridge

Or would the proposal be to have a the PPM and then terminate the existing ones at Georgemas for a connection?

To supplement.

 

[cf111]

And it is about 3 miles outside Thurso, so any rail passengers would need to change to buses to get there.

It's close to 10 miles but yes, good point.

I live in Caithness and there really isn't the demand for a "shuttle", especially as the line doesn't serve any outlying villages. Georgemas Junction isn't that close to Halkirk either.

The trains would be carrying fresh air all day.

 

[matchmaker]

The daily service for such an isolated area seems pretty good.
There are only 5-6 trains per day between Newark Northgate and Grimsby Town both of which have much greater populations than any location in the extreme north of Scotland

So what? And Wick and Thurso are by no stretch of the imagination in the extreme north of Scotland.

 

[crispy1978]

The direct bus between Wick and Thurso runs hourly:

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_27640_82 83 182 183 Caithness.pdf

There are also indirect buses:

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/PdfUploads/Timetable_37031_77 80 81 181 Caithness .pdf

And is considerably cheaper than the £11.70 day return on the train.

 

[Goatboy]

So what? And Wick and Thurso are by no stretch of the imagination in the extreme north of Scotland.

Seriously?

Thurso is about as North as you can get!

 

[Liam]

Seriously?

Thurso is about as North as you can get!

Except it isn't.

 

[Goatboy]

The most Northerly point in mainland Britain is Dunnet Head.

This is just a few miles from Thurso.

It is quite acceptable and rational to refer to Thurso as being in the extreme North of Scotland, because it is. Only offshore islands are further north.

 

[Bevan Price]

It's close to 10 miles but yes, good point.
.

I had forgotten it was that far from Thurso - on my only visit to Dounreay, BR were still running Class 26s to Thurso & Wick.

 

[route:oxford]

The most Northerly point in mainland Britain is Dunnet Head.

This is just a few miles from Thurso.

It is quite acceptable and rational to refer to Thurso as being in the extreme North of Scotland, because it is. Only offshore islands are further north.

You can understand why there is a strong feeling amongst the locals that it's Shetland's oil...

 

[Liam]

The most Northerly point in mainland Britain is Dunnet Head.

This is just a few miles from Thurso.

It is quite acceptable and rational to refer to Thurso as being in the extreme North of Scotland, because it is. Only offshore islands are further north.

It's not the extreme North of Scotland. Thurso is closer to Edinburgh than it is to the top of Shetland. Milan and Lerwick are the same distance from London (~600 miles).

There is a lot more of the UK north of Thurso.

 

[tbtc]

There is a lot more of the UK north of Thurso.

The UK goes beyond Thurso, but I wouldn't describe the land mass beyond Thurso as "a lot more".

 

[matchmaker]

The most Northerly point in mainland Britain is Dunnet Head.

This is just a few miles from Thurso.

It is quite acceptable and rational to refer to Thurso as being in the extreme North of Scotland, because it is. Only offshore islands are further north.

It's not. I lived in Shetland for 20 years. Muckle Flugga (or Out Stack) is over 230 miles north of Thurso, The 60,000 odd inhabitants of the "offshore islands" should not be ignored.

 

[Blindtraveler]

agreed - speeking as someone with a new and truly beutiful Orkadian Wife!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh and
matchmaker
Shetland has got to be high in my top 10 favourite parts of the world!

 

[johnnychips]

agreed - speeking as someone with a new and truly beutiful Orkadian Wife!

Off topic, but good luck and congratulations.