Altnabreac
Established Member
I think the mistake is to think of it as a tunnel from Glasgow Central to Glasgow Queen Street. The project when it goes ahead will be required as it is the best way to create additional capacity at Glasgow Central.
Central and Queen Street are too close together to justify serving both stations so it will only have a station at one of them. The business case for that one station being at Glasgow Central will be much stronger unless there is some overwhelming geological or technical reason that makes an underground station much easier at Queen Street.
There might be a business case for a second city centre underground station on the new line but it would be somewhere like High Street or Cathedral to link services to the growth and regeneration areas in the east end. My preferred scheme would also have additional stations in the west around Hydro, Govan and the QE2UH but I realise that's getting into crayon territory.
The Scotland Route Study 2043 Indicative Timetable shows how many services it is anticipated will be required to run from Central High Level:
4tph Gourock
2tph Wemyss Bay
2tph Largs
1tph Ardrossan Harbour
1tph Kilwinning
4tph Ayr
2tph Paisley Canal
2tph Barrhead
3tph Kilmarnock (Barassie/Dumfries included)
4tph East Kilbride
4tph Neilston
4tph Newton
4tph Cathcart Circle (2tph each way but needs 4tph capacity at Central)
2tph Lanark
6tph Carstairs (WCML London, WCML Birmingham, WCML Manchester, WCML Liverpool, Scotrail to Edinburgh, Cross Country via Edinburgh etc)
45tph in total.
That's before anyone starts trying to find paths for more semi fast services via Shotts, High Speed Rail to Edinburgh, Glasgow Airport Rail link or new lines for Renfrew / Bridge of Weir. They could be another 16tph or more.
Queen Street at that point is also in need of more capacity. The 2043 Indicative Timetable shows:
6tph Falkirk High - Edinburgh
2tph Larbert
2tph Alloa
4tph Perth (Inverness / Dundee / Aberdeen)
2tph Edinburgh via Cumbernauld / Garhamston
1tph West Highland (occasional hours only)
It also has 2tph Anniesland / Maryhill diverted to Queen Street Low Level via Springburn which is probably politically unacceptable these days.
So something like 16-20tph through a central tunnel would be easy to achieve on those timetables.
Queen St High Level would feel a bit empty though as it would probably only serve the West Highland line and 4tph to Perth / Dundee / Aberdeen / Inverness. Still be a busy station with the Low Level usage though.
Central and Queen Street are too close together to justify serving both stations so it will only have a station at one of them. The business case for that one station being at Glasgow Central will be much stronger unless there is some overwhelming geological or technical reason that makes an underground station much easier at Queen Street.
There might be a business case for a second city centre underground station on the new line but it would be somewhere like High Street or Cathedral to link services to the growth and regeneration areas in the east end. My preferred scheme would also have additional stations in the west around Hydro, Govan and the QE2UH but I realise that's getting into crayon territory.
The Scotland Route Study 2043 Indicative Timetable shows how many services it is anticipated will be required to run from Central High Level:
4tph Gourock
2tph Wemyss Bay
2tph Largs
1tph Ardrossan Harbour
1tph Kilwinning
4tph Ayr
2tph Paisley Canal
2tph Barrhead
3tph Kilmarnock (Barassie/Dumfries included)
4tph East Kilbride
4tph Neilston
4tph Newton
4tph Cathcart Circle (2tph each way but needs 4tph capacity at Central)
2tph Lanark
6tph Carstairs (WCML London, WCML Birmingham, WCML Manchester, WCML Liverpool, Scotrail to Edinburgh, Cross Country via Edinburgh etc)
45tph in total.
That's before anyone starts trying to find paths for more semi fast services via Shotts, High Speed Rail to Edinburgh, Glasgow Airport Rail link or new lines for Renfrew / Bridge of Weir. They could be another 16tph or more.
Queen Street at that point is also in need of more capacity. The 2043 Indicative Timetable shows:
6tph Falkirk High - Edinburgh
2tph Larbert
2tph Alloa
4tph Perth (Inverness / Dundee / Aberdeen)
2tph Edinburgh via Cumbernauld / Garhamston
1tph West Highland (occasional hours only)
It also has 2tph Anniesland / Maryhill diverted to Queen Street Low Level via Springburn which is probably politically unacceptable these days.
So something like 16-20tph through a central tunnel would be easy to achieve on those timetables.
Queen St High Level would feel a bit empty though as it would probably only serve the West Highland line and 4tph to Perth / Dundee / Aberdeen / Inverness. Still be a busy station with the Low Level usage though.