Potential future Balerno railway station

[och aye]

No, the Balerno loop is not coming back, but a PPP has recently been submitted to the council in Edinburgh for a residential development in Balerno and interestingly there is some provision for a future potential station on the Shotts line.

Curriehill is roughly 1 mile to the East of the development, so I wonder if a station here would be realistically viable or if it is just something the developers have put in to "look good" to get planning permission of the main development?

20/04611/PPP | Proposed mixed-use development comprising residential development (Class 9), health centre (Class 2), community facility (Class 10), outdoor recreational area (Class 11) and associated landscaping, access and infrastru

citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk

 

[SargeNpton]

Within the planning statement:

"Following consultation with the local community, it became clear that there was an appetite for the reopening of a train station in Balerno. While this matter resides with relevant authorities (both Network Rail Scotland and Scotrail) and cannot be conisdered through this Planning Permission in Principle application, we do howeber note the strong desire for this to be considered. Consequently an area of car parking area within the masterplan is also intended to provide parking for a potential train station, if feasibility studies indicate a potential re-opening of the line in the future. "

Obviously didn't use a spell-checker before they published it.

 

[30907]

"...a potential train station, if feasibility studies indicate a potential re-opening of the line in the future. "

Strange wording, as the car park is by a very open line.

 

[NotATrainspott]

It would be a mistake to have a masterplan with no provision for a station there, but I don't think it's at all likely there will be a station any time soon. The track is on the route shared by Shotts and Carstairs/Carlisle trains. Having a mixture of 125mph and stopping services on a two-track railway doesn't lend itself to a useful metro service. Many of the inner stations on this line only receive an hourly service as the 2tph Shotts service runs skip-stop through to Glasgow and paths aren't available for extra stoppers.

This is a problem which can be solved by moving the express services onto a new route. In the shorter term, this area of development was included as Corridor 8 in last year's Edinburgh Strategic Sustainable Transport study. Whether that means adding a branch onto the tram route, or building out a BRT network, is up to the council.

 

[stantheman]

Where is the old Balerno station and what is it now ? How did it cross Lanark Road west and where ? Thanks .

 

[30907]

Where is the old Balerno station and what is it now ? How did it cross Lanark Road west and where ? Thanks .

Always worth trying here:
https://www.railscot.co.uk/Balerno_Loop/index.php

 

[Gloster]

Wikipedia, Railscot, googlemaps and study of old maps on the National Library of Scotland website suggests that it was just north of Lanark Road, which it passed under; the line continued to Ravelrig
Junction on the Carstairs and Motherwell line. The goods yard was where Balerno High School now stands.

 

[Edinburgh2000]

Balerno station shown here:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sid...=55.89188&lon=-3.33291&layers=1&right=BingHyb

 

[kieron]

It would be a mistake to have a masterplan with no provision for a station there, but I don't think it's at all likely there will be a station any time soon. The track is on the route shared by Shotts and Carstairs/Carlisle trains. Having a mixture of 125mph and stopping services on a two-track railway doesn't lend itself to a useful metro service. Many of the inner stations on this line only receive an hourly service as the 2tph Shotts service runs skip-stop through to Glasgow and paths aren't available for extra stoppers.

I don't understand. If there was a station here, they'd just have an extra stop on the hourly slow train. The line through Slateford doesn't appear to be all that busy, so they'd find a slot. If anyone was proposing a useful metro service, they could start with one for the existing stations.

I doubt a station will be built any time soon near this site, though. The railway isn't that close to the proposed housing, and the "proposed bus route" doesn't serve the development all that well (although it is good to see that they haven't planned the whole thing as one big cul de sac). If people are driving to a station then, as och aye said, the development isn't that far from Curriehill.

 

[InOban]

What's the gradient at the proposed site?

 

[waverley47]

The problem with the Shotts line stations is capacity at Haymarket more than anything. Sticking a stop onto the existing service would give you 1tph, hardly useful when there's a 44 bus every 10 minutes.

Anything more than that would need more trains, which need paths through Haymarket south platforms, which aren't there. After the Almond chord maybe, but that's a decade away at least. Either that or wait for a new high speed line to take the fast services away, but that's probably longer.

Balerno station, useful though it may be, simply isn't feasible when the frequency to provide a metro service isn't there. It's great to see planning for it, but personally it goes in the camp of "not going to happen, too difficult, we'll return in ten years time and see what's changed"

 

[computerSaysNo]

The problem with the Shotts line stations is capacity at Haymarket more than anything. Sticking a stop onto the existing service would give you 1tph, hardly useful when there's a 44 bus every 10 minutes.

Anything more than that would need more trains, which need paths through Haymarket south platforms, which aren't there. After the Almond chord maybe, but that's a decade away at least. Either that or wait for a new high speed line to take the fast services away, but that's probably longer.

Balerno station, useful though it may be, simply isn't feasible when the frequency to provide a metro service isn't there. It's great to see planning for it, but personally it goes in the camp of "not going to happen, too difficult, we'll return in ten years time and see what's changed"

If the Airdrie - Bathgate were to stay at 2tph, would that free enough time at Haymarket for 2tbh stopping on the Shotts (plus 1tph semi-fast and however-many-tph from Carstairs direction)? I guess the problem then would be Central at the other end of the route. Direct service Milngavie via Shotts, anyone?
(I know this is off topic but I believe Milngavie is due to lose all its Central services at the timetable change, so would 2tph Milngavie - Central LL - Shotts - Edinburgh really be a bad idea?)
All that said, I agree with the above post, that the 44 bus would probably be more than adequate (I imagine that by the time the houses are built, the X44(W) will be back again too).

 

[waverley47]

the Airdrie - Bathgate were to stay at 2tph, would that free enough time at Haymarket for 2tbh stopping on the Shotts (plus 1tph semi-fast and however-many-tph from Carstairs direction)?

Theoretically that would free up some space, but they'd have to be parallel across the junction at Haymarket, which is unlikely given they're currently parallel across newbridge jn about six miles further up the line. Additionally, those 2tph are going to have to be put back in at some point, demand from Bathgate, Livingston and Airdrie is strong and the links across Glasgow are needed. Stopping patterns may change, but the capacity is going to be used sooner rather than later. We might end up with a shuttle to Bathgate or something to that effect, but the four paths across Newbridge junction will still be used.

Direct service Milngavie via Shotts, anyone?
(I know this is off topic but I believe Milngavie is due to lose all its Central services at the timetable change, so would 2tph Milngavie - Central LL - Shotts - Edinburgh really be a bad idea?)

If you think pathing 2tph across Haymarket east jn is difficult, try pathing the same through midcalder jn, the various junctions in south Glasgow, the two line section through Cambuslang, the junctions at Hyndland and Westerton, and the single line sections on the Milngavie line.

Compared to that, a simple 2tph shuttle to Shotts looks positively easy.

 

[MacCookie]

If the Airdrie - Bathgate were to stay at 2tph, would that free enough time at Haymarket for 2tbh stopping on the Shotts (plus 1tph semi-fast and however-many-tph from Carstairs direction)?

Bathgate to Edinburgh retains four trains per hour during peak periods.

Cheers,
Ewan

 

[SargeNpton]

Strange wording, as the car park is by a very open line.

If you look, the car park is also for other local amenities.

 

[Scotrail84]

Waste of time putting a station in there a mile from Curriehill. It would be a white elephant much like Edinburgh Gateway. Monstrosity of a station that sees minimal use even during peak hours.

 

[och aye]

Waste of time putting a station in there a mile from Curriehill. It would be a white elephant much like Edinburgh Gateway. Monstrosity of a station that sees minimal use even during peak hours.

I think it was built at this scale with the Almond chord in mind. Although I can't say it will win any RIAS awards for design to be fair.