I was looking on the Hitrans website for some information about the Invernes Airport Rail scheme, but whilst doing so I came across this document, which is a June update on rail issue/projects in the Hitrans area (Highlands and Islands):
https://hitrans.org.uk/Documents/Item_10_Rail_Update.pdf
Item 2 ("Skyefall") notes that "Hitrans has appointed consultants Mott Macdonald to investigate the feasibility of road and rail sharing the railway solum in the rockfall area of the Stromeferry bypass beside the Kyle railway. Options 5, 6 and 7 in the paper previously circulated are to be considered. "
Whilst this has of course been done as a short term solution in the past, option 7 considers turning the whole route over to tram-train operation, in the expectation that a future purchase of "scenic stock" could be acceptable for such workings. Sounds madness to me, but Hitrans are supposed to be the body for shaping decisions about transport in the Highlands, so this is being seriously considered.
https://hitrans.org.uk/Documents/Item_10_Rail_Update.pdf
Item 2 ("Skyefall") notes that "Hitrans has appointed consultants Mott Macdonald to investigate the feasibility of road and rail sharing the railway solum in the rockfall area of the Stromeferry bypass beside the Kyle railway. Options 5, 6 and 7 in the paper previously circulated are to be considered. "
Whilst this has of course been done as a short term solution in the past, option 7 considers turning the whole route over to tram-train operation, in the expectation that a future purchase of "scenic stock" could be acceptable for such workings. Sounds madness to me, but Hitrans are supposed to be the body for shaping decisions about transport in the Highlands, so this is being seriously considered.
7. Convert whole route to a tramway
Convert whole route to tramway operation and either operate as a dedicated service from Dingwall with trams, or operate from Inverness with tram train vehicles. This allows the RETB section to be replaced and operated as per 5 and 6 above, however only special traffic vehicles designated to operate over tramways, or operated with special road closure arrangements would be allowed. The shared options were originally not progressed by URS as it was believed that the safety risk would be unacceptable to Network Rail, in spite of all being significantly cheaper than the by-pass options. Recent developments in introducing tram trains to the network, and the now operational example on the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) in Porthmadog, make revisiting these options realistic. Historically shared operations for bridges have been used in the past, see http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/5122 Rotherham will see the UK’s first tram train pilot in 2017. Also, a number of examples of heavy rail trains sharing roads still operate in the Americas and mainland Europe.
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