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Scotrail should have procured battery EMU trains, instead of electrifying the East Kilbride branch

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Trainbike46

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DMUs will still be running to Kilmarnock after EK is completed.
And Anniesland (albeit out of Queen Street)
Kilmarnock is quite a lot further out than EK though! Fair point about Anniesland, I remember reading there was some kind of specific issue with that route which is why it was skipped, though I may have gotten something mixed up

Given that Scotrail brought in class 365s in a matter of months, this shouldn't be a difficult problem to solve. There will be plenty of spare 350s by the time the wires go live.
Would Scotrail consider taking the 9 off lease 3 car Class 323 to operate the East Kilbride service.
3 x 6 car diagrams operate the off peak service, with another pair available for peak with 1 maintenance set.
Yes would mean more training but would suit platform lengths at Central
Couldn’t the 350s be converted to 3 carriages and multiple working with the 380s to allow some of the 318s/320s to go off lease and to free up stock for the East Kilbride line? Also I think it’s better to have the wires up rather than none so that there’s future proofing for when extra trains come.

The 350s coming could mean that a more standardised fleet for services to Glasgow Central High Level with Inverclyde, Cathcart Circle and Paisley Canal lines all being run by desiros.
Absolutely there are a few EMU fleets around that are available on relatively short notice. Does anyone know if Scotrail has pursued any of these options?
 
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Transilien

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Absolutely there are a few EMU fleets around that are available on relatively short notice. Does anyone know if Scotrail has pursued any of these options?
No, not to my knowledge which is why they are running 156s on the East Kilbride line even after electrification.
 

ld0595

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Kilmarnock is quite a lot further out than EK though! Fair point about Anniesland, I remember reading there was some kind of specific issue with that route which is why it was skipped, though I may have gotten something mixed up
I think the issue is with the bridges carrying the Forth and Clyde canal across the railway. Not an easy one to solve if the track can't be lowered!
 

McRhu

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I think the issue is with the bridges carrying the Forth and Clyde canal across the railway. Not an easy one to solve if the track can't be lowered!
Raise the canal at that point. Easy (assuming the barges could cope with the gradient).
 

Charged up

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No, not to my knowledge which is why they are running 156s on the East Kilbride line even after electrification.
TS has known for more than 5 years that "new" rolling stock was needed for East Kilbride services mostly due to the slow death of the class 156 fleet, which was built in 1986. Either EMUs or BEMUs were required, and these could have been secured from a variety of sources, but once again TS went straight to the solution of putting up wires. Therefore the procurement of the required rolling stock is overlooked, usually until it is too late, given the need for staff training and potential infrastructure support works.

The blind faith in installing wires on the EK branch, maybe trying to prove a political point, rather than already securing modern non-diesel rolling stock, better suited for the commuter/ suburban line is another example of where Transport Scotland & Scot Government are not prioritising passengers needs. In addition by relying on sloth-like infrastructure delivery they are also failing to follow the principles of the Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan & Fleet Strategy, which drives this overall aspiration, to move forward quickly and efficiently with the removal of diesel units ahead of full scale electrification.

Due to this lack of forward thinking it should be noted that once all the works are completed in late 2025, as it stands, there will be no seating capacity increases, journey time reductions, drivers opening doors to reduce dwell times and all services operated by EMUs on the EK branch. Given this underwhelming outcome it may be hard to convince current rail users that the 5 months of closures and the total investment in new wires will all be worth it.
 

Transilien

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The blind faith in installing wires on the EK branch, maybe trying to prove a political point
At least they will be up for future use! That is better than an unelectrified railway anytime, I do agree that the rolling stock strategy should follow the electrification however but this doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t have been electrified in the first place. I don’t know what political point the Scottish Government would be trying to prove but the electrification of the East Kilbride line is no more politically motivated than any other electrification scheme as of course these infrastructure schemes are approved by politicians. Also it’s not that crazy considering HSTs went along the majority of the ECML as diesel trains under wires for the best part of 30 years. I’m sure the 156s have less than 30 years of life left in them before they will be replaced.

It’s more of a controversy in my opinion that diesel only units are still being built like the class 196s.
 
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