Carstairs railway station
Encyclopedia
Carstairs railway station in South Lanarkshire
, Scotland
, is a major junction station on the West Coast Main Line
(WCML), situated close to the point at which the lines from London Euston to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh
diverge. Constructed originally by the Caledonian Railway
, the station is operated today by First ScotRail
on behalf of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
(SPT).
and the north-easterly route goes towards Edinburgh
, where the East Coast Main Line
begins. The southbound route goes towards Carlisle
and London
. The line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is the only part of the West Coast Main Line used by East Coast
services. Carstairs is also a marshalling point and the final boarding point (both sleeping car and overnight coach) in Scotland for the Lowland Caledonian Sleeper
trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London Euston.
Northbound (Down) WCML services usually pass the station on an avoiding line (known as the Down Main), away from the platform line (known as the Down platform), but northbound services coming off the chord from Edinburgh (ECML and Cross Country) usually pass Platform 1: they can be signalled from Platform 2, but this rarely happens. However, all southbound (Up) services must pass Platform 2 (on the Up Main), as there is no avoiding line on that side of the station. The Up Main and Down Platform lines are both signalled for bi-directional working, and are often used as passing loops for passenger and freight services. For example, the early morning departure for Glasgow Central from North Berwick will wait at the Down Platform as a fast Transpennine service from Manchester passes.
There is also the Down Passenger Loop (which is adjacent to the station) and the Up Passenger Loop (immediately to the north of the station) which are both used to stop freight services while faster passenger services pass. It is also common for northbound freights to be stopped in both the Down Platform line and Down Passenger Loop and for fast passenger services to be passed between them on the Down Main.
scheme that covered the West Coast Main Line between Weaver Junction
and . As part of this the station was re-signalled. The critical point was the connection from the Edinburgh on a minimum radius curve to provide a connection into the down platform whilst avoiding the installation of a diamond crossing. The requirement for superelevation through the Up platform for 90 mph running required deep ballasting the side effect of which required the platform to be raised. The original station buildings were being retained therefore continuous railings were provided to prevent passengers inadvertently falling down from one level to the other. This height difference has now been removed as the original station buildings were demolished and replaced with a more modern alternative and the entire platform was levelled off. The only remnant of the original station buildings to remain was the integral footbridge, now adapted as a stand-alone structure.
The route to Edinburgh was not part of the 1970s scheme, however was included as part of the late 1980s ECML scheme, with electric services starting to use the line in 1989 (prior to the commencement of the main East Coast Main Line (ECML) electric services).
and Perth
, and for the corresponding combining of southbound trains. However, the introduction of push-pull
operation on the WCML and the availability of surplus HST
sets for Cross Country traffic (as a result of the ECML electrification) largely eliminated this practice in the early 1990s. Apart from the sleeping car trains, express traffic through Carstairs now consists of fixed-formation trains which do not require to be remarshalled en route. As a result, few express trains now call at Carstairs. There were some local stopping services to Edinburgh and Glasgow, but these are relatively infrequent.
Pendolino
and Voyager
and Transpennine Express Pennine Desiro
do not normally stop at Carstairs, except during times of train failure or engineering works. These can be quite dramatic to view in the southbound direction as they pass the platform, with Pendolinos and Voyager tilting at 100 mph.
East Coast Main Line services to/from operated by East Coast
InterCity 225
and CrossCountry
Voyager
also do not stop at Carstairs. They do however slow dramatically from the 100 mph line speed either side of the station, to approximately 30 mph to negotiate the minimum radius single line curve connecting the main WCML to the eastern spur to Edinburgh Waverley. In combination, these two operators provide an approximate two hourly service between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
In the May 2011 timetable, an evening Transpennine Express service from Edinburgh terminates at Carstairs, connecting with a southbound Virgin Trains service from Glasgow.
First ScotRail services from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley and North Berwick
call at the station twice a day in each direction. First ScotRail also provide two terminating services a day from Motherwell and in Western Glasgow via Glasgow Central Low Level. These services cater for the small commuter market in the Carstairs area, though their main reason for stopping at the remote Carstairs station instead of the nearby, busier station is due to platform congestion at the latter during the start of the morning peak and the end of the evening peak.
The Caledonian Sleeper
calls at this station six days a week on each leg of its journey. The sections from Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central are joined/split at the station for their onwards journeys. Sleeper services to Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen do not call at the station.
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, is a major junction station on the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
(WCML), situated close to the point at which the lines from London Euston to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh
Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
diverge. Constructed originally by the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
, the station is operated today by First ScotRail
First ScotRail
ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...
on behalf of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is a public body which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating regional transport, and especially the public transport system, in the Strathclyde area of western Scotland...
(SPT).
Locale
Just south of the station, there is an important triangular junction (Carstairs Junction) where the WCML divides. The north-westerly route goes via Motherwell to GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and the north-easterly route goes towards Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
begins. The southbound route goes towards Carlisle
Carlisle railway station
Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station whichserves the Cumbrian City of Carlisle, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying south of Glasgow Central, and north of London Euston...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is the only part of the West Coast Main Line used by East Coast
East Coast (train operating company)
East Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
services. Carstairs is also a marshalling point and the final boarding point (both sleeping car and overnight coach) in Scotland for the Lowland Caledonian Sleeper
Caledonian Sleeper
The Caledonian Sleeper is a sleeper train service operated by First ScotRail and one of only two remaining sleeper services running on the railways of Great Britain, the other being the Night Riviera....
trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London Euston.
Northbound (Down) WCML services usually pass the station on an avoiding line (known as the Down Main), away from the platform line (known as the Down platform), but northbound services coming off the chord from Edinburgh (ECML and Cross Country) usually pass Platform 1: they can be signalled from Platform 2, but this rarely happens. However, all southbound (Up) services must pass Platform 2 (on the Up Main), as there is no avoiding line on that side of the station. The Up Main and Down Platform lines are both signalled for bi-directional working, and are often used as passing loops for passenger and freight services. For example, the early morning departure for Glasgow Central from North Berwick will wait at the Down Platform as a fast Transpennine service from Manchester passes.
There is also the Down Passenger Loop (which is adjacent to the station) and the Up Passenger Loop (immediately to the north of the station) which are both used to stop freight services while faster passenger services pass. It is also common for northbound freights to be stopped in both the Down Platform line and Down Passenger Loop and for fast passenger services to be passed between them on the Down Main.
Electrification
The route through the station was electrified as part of the early 1970s electrificationRailway electrification in Great Britain
Railway electrification in Great Britain started towards of the 19th century. A great range of voltages have been used in the intervening period using both overhead lines and third rails, however the most common standard for mainline services is now 25 kV AC using overhead lines and the...
scheme that covered the West Coast Main Line between Weaver Junction
Weaver Junction
Weaver Junction is a railway junction on the West Coast Main Line . It connects Ditton to the WCML via Runcorn Railway Bridge and opened on 1 April 1869. Trains bound for Liverpool from London diverge from the WCML at this junction. Weaver Junction is the oldest flying junction in Britain....
and . As part of this the station was re-signalled. The critical point was the connection from the Edinburgh on a minimum radius curve to provide a connection into the down platform whilst avoiding the installation of a diamond crossing. The requirement for superelevation through the Up platform for 90 mph running required deep ballasting the side effect of which required the platform to be raised. The original station buildings were being retained therefore continuous railings were provided to prevent passengers inadvertently falling down from one level to the other. This height difference has now been removed as the original station buildings were demolished and replaced with a more modern alternative and the entire platform was levelled off. The only remnant of the original station buildings to remain was the integral footbridge, now adapted as a stand-alone structure.
The route to Edinburgh was not part of the 1970s scheme, however was included as part of the late 1980s ECML scheme, with electric services starting to use the line in 1989 (prior to the commencement of the main East Coast Main Line (ECML) electric services).
Historical
Carstairs was an important junction station where northbound West Coast Main Line trains were split into separate portions for Glasgow, Edinburgh and (to a lesser extent) StirlingStirling railway station, Scotland
Stirling railway station is a railway station located in Stirling, Scotland.- History :Stirling was first connected to the Scottish Central Railway in 1848. Lines were operated by the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway and the Forth and Clyde Junction Railway...
and Perth
Perth railway station, Scotland
Perth railway station is a railway station located in Perth, Scotland. The station, designed by Sir William Tite, won an architecture prize. It has seven platforms, five of which are "through" platforms....
, and for the corresponding combining of southbound trains. However, the introduction of push-pull
Push-pull train
Push–pull is a mode of operation for locomotive-hauled trains allowing them to be driven from either end.A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via some form of remote control, such as multiple-unit train control, to a vehicle equipped with a control cab at the other...
operation on the WCML and the availability of surplus HST
InterCity 125
The InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rail's High Speed Train fleet. The InterCity 125 train is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of Mark 3 carriages, and is capable of , making the train the fastest diesel-powered locomotive in regular service in the...
sets for Cross Country traffic (as a result of the ECML electrification) largely eliminated this practice in the early 1990s. Apart from the sleeping car trains, express traffic through Carstairs now consists of fixed-formation trains which do not require to be remarshalled en route. As a result, few express trains now call at Carstairs. There were some local stopping services to Edinburgh and Glasgow, but these are relatively infrequent.
2011
West Coast Main Line services to/from operated by Virgin TrainsVirgin Trains
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...
Pendolino
British Rail Class 390
The Class 390 Pendolino is a type of train used in Great Britain. They are electric multiple units using Fiat's tilting train pendolino technology and built by Alstom. Fifty-three 9-car units were originally built for Virgin Trains from 2001 to 2004 for operation on the West Coast Main Line , with...
and Voyager
British Rail Class 221
The Class 221 Super Voyager is a class of British diesel-electric multiple-unit express trains built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, entering service on 12 April 2002....
and Transpennine Express Pennine Desiro
British Rail Class 185
The Class 185 Pennine Desiro is a diesel multiple-unit passenger train of the Desiro type built by Siemens in Germany for the British train operating company First TransPennine Express.51 units were acquired, representing an investment of £250 million....
do not normally stop at Carstairs, except during times of train failure or engineering works. These can be quite dramatic to view in the southbound direction as they pass the platform, with Pendolinos and Voyager tilting at 100 mph.
East Coast Main Line services to/from operated by East Coast
East Coast (train operating company)
East Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
InterCity 225
InterCity 225
The InterCity 225 is a locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer...
and CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
Voyager
British Rail Class 221
The Class 221 Super Voyager is a class of British diesel-electric multiple-unit express trains built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, entering service on 12 April 2002....
also do not stop at Carstairs. They do however slow dramatically from the 100 mph line speed either side of the station, to approximately 30 mph to negotiate the minimum radius single line curve connecting the main WCML to the eastern spur to Edinburgh Waverley. In combination, these two operators provide an approximate two hourly service between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
In the May 2011 timetable, an evening Transpennine Express service from Edinburgh terminates at Carstairs, connecting with a southbound Virgin Trains service from Glasgow.
First ScotRail services from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverley and North Berwick
North Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
call at the station twice a day in each direction. First ScotRail also provide two terminating services a day from Motherwell and in Western Glasgow via Glasgow Central Low Level. These services cater for the small commuter market in the Carstairs area, though their main reason for stopping at the remote Carstairs station instead of the nearby, busier station is due to platform congestion at the latter during the start of the morning peak and the end of the evening peak.
The Caledonian Sleeper
Caledonian Sleeper
The Caledonian Sleeper is a sleeper train service operated by First ScotRail and one of only two remaining sleeper services running on the railways of Great Britain, the other being the Night Riviera....
calls at this station six days a week on each leg of its journey. The sections from Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central are joined/split at the station for their onwards journeys. Sleeper services to Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen do not call at the station.