Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line
Encyclopedia
The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line is a main railway route which connects the Scottish
cities of Glasgow
and Edinburgh
, by means of their respective branches of the West Coast Main Line
(WCML).
Along with the Shotts Line
, the Falkirk Line
and the Helensburgh to Edinburgh route via Airdrie and Bathgate
, the line is one of four direct rail links between Edinburgh
and Glasgow
(and one of two electrified
links) and is frequently used by passenger and freight traffic. Passenger services are operated by CrossCountry
, First ScotRail
, East Coast
and Virgin Trains
with freight services operated by DB Schenker
, Freightliner
and Direct Rail Services
.
as part of a plan to link Glasgow and Edinburgh to the railways in England. The main line
from England (now known as WCML, the West Coast Main Line
) splits at Carstairs, with one branch going to Edinburgh and the other to Glasgow. The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line consists of those two branches joined by a short connecting spur at Carstairs. The Edinburgh portion opened for passengers on 15 February 1848; and the Glasgow section opened for passengers on 1 November 1849.
Princes Street was the Edinburgh terminus of the line until it was closed under the Beeching Axe
in 1965, when the line was diverted to Edinburgh Waverley station. The Glasgow terminus was initially Buchanan Street railway station
; when Glasgow Central station opened on 31 July 1879, it became the terminus, and it has remained the Glasgow terminus ever since. The direct line from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Haymarket, via Falkirk, predates this line, having opened in February 1842; it was extended to Edinburgh Waverley in August 1846.
After the 1922 grouping, all the lines became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
company.
The Carstairs to Glasgow section was electrified by British Rail
in 1974, during the electrification of the northern, Weaver Junction
to Glasgow Central, section of the WCML. The Carstairs to Edinburgh section was not electrified until 1989, when the northern section of East Coast Main Line (ECML) electrification scheme was undertaken.
where it continues to the town of Carstairs
, South Lanarkshire. Here the line splits at Carstairs Junction where it joins another branch from the Southern Section of the WCML through a tight curve with a permanent speed restriction of 20 mph.
From Carstairs the line proceeds in a north easterly direction towards back up the Edinburgh branch of the WCML towards the capital. At , Lothian, the line joins up with the Shotts line and continues towards Haymarket station
in western Edinburgh.
At Haymarket, the line joins the main to line with four tracks running through the two main tunnels into Edinburgh Waverley station. National Express East Coast services and some Virgin Trains services use the two straight through platforms at either side of the historic station, while First ScotRail services not working to North Berwick
terminate at the several bay platforms on the west side of the station.
Virgin Trains use the line to run services to England. Some services use the northern section of the West Coast Main Line
to/from Glasgow Central but most trains are for destinations including London Euston, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol and Plymouth. Services into Edinburgh on the line are also mostly from these destinations.
First ScotRail operate services to/from North Berwick on the line. Only a few services continue from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central from the coastal town. A similar service operates from Glasgow Central to North Berwick.
A few Virgin Trains services call at Carstairs, and most trains call at Haymarket and Motherwell (or their journeys to/from Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively).
All NXEC services call at Motherwell, with most now calling at Haymarket also, (the departure time for London bound services from Glasgow is now 10 minutes earlier than the 2007 timetable to allow for this extra call), previously passengers traveling from North Scotland would have to change at Edinburgh Waverley, often with tight connections.
services, running twice a day (Monday to Friday).
East Coast run two services per day on the route using British Rail Mark 4
rolling stock and Class 91
locomotives (one to/from London Kings Cross, and one to/from Edinburgh).
CrossCountry
service run approximately every two hours extending onto the East Coast Main Line, and onwards to Birmingham and points south.
Journey times on the route are usually around 1 hour.
, and three of the passenger companies that use the route employ electric traction. Class 220
(non-tilting) and Class 221
(tilting) 'Voyager' diesel units are used on services to the Midlands and western and southern England.
locomotives named after the Thunderbirds
animation series and locomotives use characters from the series as their names. 'Thunderbirds' are used to haul broken down services for Virgin and are compatible with both the Pendolino and Voyager fleets.
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...
cities of Glasgow
Glasgow
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 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...
, by means of their respective branches of 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).
Along with the Shotts Line
Shotts Line
The Shotts Line is a suburban railway line linking Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts in Scotland. The route from Glasgow to Shotts is part of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport network...
, the Falkirk Line
Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line
The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line is a mainline railway line linking Glasgow and Edinburgh via Falkirk in Scotland. It is the principal route out of the four rail links between Scotland's two biggest cities, hosting the flagship "Shuttle" service between and .- Places served :The route...
and the Helensburgh to Edinburgh route via Airdrie and Bathgate
North Clyde Line
The North Clyde Line is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by First ScotRail, on behalf of Transport Scotland...
, the line is one of four direct rail links between 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...
and Glasgow
Glasgow
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 one of two electrified
Railway 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...
links) and is frequently used by passenger and freight traffic. Passenger services are operated by CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
, 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...
, 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...
and Virgin Trains
Virgin 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...
with freight services operated by DB Schenker
DB Schenker Rail (UK)
DB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...
, Freightliner
Freightliner (UK)
Freightliner Group Limited is a rail freight and logistics company, founded in 1995 and now operating in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia. It is the second largest rail freight operator in the UK, after DB Schenker Rail .- History :...
and Direct Rail Services
Direct Rail Services
Direct Rail Services is a freight operating company created by British Nuclear Fuels Limited. The company started rail operations in 1995 using five heavily refurbished Class 20/3 diesel locomotives. Since then it has expanded greatly, and has acquired many more locomotives, most bought...
.
History
This line was opened by the Caledonian RailwayCaledonian 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...
as part of a plan to link Glasgow and Edinburgh to the railways in England. The main line
Caledonian Railway Main Line
The Caledonian Main Line represents most of the original route of the Caledonian Railway: a major Scottish railway company. The company was formed in 1830 and was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways...
from England (now known as WCML, 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...
) splits at Carstairs, with one branch going to Edinburgh and the other to Glasgow. The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line consists of those two branches joined by a short connecting spur at Carstairs. The Edinburgh portion opened for passengers on 15 February 1848; and the Glasgow section opened for passengers on 1 November 1849.
Princes Street was the Edinburgh terminus of the line until it was closed under the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
in 1965, when the line was diverted to Edinburgh Waverley station. The Glasgow terminus was initially Buchanan Street railway station
Buchanan Street railway station
Buchanan Street Station was the least known of Glasgow's four main terminal railway stations, the other three being Central, Queen St and St Enoch...
; when Glasgow Central station opened on 31 July 1879, it became the terminus, and it has remained the Glasgow terminus ever since. The direct line from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Haymarket, via Falkirk, predates this line, having opened in February 1842; it was extended to Edinburgh Waverley in August 1846.
After the 1922 grouping, all the lines became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
company.
The Carstairs to Glasgow section was electrified by British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
in 1974, during the electrification of the northern, 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....
to Glasgow Central, section of the WCML. The Carstairs to Edinburgh section was not electrified until 1989, when the northern section of East Coast Main Line (ECML) electrification scheme was undertaken.
Route
Starting from Glasgow Central (High Level), the line follows the main spine of the WCML to MotherwellMotherwell railway station
Motherwell railway station serves Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on the West Coast Main Line, and is served also by Argyle Line trains of the Glasgow suburban railway network. It is the penultimate stop on the northbound WCML before Glasgow. There are four platforms of various...
where it continues to the town of Carstairs
Carstairs
The name Carstairs refers to a pair of villages located some 4–5 miles east of the town of Lanark in the administrative region of South Lanarkshire in southern Scotland....
, South Lanarkshire. Here the line splits at Carstairs Junction where it joins another branch from the Southern Section of the WCML through a tight curve with a permanent speed restriction of 20 mph.
From Carstairs the line proceeds in a north easterly direction towards back up the Edinburgh branch of the WCML towards the capital. At , Lothian, the line joins up with the Shotts line and continues towards Haymarket station
Haymarket railway station
For the Tyne and Wear Metro see Haymarket Metro station.Haymarket railway station is in Haymarket, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is Edinburgh's second largest station after Waverley, a major commuter and long-distance destination, located quite centrally near the West End...
in western Edinburgh.
At Haymarket, the line joins the main to line with four tracks running through the two main tunnels into Edinburgh Waverley station. National Express East Coast services and some Virgin Trains services use the two straight through platforms at either side of the historic station, while First ScotRail services not working to North Berwick
North Berwick railway station
North Berwick railway station is a railway station serving the seaside town of North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the terminus of the Edinburgh to North Berwick Line, 36 km east of .- History :...
terminate at the several bay platforms on the west side of the station.
Services
The main services to use the route are East Coast Main Line, Cross Country and Scottish Regional Services.Summer 2007
The most frequent user of the line was GNER which runs a service to and from Glasgow Central every 2 hours until 2000. However, due to engineering work at Edinburgh Waverley from late July until November, only one return service per day used the line. Buses replaced trains from Motherwell station, and passengers were advised to travel from Glasgow Queen Street station.Virgin Trains use the line to run services to England. Some services use the northern section of 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...
to/from Glasgow Central but most trains are for destinations including London Euston, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol and Plymouth. Services into Edinburgh on the line are also mostly from these destinations.
First ScotRail operate services to/from North Berwick on the line. Only a few services continue from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central from the coastal town. A similar service operates from Glasgow Central to North Berwick.
Winter 2007/08
The users of the line are:- NXEC which runs a service to and from Glasgow Central on an approximately two hour frequency.
- Virgin Trains use the line to run services to England (to London and Birmingham).
- Cross Country trains operate services from Glasgow to Edinburgh for destinations to the southcoast.
- First ScotRail operate services to/from North Berwick on the line. Only a few services continue from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central from the coastal town. A similar service operates from Glasgow Central to North Berwick.
Summer 2008
All First ScotRail services call at Haymarket, Carstairs and Motherwell on the route.A few Virgin Trains services call at Carstairs, and most trains call at Haymarket and Motherwell (or their journeys to/from Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively).
All NXEC services call at Motherwell, with most now calling at Haymarket also, (the departure time for London bound services from Glasgow is now 10 minutes earlier than the 2007 timetable to allow for this extra call), previously passengers traveling from North Scotland would have to change at Edinburgh Waverley, often with tight connections.
Summer 2011
First Scotrail run services, as extensions of North Berwick LineNorth Berwick Line
The North Berwick Line is a railway line linking Edinburgh with North Berwick in Scotland. The route follows the East Coast Main Line as far as Drem where it then branches to the north....
services, running twice a day (Monday to Friday).
East Coast run two services per day on the route using British Rail Mark 4
British Rail Mark 4
British Rail's fourth design of passenger carriages was designated Mark 4, designed for use in InterCity 225 sets on the newly-electrified East Coast Main Line between London, Leeds, and Edinburgh.-History and construction:...
rolling stock and Class 91
British Rail Class 91
The British Rail Class 91 is a class of , electric locomotives ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of...
locomotives (one to/from London Kings Cross, and one to/from Edinburgh).
CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
service run approximately every two hours extending onto the East Coast Main Line, and onwards to Birmingham and points south.
Journey times on the route are usually around 1 hour.
Rolling stock
The route is electrified throughout using 25 kV overhead linesOverhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
, and three of the passenger companies that use the route employ electric traction. Class 220
British Rail Class 220
The Class 220 Voyager are a class of diesel-electric high-speed multiple-unit trains built by Bombardier Transportation in 2000 and 2001....
(non-tilting) and Class 221
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....
(tilting) 'Voyager' diesel units are used on services to the Midlands and western and southern England.
- East Coast use British Rail Mark 4British Rail Mark 4British Rail's fourth design of passenger carriages was designated Mark 4, designed for use in InterCity 225 sets on the newly-electrified East Coast Main Line between London, Leeds, and Edinburgh.-History and construction:...
rolling stock and Class 91British Rail Class 91The British Rail Class 91 is a class of , electric locomotives ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of...
locomotives on their trains to and from Glasgow Central.
- First ScotRail use Class 380British Rail Class 380Class 380 is the designation given to a class of electric multiple unit trains which operate on the national railway network in Scotland.- Description :...
EMUs on the line, on Glasgow to/from North Berwick services/
- Virgin Trains use Class 390British Rail Class 390The 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...
'Pendolino' EMUs on the route on services from London Euston and Class 221British Rail Class 221The 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....
'Super Voyager' DEMUs on their Edinburgh / Glasgow to Brimingham New Street services.
- CrossCountry use Class 220British Rail Class 220The Class 220 Voyager are a class of diesel-electric high-speed multiple-unit trains built by Bombardier Transportation in 2000 and 2001....
'Voyager', Class 221British Rail Class 221The 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....
'Super Voyager' DEMUs and HSTHigh Speed TrainThere are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....
on their services that continue from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central.
'Thunderbird' locomotive
Carstairs station is also the home of one of Virgin's special 'Thunderbird' Class 57British Rail Class 57
The Class 57 diesel locomotives were introduced by Brush Traction between 1997-2004. They are rebuilds, with reconditioned EMD engines, of former Class 47 locomotives, originally introduced in 1964-5.- Description :...
locomotives named after the Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
animation series and locomotives use characters from the series as their names. 'Thunderbirds' are used to haul broken down services for Virgin and are compatible with both the Pendolino and Voyager fleets.