Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line
Encyclopedia
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 .
grid references
for stations):
. The line is not electrified
.
report in 1952, the services were provided by the 1956 batch of Class 126
DMU, entering service in 1957.
. Initially a mixture of Class 25
, Class 27
and Class 37
at each end of a rake of Mark 2 carriages
through wired and piped to provide 90 mi/h "push-pull" working. This very quickly settled down to a dedicated pool of Class 27 locomotives. These were classified as Class 27/1. Initially steam heating was employed; a number of locomotives were later fitted with Deutz air cooled diesel alternator sets to supply electric heating to the coaches and designated as Class 27/2.
at one end of a rake of Mark 3 carriages
and a DBSO operating with TDM
system. Also during this period, InterCity provided through services from Glasgow Queen Street to London King's Cross and various West Country
destinations, resulting in the use of InterCity 125
s on the route.
At this time, the service operated on a half-hourly frequency with all trains stopping at Haymarket and Falkirk High, with alternate trains stopping at Polmont and Linlithgow. Some peak hour trains stopped at Bishopbriggs, Lenzie and Croy. Sunday trains served .
In 1984 the Polmont rail accident resulted in 13 deaths and 61 injuries. It led to a debate about the safety of push-pull train
s.
In the late 1980s with the electrification of the Great Eastern Main Line
, the DBSO set-up was planned for replacement with Class 158
in four and six car formations, however due to delays in deliveries and the need to release the stock for the Great Eastern Main Line, Class 156
were used for a short period, prior to being put into use on the Far North Line
.
The Sunday services see all stations served every half an hour.
. It later became a key constituent of the North British Railway
.
's 20 year programme of major capital projects, First Minister Alex Salmond
announced that contracts for the design of the scheme are to be signed in early 2009.
It is anticipated that the electrification will be completed between 2015-2016.
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...
via Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
in 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...
. 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 serves the following places (Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
grid references
British national grid reference system
The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....
for stations):
| Places | Grid references |
| 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... |
|
| Lenzie Lenzie Lenzie is a small town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about six miles north-east of Glasgow city centre and one mile south of Kirkintilloch. It has a population of about 10,000.-Name:... |
|
| Croy Croy, North Lanarkshire Croy is a village in North Lanarkshire), Scotland. A former mining community, Croy is situated some 21 km from Glasgow and 60 km from Edinburgh on the main railway line between the two cities, with a frequent service to both... |
|
| Falkirk Falkirk Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow.... |
|
| Polmont Polmont Polmont is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village.... |
|
| Linlithgow Linlithgow Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal.... |
|
| Haymarket Haymarket, Edinburgh Haymarket is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in the west of the city and is a focal point for many main roads, notably Dalry Road , Corstorphine Road and Shandwick Place .Haymarket contains a number of popular pubs, cafés 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... |
Services
Passenger services are operated by First ScotRailFirst 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...
. The line is not 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...
.
1950s/60s
As part of a review by the British Transport CommissionBritish Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...
report in 1952, the services were provided by the 1956 batch of Class 126
British Rail Class 126
The British Rail Class 126 diesel multiple unit was built by BR Swindon Works in 1959/60 to work services from Glasgow to Ayrshire and comprised 22 Motor Second vehicles , 22 Motor Brake Second , 10 Kitchen Trailer First and 11 Trailer Composite vehicles formed into 22 3-car sets formed Motor...
DMU, entering service in 1957.
1970s
In 1971, the stock provided changed to locomotives fitted for Blue Star multiple workingMultiple working
Multiple working is a term used on the UK rail network to describe the practice of having more than one diesel or electric locomotive hauling a train under the control of one driver.-Terminology:...
. Initially a mixture of Class 25
British Rail Class 25
The British Rail Class 25 diesel locomotives were also known as Sulzer Type 2 and nicknamed Rats, as it was alleged they could be seen everywhere in Britain, and hence were "as common as rats"...
, Class 27
British Rail Class 27
British Rail's Class 27 comprised 69 diesel locomotives built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company during 1961 and 1962. They were a development of the earlier Class 26; both were originally classified as the BRCW Type 2.- Usage :...
and Class 37
British Rail Class 37
The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Also known as the English Electric Type 3, the Class was ordered as part of the British Rail modernisation plan....
at each end of a rake of Mark 2 carriages
British Rail Mark 2
The Mark 2 family of railway carriages were British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops between 1964 and 1975...
through wired and piped to provide 90 mi/h "push-pull" working. This very quickly settled down to a dedicated pool of Class 27 locomotives. These were classified as Class 27/1. Initially steam heating was employed; a number of locomotives were later fitted with Deutz air cooled diesel alternator sets to supply electric heating to the coaches and designated as Class 27/2.
1980s
The "push-pull" service was demanding on the Class 27s and reliability started to suffer. In 1980, the push-pull sets were replaced by single Class 47/7sBritish Rail Class 47
The British Rail Class 47, is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British...
at one end of a rake of Mark 3 carriages
British Rail Mark 3
British Rail's third design of standard carriage was designated 'Mark 3' , and was developed primarily for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train...
and a DBSO operating with TDM
Time-division multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more bit streams or signals are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent...
system. Also during this period, InterCity provided through services from Glasgow Queen Street to London King's Cross and various West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
destinations, resulting in the use of InterCity 125
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...
s on the route.
At this time, the service operated on a half-hourly frequency with all trains stopping at Haymarket and Falkirk High, with alternate trains stopping at Polmont and Linlithgow. Some peak hour trains stopped at Bishopbriggs, Lenzie and Croy. Sunday trains served .
In 1984 the Polmont rail accident resulted in 13 deaths and 61 injuries. It led to a debate about the safety of push-pull train
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...
s.
In the late 1980s with the electrification of the Great Eastern Main Line
Great Eastern Main Line
The Great Eastern Main Line is a 212 Kilometre major railway line of the British railway system, which connects Liverpool Street in the City of London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and several coastal resorts such as...
, the DBSO set-up was planned for replacement with Class 158
British Rail Class 158
British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs...
in four and six car formations, however due to delays in deliveries and the need to release the stock for the Great Eastern Main Line, Class 156
British Rail Class 156
The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...
were used for a short period, prior to being put into use on the Far North Line
Far North Line
The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick.- Route :...
.
1990s/2000s
Delivery of the Class 170s since 1998 has displaced the Class 158s for other duties, including the Far North Line. Other motive power can be seen as a result of operational considerations including Classes 156 and 158. The "(Glasgow Queen Street-Edinburgh Haymarket) Shuttle" weekday day time service pattern sees a train every 15 minutes from Glasgow/Edinburgh. All trains stop at Falkirk High and Haymarket, with selected trains stopping at Croy, Polmont and Linlithgow.The Sunday services see all stations served every half an hour.
History
The route has historic significance as it was Scotland's first inter-city railway, opening on 2 February 1842 as the Edinburgh and Glasgow RailwayEdinburgh and Glasgow Railway
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was a railway built to link Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Act of Parliament for building the railway received its Royal Assent in 1838 which was open on 28 July 1863. Services started between Glasgow Queen Street and Haymarket on 21 February 1842. The line was...
. It later became a key constituent of the North British Railway
North British Railway
The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...
.
Future developments
It was announced in 2007 by the Scottish Government that electrification of the route was now a priority. In December 2008, as part of Transport ScotlandTransport Scotland
Transport Scotland was created on 1 January 2006 as the national transport agency of Scotland. It is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department and accountable to Scottish Ministers...
's 20 year programme of major capital projects, First Minister Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
announced that contracts for the design of the scheme are to be signed in early 2009.
It is anticipated that the electrification will be completed between 2015-2016.
Sources
Other articles
- Glasgow to Edinburgh Lines
- Edinburgh and Glasgow RailwayEdinburgh and Glasgow RailwayThe Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was a railway built to link Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Act of Parliament for building the railway received its Royal Assent in 1838 which was open on 28 July 1863. Services started between Glasgow Queen Street and Haymarket on 21 February 1842. The line was...