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Scotland’s railways set for expansion

With the recent completion of the Stirling–Alloa–Kincardine and Airdrie–Bathgate projects, a franchise extension for First Group and the adoption of a new brand identity, there is plenty of optimism that rail can answer Scotland’s transport needs in the future. With its budget safeguarded, RAIL EXPRESS explores the challenges facing First ScotRail and the various agencies in charge of the country’s infrastructure.

THE Scottish Government is responsible for the greater part of rail activity in the country and has created Transport Scotland as an agency accountable to ministers and the devolved government. It has responsibility for specifying and funding the output of Network Rail in Scotland and franchising of passenger services. Network Rail currently receives £300-million per annum of direct grants to maintain the infrastructure and maximise the potential of the existing capacity. It is anticipated that this level of funding will be made available annually over the next 10 years, which includes financial support for development schemes.

Until the end of last year, Transport Scotland also had a budget to provide grants to freight customers and facility operators that could be used towards the purchase of assets such as terminal equipment and contributing to the cost of track and signalling alterations to allow network access. However, the autumn budget saw these freight grants all but abolished from this coming spring due to government spending cuts, leading to the cancellation of several proposed rail freight schemes and much anger among their supporters.

The Office of Rail Regulation in London retains authority over economic and safety regulations as well as the licensing of rail operators and associated policy concerning track access agreements. A Strategic Transport Projects Review was completed by Transport Scotland in October 2009 with the aim of identifying policies that create a more successful country with greater economic opportunity and a sustainable transport system that reflects climate change objectives. The review recognised the diversity of transport needs in Scotland with large population centres that suffer from road congestion, and detailed projects have been drawn up that consider the transport needs of urban networks serving Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee. Glasgow and Edinburgh are recognised as central to economic prosperity and that together they function as an internationally significant economic area.

Electrification a high priority

Much of the proposed development will take place in the central belt of which the Edinburgh–Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) is the most significant, this involving electrification of both the Falkirk High and Falkirk Grahamston routes as well as northwards to Stirling, Alloa and Dunblane. The funding for this work is a part of the overall UK spending settlement for the 2009-14 period, which forms part of Network Rail’s regulatory asset base, and does not therefore require financial support from Scottish Government funds.

When combined with the Airdrie to Bathgate project and the already electrified route via Carstairs, this will mean the two largest centres of population in Scotland will have no fewer than three electrified route options available. By 2016, the routes will provide 13 trains per hour serving a wide range of intermediate stations. Over time, further electrification is planned covering all routes in central Scotland, which will see overhead wiring installed on routes to Perth, Dundee and the Fife Circle. There is a longer-term aspiration for electric traction to reach Aberdeen from Dunblane, and Inverness from Perth but there are as yet no timescales for these ambitions.

The need for improvements to rural routes to meet future economic, social and environmental aims is also recognised, as outlying areas rely on rail and road connections to overcome distance from key markets. To reinforce the role of Perth and Inverness as nodes that serve a wide geographic area, it is the intention to upgrade the Highland Main Line to reduce journey times by 35 minutes between Inverness and Perth, thus enabling a three-hour timing to be achieved between Inverness and Glasgow/Edinburgh.

This is to be achieved by linespeed improvement, lengthened sections of double track and additional loops. More powerful traction is proposed which is available in the form of the current Class 172 ‘Turbostar’ diesel multiple unit type, although some stakeholders would prefer ‘Voyager’-style inter-city units. Local train services in the Inverness area are also to be improved with a half-hourly service frequency introduced on the 15-mile section between Nairn and Inverness with a new station proposed at Dalcross to provide park and ride facilities.

Controversy continues to surround the cancellation of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link in September 2009. Abandoning the short spur from Paisley Gilmour Street is considered by many stakeholders to reduce the accessibility of Glasgow for air travellers and constrain wider development. Other separately funded elements of the project have gone ahead, particularly the creation of two new platforms at the congested Glasgow Central station.

Impact of strategic review

Network Rail is undertaking a review of its original Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for Scotland to ensure an approach is followed that is consistent with the Strategic Transport Projects Review, which expressed the priorities that the Scottish Government is to apply to rail and other transport investment over the next 20 years.

The purpose of a RUS is to define the solutions to be adopted for meeting the gaps identified between expected demand and the capacity of the network after consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. It acts as a policy document for infrastructure development in the geographic area covered.

The Department for Transport in London continues to have a significant impact on train service provision in Scotland as a result of the franchise specifications for the East and West Coast main lines, which involve contracts for operations by Virgin Trains, TransPennine Express, CrossCountry and East Coast. The Intercity Express Programme, for rolling stock intended to replace the High Speed Train fleet, proposed that trains would be deployed on the ECML between 2013 and 2016, which would impact on the current service pattern beyond Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness. The rolling stock project will almost certainly be reduced in scope but Transport Scotland has lobbied strongly to ensure that through trains are retained, although a virtual elimination of East Coast services that continue beyond Edinburgh to Glasgow Central is due to be implemented from this May’s timetable change.

For Scottish internal services, there are capacity issues at Glasgow Central and Queen Street stations with similar issues at Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket. Since 1995, annual rail journeys undertaken within Scotland have risen from 44 million to 81 million recorded in 2009. Further analysis shows a 315% increase in use at stations in the City of Glasgow and a 118% increase in the City of Edinburgh. These statistics lie behind plans to cater for greater peak period demand and electrification.

A greater share of freight movement between the central belt and the Highlands is planned with the installation of bi-directional signalling on the Highland Main Line that will reduce the impact of engineering work on freight services that require paths at times passenger services are not running. Longer loops will also enable freight train loads to be increased and current permanent speed restrictions for higher axle loads will be eliminated. As intermodal traffic from ports replaces coal as the dominant requirement for freight movement together with greater demand from supermarket groups following the imposition of new carbon emission taxes, 9ft 6in gauge clearance is needed on both the Highland Main Line and the diversionary Aberdeen–Inverness route.

ScotRail franchise extended

The Scottish Government became responsible for the ScotRail rail franchise in April 2004 as part of the arrangements for devolved government. As a result of these changes, the train operating company receives all of its grant support from Transport Scotland rather than the Department for Transport. The new responsibilities coincided with the end of the original seven-year franchise for ScotRail which had been awarded to National Express in 1997, and in the re-tendering process the contract was taken over by First Group in a franchise that commenced on October 17th, 2004 to run until October 15th, 2011. Support payments of £1.9-billion were required during this period.

The original franchise agreement allowed for a three-year extension and, as the Scottish authorities wished to negotiate some changes to the contract terms, a new end-date of November 8th, 2014 was agreed in April 2008. In that year First ScotRail recorded a profit of £20.7 million on a turnover of £527 million after receiving a revenue grant of £281 million. The franchise extension allowed a long list of service improvements to be specified, including improving the timetable for peak-hour travel as well as better evening and Sunday services, with the addition of bus links, station improvements, additional rolling stock and rebranding of the operation. This added to earlier investment commitments at stations where £40 million was made available for improvements at Stirling, Aberdeen, Glasgow Queen Street and Haymarket.

The new agreement also brought revisions to the subsidy profile and the ‘cap and collar’ arrangement on revenue. If revenue rises above 110% (previously 102%) of the contract figure then 50% of the excess goes to Transport Scotland, and at 114% (previously 106%) that figure becomes 80%. Similarly, the cost of revenue shortfalls below 90% and 86% are shared at a ratio of 50% and 80% respectively. The intention is to give the franchisee more incentive to develop the business but also offers a reduction of risk if revenue declines as a result of changed market circumstances.

First ScotRail dominates Scotland’s passenger train services and is one of the biggest franchises in terms of route miles, number of trains run and stations operated. The franchise area extends south to Carlisle (via Dumfries), with some trains continuing over the Tyne Valley route to Newcastle.

ScotRail’s sleeper services

When the first series of franchise contracts were drawn up, a decision was made to transfer the Anglo-Scottish ‘Caledonian Sleeper’ linking Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William with London to ScotRail. There had been dissatisfaction that the effort to market overnight services had decreased while there was a growing perception that the product no longer had relevance, given faster daytime rail services and the increasing dominance of the airlines, particularly with the advent of low cost budget operations when Easyjet was established in 1995. The furore over the BR proposal to withdraw sleeper services to Fort William also created a disconnection over what was seen as a London based decision that stakeholders in Scotland strongly opposed.

The public authorities in Scotland had become synonymous with a policy to re-open routes and improve capacity long before this became the accepted wisdom in England. In fact, even now very little new rail mileage has been added to the rail network south of the border. In Scotland it is very different, the Larkhill–Milngavie route opened in 2005 as a local line that improved employment prospects in the community served. In May 2008, there was a more strategic re-opening between Stirling and Alloa, which allowed more efficient working of coal trains bound for Longannet Power Station by routing away from the Forth Bridge and provided many new journey opportunities with through trains to Glasgow Queen Street. There was also a station re-opening at Laurencekirk in May 2009, which closed a 24-mile gap between Montrose and Stonehaven. In the December 2009 timetable, improved infrastructure capacity on the Glasgow & South Western route enabled a half-hourly service to be provided between Glasgow and Kilmarnock and new early morning and late evening departures have been added at Dumfries.

Class 380 delays

A highlight for ScotRail this year should be the completion of deliveries of the
38 Class 380 EMUs supplied by Siemens and financed by the Eversholt Rail Group, which will be formed into 16 four-car and 22 three-car units and maintained at the enlarged Shields depot. These air-conditioned trains will provide a greatly improved travelling experience for the Ayrshire Coast services.

However, the well-publicised technical issues with the new ‘Desiros’ continue to cause problems for First Group with the delay in entering squadron service holding up a fleet cascade. While the Class 380s are now operating a limited number of services, deliveries from Germany remain suspended until such time as all the technical issues with the units have been satisfactorily resolved. As a consequence, the full timetable on the Airdrie-Bathgate route, using transferred Class 334s, is not expected to be implemented until at least the spring.

The Class 380s were also intended for use on Glasgow Airport services but, as a result of the cancellation of this project, they will now be used on North Berwick services, which will displace the Class 322s back to National Express East Anglia. This transfer was originally intended to take place this May but it remains to be seen whether this will be achieved.

The second part of our focus on First ScotRail in RE179 will take a look at the new Airdrie–Bathgate Rail Link, the rebirth of the Waverley Route, the Edinburgh Crossrail scheme and a general round-up of rolling stock developments.