Scottish Infrastructure

[highlandcowden]

cant speak much for the populated central parts of scotland but north of perth its pretty poor-single track rail line and the still to be duelled(though its coming along slowly)A9.as for public transport north and west of inverness,its almost non existant,inverness itself has an appallingly poor bus service.i also find it pretty poor theres no rail services north from glasgow and edinburgh past half seven

[DA Baracus]

35 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

Most of it is terrible tbh.

No rail links from airports, only one real motorway and run down trains and buses.
We do have quite a sparsely populated country and roads can be scenic.
Main road to the west from fife isnt even dual carriageway and has been like this since nineteen canteen.
Good things are edinburgh bus system which was nearly ruined by an unnecessary replacement.
Dont like to run my own country down but its pretty dire tbh.

There's been quite a few new trains put in service over the past couple of years. In Dundee there's quite a few new buses from Xplore. All electric that cut the engine off when it stops and free Wifi.

There's a train link to Aberdeen airport. Edinburgh airport has the trams, and there's a tram stop directly outside Haymarket.

Agree that things should be much better, but I don't think it's as bad as you claim.

[101]

3 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

Can we just rename this forum to pie and snp forum? Be as well.

Critiquing someone's desire for wanting a 10 mile stretch of road past hell holes of West Fife being turned into a trunk road is not being a SNP puppet it's being sensible about priorities.

[Jacksgranda]

1 hour ago, NewBornBairn said:

Better with these -

I think that would cause too many accidents, tbh

[Wee Bully]

4 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

Can we just rename this forum to pie and snp forum? Be as well.

Why would we do that - a big chuck of what you were whining about was either built or planned before the SNP came to power.

Perhaps better just to admit you made a c*** of it.  There’s a lot to moan about, but your whining was miles off the mark.  Come up with something constructive, and I’ll listen

[Academically Deficient]

The business case for a Glasgow Rail link is problematic I understand. One reason may be the airport's demand is largely holiday traffic, and that doesn't lend itself to rail. People want to drive/taxi for those trips. And Glasgow Central is already near full capacity. 

Same with the Glasgow Crossrail. No demand, cant pay for itself.

Would love to see it though.

How about a Glasgow Subway extension once we've sorted the more obvious road issues outwith the Central Belt?

 

[Highland Capital]

I think we really undervalue rail travel in this country - particularly scenic rail travel (apart from the Mallaig line of course).  Surely a railway between Inverness and Fort William would be a huge success - there was plans for one in the 1800s which sadly never came to fruition despite some basic work being started on it.  Surely it would make total sense - some of most spectacular views in Britain, a direct rail link between the two biggest places in the Highlands as well as the possibility of running trains to Oban and the aforementioned Mallaig, an alternative route for Glasgow and the west coast, a direct rail link for Loch Ness, it would take traffic off the A82 which can never really be duelled, more room for freight, I could go on.

Until the early 20th century, there was a train line between Fort William and Fort Augustus and most the track bed is still intact (it's a cycle route now).  We've seen that new railways like the Borders can be very successful, so surely this would be immensely well used.  I've heard in the past that the terrain around Loch Ness is too difficult, but surely there'd be ways to deal with that.

[budmiester1]

1 hour ago, jamamafegan said:

 

A thread to discuss infrastructure in Scotland, both shite and good. I often find myself comparing Scotland to other countries and I think we are miles behind them tbh, especially when it comes to public transportation.

 

Last night the Rest & Be Thankful road was shut yet again after a landslide - the second one in 6 weeks. I think it’s crazy that a proper long term solution hasn’t been sought for this. I think we need something like this:

 

 

It would cost a fair bit but it must be costing a fortune having to continually clear the road and put up these giant metal nets that seem to be doing very little. I think a bit of tree planting on the slopes wouldn’t do any harm either to help stabilise the banks.

 

I use the Rest and Thankful pretty much every second week to get to Portavadie and I have been saying for years that tunnel shields are the way to go. It would cost a lot less to build than you'd think and can be completed a lot quicker than these pointless catch pits.

[jamamafegan]

Who owns the hills on either side of the rest and be thankful?

Not sure however going by this article from 2019 the landowner has sheep on the slopes which is madness.

http://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2019/02/28/the-rest-and-be-thankful-landslips-why-does-sheep-grazing-continue/

[Hedgecutter]

42 minutes ago, budmiester1 said:

I have been saying for years that tunnel shields are the way to go.

This is the only one I've ever seen in Scotland (nr Attadale, by Kyle)

[Melanius Mullarkey]

1 hour ago, Jacksgranda said:

I think that would cause too many accidents, tbh

Aye well it will if they drive on the wrong side of the road like the idiots in the photo.

[Academically Deficient]

14 minutes ago, MixuFruit said:

I'm always dubious about these proclamations about viability, given the projected use of both the Edinburgh Trams and the Borders railway line have in hindsight been massive underestimates.

I saw some economic modelling on it years ago. Bearing in mind these schemes often have an in-built optimism, the numbers weren't great. For the airport link there's a big engineering challenge as well. Not cheap.

 Less so for Crossrail, that is more a demand/ timetabling issue as most of the infrastructure is already there. But someone's daily commute to Glasgow is going to terminate at Glasgow Cross rather than Central. Not an attractive option for many people. Although there is an argument it could help regenerate that part of the city.

Other line re-opening like Larkhall and Borders have maybe even exceeded expectations though as you say.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

The full name is Rest and Be Thankful you didn't die in a massive landslide amarite ?

Comparing infrastructure to other countries who sometimes face even greater geographical or engineering issues, it really hits home just how much the North Sea oil was squandered. 

Anyway, there's potholes at the end of my road. Sturgeon must condemn.

 

[invergowrie arab]

The A77 is a disgrace - Why is an A road to a ferry hub going through village high streets?

On the other hand the AWPR is outstanding and I bet if you gave Patrick Harvie a go on it in a powerful sports car he would change his tune.

Queensferry Crossing is also brilliant.

I used to care about rail links to airports but now i have a 5 figure income and can afford to drive and park I couldnt care less.

[alta-pete]

I’m no fan of the incumbent administration but they do have to be given credit for the infrastructure they have delivered, even if the business cases were fundamentally pauchled just to suit their electoral needs or the delivery has been a muck up. Off the top of my head:

Alloa rail link. Big part of the business case was to take the rail traffic to Longannet off the Forth Bridge and free up capacity. Within 10 years they decide coal is obsolete and shut the power station but the railway remains. Business case flawed but an infrastructure win. 

M8 motorway its full length. A good thing.

Queensferry Crossing. Even if occasionally unusable in chilly weather. 

Glen Sannox. Still gathering barnacles at Port Glasgow. 

Maintaining a cargo airbase at Prestwick for occasional use by Ryanair drunks. 

The Aberdeen bypass, talked about for years but only done under the SNP. Although it did end up costing 3x it’s original budget.  

Average speed cameras on A77 and A9 which have undoubtedly cut road deaths. 

And they are - the only ones yet to grasp the nettle - getting on with dualling  the A9, even if at a snails pace. 

So - my view is you can’t fault their commitment but I do think there’s an awful lot of toon cooncil tin pottery in the mix. And before the McGlashans among PnB come hounding, no I don’t think any other party would have delivered anything close to a fraction of the above list. 

[tamthebam]

2 hours ago, CountyFan said:

The A9 STILL isnt dualled and its twenty fucking twenty. It's should be a national scandal but nobody south of Perth seems to give a f**k. 

I travelled on the main east coast highway south yesterday, the A1.

I wonder what foreigners think when they can't get past a tractor between Berwick and Morpeth because it's single lane 

[tamthebam]

Forgot to mention the SNP were going to scrap the Edinburgh trams scheme and use the money to improve the A9. It was Labour and the Lib Dems who voted through the trams.

Next time you're stuck behind a tractor on the A9 just be thankful some tourist can get a tram into Edinburgh instead of a bus....

[ajwffc]

2 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

Now that Longannet is no more, there’s a largely functional (single line) railway still in place from Culross to Dunfermline that was used for the coal supply and will now be doing f*** all other than awaiting transformation into a cycle path in 50 years time.

 

2 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

2 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

Now that Longannet is no more, there’s a largely functional (single line) railway still in place from Culross to Dunfermline that was used for the coal supply and will now be doing f*** all other than awaiting transformation into a cycle path in 50 years time.

Isn't the longannet line the one that was in the news recently that's getting new stations put in and made into a half hourly passenger service?

that is the plan with  new stations at Clackmannan, Kincardine and Longannet and a half hourly service between Alloa and Longannet 

https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/rail-works-to-inform-project-development-for-fife-and-clackmannanshire/

[Cosmic Joe]

Positives: The Levenmouth rail link is to be restored

Negatives: Scandalous that you can't get a train back to Dundee after an evening kick-off at Hampden watching our national team. 

[alta-pete]

2 hours ago, budmiester1 said:

I use the Rest and Thankful pretty much every second week to get to Portavadie and I have been saying for years that tunnel shields are the way to go. It would cost a lot less to build than you'd think and can be completed a lot quicker than these pointless catch pits.

Your location isn’t clear but for St Mirren fan I’m guessing your in the west. Why the aversion to the ferries? First time I went to Portavadie I came back via the RabT; after a landslide funnily enough. Since then - to me - the ferry is an absolute  hands down no-brainer of a winner.