Jump to content

Scottish Infrastructure


jamamafegan

Recommended Posts

If I remember correctly, costs aside, the Edinburgh suburban line has a few hurdles in its way. For one it would use a basically at capacity section of the East Coast Main Line, there’s a lack of platform space at Haymarket/Waverley (this might not be as big an issue now) there’s also capacity issues between Haymarket and Waverley. I may be wrong as I’m just going by memory but I think a large part of the “capacity” stuff is the bottleneck as you exit Waverley east and short of digging another tunnel it’s not easy to resolve.

Edited by Enigma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Enigma said:

If I remember correctly, costs aside, the Edinburgh suburban line has a few hurdles in its way. For one it would use a basically at capacity section of East Coast Main Line in part, there’s a lack of platform space at Haymarket/Waverley (this might not be as big an issue now) there’s also capacity issues between Haymarket and Waverley. I may be wrong as I’m just going by memory but I think a large part of the “capacity” stuff is the bottleneck as you exit Waverley east and short of digging another tunnel it’s not easy to resolve.

I'm not going on a train over hurdles. That one in Aberdeen didn't even clear a pile of gravel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Enigma said:

If I remember correctly, costs aside, the Edinburgh suburban line has a few hurdles in its way. For one it would use a basically at capacity section of the East Coast Main Line, there’s a lack of platform space at Haymarket/Waverley (this might not be as big an issue now) there’s also capacity issues between Haymarket and Waverley. I may be wrong as I’m just going by memory but I think a large part of the “capacity” stuff is the bottleneck as you exit Waverley east and short of digging another tunnel it’s not easy to resolve.

If it was trams rather than trains, there is already a tram route that covers the busy bit, and it could open up another line relatively cheaply

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Wee Bully said:

If it was trams rather than trains, there is already a tram route that covers the busy bit, and it could open up another line relatively cheaply

There isn’t a tram line from the top of Leith Walk to Portobello, you’d have to build that for trams. You also have Brunstane in use as conventional rail.

Edited by Enigma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Enigma said:

If I remember correctly, costs aside, the Edinburgh suburban line has a few hurdles in its way. For one it would use a basically at capacity section of the East Coast Main Line, there’s a lack of platform space at Haymarket/Waverley (this might not be as big an issue now) there’s also capacity issues between Haymarket and Waverley. I may be wrong as I’m just going by memory but I think a large part of the “capacity” stuff is the bottleneck as you exit Waverley east and short of digging another tunnel it’s not easy to resolve.

Periodically people suggest rebuilding Waverley so that the buildings and amenities are all at Waverley Bridge level with more of "through" platforms underneath

The main problems are that the old ticket hall is a listed building 
Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station Architecture High Resolution Stock  Photography and Images - Alamy

And the whole city centre is a world heritage site
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Enigma said:

There isn’t a tram line from the top of Leith Walk to Portobello, you’d have to build that for trams. You also have Brunstane in use as conventional rail.

I know about Leith Walk to Portobello, but that’s a fraction on the overall route.

The trams and trains run on the same gauge, so they could share it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Wee Bully said:

I know about Leith Walk to Portobello, but that’s a fraction on the overall route.

The trams and trains run on the same gauge, so they could share it.

Borderers would be able to change at Brunstane for Porty and Leith. It would be the "Edinburgh Gateway" of the east.

Edited by topcat(The most tip top)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ICTChris said:

I'm sure it's been discussed on this thread before but there are practical reasons about reopening the Edinburgh Suburban line, I think....

Safe to assume it would have long since happened if there weren't. Main problem from what I have read about it is that because the Beeching era cuts closed Edinburgh Princes Street, there are severe capacity issues with the tunnels into Waverely. A lot of the business case for trams revolved around the need to build an alternative path through Princess Street for any additional suburban rail services.

Following on from that the line was always intended mainly for freight to bypass Waverley so it takes too long in both directions to start heading south or north to compete against buses into or out of the city centre, so the more sensible way ahead would probably be to add extra tram lines that follow routes that would attract the most additional passenger traffic.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, ICTChris said:

I'm sure it's been discussed on this thread before but there are practical reasons about reopening the Edinburgh Suburban line, I think.

The fact that it's still there surely makes it a lot more plausible than building new infrastructure though.  The thread below that tweet does raise some issues - for example, bus travel is far quicker for some of these areas to the city centre rather than the train.  

I do think that having more public transport options in the big densely populated parts of the city can only be good though - places like Leith, Newington, Gorgie are all very busy places where people are far less likely to have cars.

Far too many car owners in Leith, Gorgie, Polwarth and Newington.

They need to take residential parking bays away from the city centre. Live in the city if you want but get a bike ,walk or use the buses. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, HeartsOfficialMoaner said:

Far too many car owners in Leith, Gorgie, Polwarth and Newington.

They need to take residential parking bays away from the city centre. Live in the city if you want but get a bike ,walk or use the buses. 

I have actually lived in all those areas at various points and find the idea of having a car while living there mad. 
 

To be fair, we didn’t have kids when we lived there and cars are often a big help when you have children.’ So there is that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We need another war to clear away some of these inconvenient listed buildings.
It's a shame they are bonnie buildings rather than boring things like communities or they could take the Glasgow approach and drive 8 lane motorways through them  
Plenty of bonnie buildings, such as the Charing Cross Hotel, didn't stop them running the M8 through Glasgow.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

North Bridge is, apparently, to remain (partially) closed until 2025. I suspect CEC don't really have much option. A 120 year old bridge that hasn't been inspected since it was built probably isn't going to come out with a flawless report. Even so, the potential for almost 7 years of disruption along a key arterial route is pretty grim.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, RiG said:

North Bridge is, apparently, to remain (partially) closed until 2025. I suspect CEC don't really have much option. A 120 year old bridge that hasn't been inspected since it was built probably isn't going to come out with a flawless report. Even so, the potential for almost 7 years of disruption along a key arterial route is pretty grim.

Might as well add the tram tracks while they're at it for the line south to the hospital.

Though if it's going to be closed for that long, does it need to be reopened to cars? Both the council and Scottish government have targets to reduce car use, so it could just be for active travel and public transport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Ginaro said:

Might as well add the tram tracks while they're at it for the line south to the hospital.

 

first-time-really.gif.950a3e7712ca5dda6f4a420eae95fb82.gif

 

They'll fix the bridge, open it for 3 weeks then close it for 5 years while they put the tram lines in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 04/08/2022 at 16:46, RiG said:

North Bridge is, apparently, to remain (partially) closed until 2025. I suspect CEC don't really have much option. A 120 year old bridge that hasn't been inspected since it was built probably isn't going to come out with a flawless report. Even so, the potential for almost 7 years of disruption along a key arterial route is pretty grim.

 

Just wait until it's fixed and the council will then decide try to build the tram tracks into it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...