Latest Rail News

John   13/09/2013 at 14:39

This project HAS to include the opportunity to widwn the former "Waverley" route to double track. Goodness knows why on earth it isn't being built as double track now; it beggars belief that this is being so short sightedly handled, especially in the light of the billions of Pounds / Euros being thrown at HS2 which does not have the potential cost / benefit ration that the "Waverley" route can deliver on both freight and passenger numbers.

Brian   14/09/2013 at 08:30

As a percentage of the overall project cost; how much extra will a wider bridge cost?

Pedr Jarvis   15/09/2013 at 13:06

Do you remember that when the Dornoch Firth road bridge was built, to economise by a comparatively small sum, they failed to add a railway? So there is some extra 40km of track through largely profitless country being maintained instead. It would be pleasant to think that now there is an autonomous Scottish Gov't., a more sensible decision will be made this time.

Ricp   16/09/2013 at 13:08

No question that any new road-bridge or other structure is designed to allow for double-tracking in the future. This could eventually become another Anglo-Scottish route again from Carlisle to Edinburgh, so penny-pinching now will be as big an error as the original closure. Compare this with the valiant effort made by the Bluebell Railway, where to get the scheme finished within a reduced budget, they have ended up with a single trackbed at Imberhorne, not a double tracked route, as it was back in BR days. Design capability for double-tracking with the minimum of disturbance must be built in NOW.