The current plan is for NR to install the turnout and headshunt as part of the Dalcross project (the signaling is all interlinked) - the plan is to install it and clip it out of use - exactly the way that the connection and headshunt was supplied for the new freight facility at that is being constructed at Highland Spring at Blackford. It will then be up to Norbord / TS to fund and build the freight facilities connecting onto the installed conection and headshunt. These are the current plans .... however as we know plans change!Drawing 150005-BNU-DRG-EMF-001031 REV P01 from Stathern Jc's link depicts "PROPOSED NORBORD TURNOUT AND HEADSHUNT"
It's in the PDF file noted above.Is there any indication of which direction the head shunt will face?
It's in the PDF file noted above.
The proposed connection faces Inverness - The freight operator that may operate any yard at Norbord has run a test to get freight that comes up the Highland mainline to and from the proposed facility at Norbord - both by splitting and joining in Needlefield and by using Rose Street Curve & an additional loco.Ah thanks.
A Highland MSP has voiced concerns over how passengers arriving at the new Inverness Airport railway station will get to the terminal building.
Network Rail submitted plans to the local authority last month for a double-platform station at Dalcross to provide better connectivity.
The long-awaited proposals will cater for six carriage trains and include a 64-space car park with associated infrastructure including a footbridge and 16-person lifts on each platform.
MSP Edward Mountain says further clarity is needed to establish the scope for a shuttle bus service to be imposed to help the facility meet its full potential.
“This project will not be cheap and it is likely it could cost in excess of £15m,” he said.
“For that price it is vital that the new station fully meets the needs of Highlanders from day one.
“We still don’t know if there will be a shuttle bus in operation between the station and the airport. It’s time we heard far more from Transport Scotland, the Highland Council and Hitrans on this issue.
“Whilst I welcome the active travel infrastructure being put in place at the station, we cannot expect all passengers to walk or cycle to the airport, especially when it is raining.”
His appeal follows a meeting with Network Rail officials to discuss the proposals which are in line for completion by December 2022.
The conservative MSP added: “We need to make travelling between the station and airport as easy as possible. The last thing Highlanders and tourists will want is a replica of the problems experienced at Dyce Railway Station.
“The new station must be linked up to the airport with regular services otherwise it will not meet its full potential.”
Transport chiefs say the new facility will result in a reduction in road travel to the airport, promoting greener travel choices whilst increasing capacity on the Inverness to Aberdeen line.
Allan Henderson, Highland Councillor and chairman of Hitrans said they would welcome the implementation of a shuttle bus service in providing “seamless transport”
He said: “As we go forward its all about encouraging people to leave cars alone. Rather than having to have huge areas of black tar at a railway station, it’s so much better if you can pick up and connect and move people as a single unit.
“Mass travel is the way to go, not currently but when things hopefully get back to normal that’s of course we would like to have.
“There is no-one doubting for one moment that it would have been far better to be able to get the railway station to go into the airport however unfortunately that just wasn’t technically possible.
“Anything that any MP or MSP does to try and forward the case for a complete link up, for seamless transport between the railway station and the airport is all to the good.”
A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government remains committed to funding the construction of Dalcross Station and a car park, indeed Network Rail’s recent submission of a planning application is evidence of progress.
“As is normal, the responsibility to ensure wider local and regional benefits are maximised lies with the Regional Transport Partnership; this would include the provision of a transport link between the new station and the airport terminal. Transport Scotland, of course, will continue to work with its project partners in their realisation of an appropriate transfer link between the station and the airport terminal.”
ScotRail and Highland Council could incentivise people to get the train by introducing an Inverness to Airport add-on ticket that includes train and shuttle for not much more than (or the same price as) the bus ticket.Can't help thinking that most people travelling from Inverness will continue to use the bus directly to the Airport rather than getting a train and walking probably a mile and a half, however "reasonable" the connection interval.
It's only 8.5 miles from the town centre to the airport, which isn't exactly an arduous bus journey for most people, and looks like it could be done in about 15 minutes, 20 tops. I can't see why anybody would choose to add a connection into that. Depending on where the station is getting built, it looks to me like about a kilometre walk, which I'd happily do, but I suspect I'd be in the minority there.ScotRail and Highland Council could incentivise people to get the train by introducing an Inverness to Airport add-on ticket that includes train and shuttle for not much more than (or the same price as) the bus ticket.
If you're getting the train from, let's say Avimore it's one more change, but more of the journey is by train and the bus can be low-floor with luggage racks.
For the Avimore to Airport passenger they're going to have to change a Inverness anyway.It's only 8.5 miles from the town centre to the airport, which isn't exactly an arduous bus journey for most people, and looks like it could be done in about 15 minutes, 20 tops. I can't see why anybody would choose to add a connection into that. Depending on where the station is getting built, it looks to me like about a kilometre walk, which I'd happily do, but I suspect I'd be in the minority there.
How about a travelator like the one at Manchester airport?Oh dear, surely someone's thought about this?
The comparison with Aberdeen isn't entirely fair since Dyce station is in a real town and does a lot more than serve a distant airport terminal more easily reached by the dedicated bus service from the city centre. You'd have to be a pretty determined rail user to try to get to Aberdeen Airport via Dyce station. But there's got to be something linking Dalcross to Inverness Airport, until the place gets surrounded by new houses it makes little sense otherwise?
Highland MSP appeals for further clarity on transport at new airport railway station
A Highland MSP has voiced concerns over how passengers arriving at the new Inverness Airport railway station will get to the terminal building. Networkwww.pressandjournal.co.uk
Not sure why the bus from the city centre wouldn't be low-floor and from directly outside the station. Integrated fares hardly seem like an insoluble problem from the town centre either.For the Avimore to Airport passenger they're going to have to change a Inverness anyway.
Train to train, plus low train to low-floor bus with luggage rack on a single ticket may be more appealing to some than platform to bus station and a regular service bus on a separate ticket if the price is (about) the same.
There are about 100 times as many passengers at Manchester, a larger proportion of whom are arriving by public transport. A travelator would be a rather expensive white* elephant
Hence my earlier comment about timetabling. The shuttle bus should run such that it arrives at the station about five minutes before each train is due.If it was a more regular train and was guaranteed to be met by a bus people would be game...
Indeed the Inverness - Inverness Airport service has been using low floor buses for over 17 years now...Not sure why the bus from the city centre wouldn't be low-floor and from directly outside the station. Integrated fares hardly seem like an insoluble problem from the town centre either.
You rarely see any Airport passengers using Dyce, it's mostly just residents from the area, people who work in the industrial estate, people going to the Heliports at that side of the Airport or poor tourists who don't realise the railway station is at the wrong side of the Airport. There was a bus service that connected the station with the Airport on a 20 minute frequency but it has been reduced to hourly with no evening/sunday service due to Covid. The issue with building a new line to connect with the Airport isn't that it's not possible, it's more that the costs wouldn't be worth the limited revenue it would bring.Oh dear, surely someone's thought about this?
The comparison with Aberdeen isn't entirely fair since Dyce station is in a real town and does a lot more than serve a distant airport terminal more easily reached by the dedicated bus service from the city centre. You'd have to be a pretty determined rail user to try to get to Aberdeen Airport via Dyce station. But there's got to be something linking Dalcross to Inverness Airport, until the place gets surrounded by new houses it makes little sense otherwise?
Not quite. The 11A and 11B go from Inverness via the airport and to Ardersier, with some journeys via Culloden and/or Tornagrain. The 11 is Inverness via the airport to Nairn; it heads back onto the A96 before heading east. Some journeys go via Tornagrain. Having said that, the current timetable is dated from 25th January, so your information may have been correct at the time of your post, and everything has been re-jigged considerably since the last time I used the service (pre-covid).Another possibility is for an agreement of some sort with the operator of the bus from Inverness to make an extra stop at the new station. That would be of particular benefit to travellers from Nairn and beyond.
Update:
Just looked at the timetable for the Stagecoach No 11 service from Inverness to Nairn. That goes along the A96 and into the airport before going on to Nairn via Ardersier.
As it goes around the roundabout to which the access road to the new station will connect that seems straightforward.
The service is generally half-hourly from Inverness from 0745 to 1830 and others from 0500 to 2315, all calling at the airport.
Under the recently cancelled service changes which will likely go ahead in a few months time the network was going to be revised with the 11 withdrawn, 11A (to Ardersier) renumbered 11, new service 5 operating to Tornagrain via Culloden Battlefield & Croy and a new X12 operating Inverness to Nairn via Raigmore Hopsital, Highlands Uni, Shopping Park and then direct along the A96 to Nairn missing out the Airport.Not quite. The 11A and 11B go from Inverness via the airport and to Ardersier, with some journeys via Culloden and/or Tornagrain. The 11 is Inverness via the airport to Nairn; it heads back onto the A96 before heading east. Some journeys go via Tornagrain. Having said that, the current timetable is dated from 25th January, so your information may have been correct at the time of your post, and everything has been re-jigged considerably since the last time I used the service (pre-covid).
I wonder if, once the station is open, a shuttle bus running Airport > Dalcross Station > Tornagrain (perhaps even extending to Croy) may be better, and connecting with the 10 and 11 at the station. This gives passengers from places along the A96 which aren't served by rail a connection to the airport and might allow the 11 to skip the airport entirely.
I'd say that building it next to the railway line, as opposed to some distance away from it makes it exactly the right place!There doesn't seem any getting away from the fact that the new airport railway station is being planned to be built in fundamentally the wrong place.
Originally said of Dent station, I believe.I'd say that building it next to the railway line, as opposed to some distance away from it makes it exactly the right place!
Indeed the Inverness - Inverness Airport service has been using low floor buses for over 17 years now...
You rarely see any Airport passengers using Dyce, it's mostly just residents from the area, people who work in the industrial estate, people going to the Heliports at that side of the Airport or poor tourists who don't realise the railway station is at the wrong side of the Airport. There was a bus service that connected the station with the Airport on a 20 minute frequency but it has been reduced to hourly with no evening/sunday service due to Covid. The issue with building a new line to connect with the Airport isn't that it's not possible, it's more that the costs wouldn't be worth the limited revenue it would bring.
There doesn't seem any getting away from the fact that the new airport railway station is being planned to be built in fundamentally the wrong place.
Maybe semi-ok for catching the train from/to easterly destinations but from Inverness you may as well jump into a taxi (if there's 2 or more of you, or if the journey's on expenses) or catch a bus all the way to the terminal.
An exceedingly good point and well made, Sir.I've often felt that in the case of Inverness and Aberdeen airports (plus possibly Luton and others) it's the terminal that has been built in the wrong place. As the railway existed long before the airports and are inflexible in terms of movement, in hindsight it would have been better to have the terminals positioned to take advantage of the preexisting railway infrastructure.
It is a good point, if taking us off topic, and just about every major Scottish airport suffers from this problem, with current terminal buildings seemingly perversely built as far as possible from the nearby main rail line.An exceedingly good point and well made, Sir.