did anyone every think otherwise ? Any government can pass a law saying no diesels after 2040 but then to totally ignore their own law and do virtually no forward preparation for this and actually continue buying diesel trains shows us 2040 is pie in the sky as is probably 2050, 2060 ...........
2040 was wildly ambitious to say the least, and even then was a target rather than a law as far as I remember. Considering that the ban on sales of ICE cars has been pushed back to 2035, its really not going to be a surprise when DMUs are still operating well into the 2040s and maybe the 2050s.
Where does it say that there no longer electrifying it? I thought that was one of the SNP's priorities on the railway.
It’s just another “Jam tomorrow“ policy promise that will just keep slipping and slipping. And yet we continue to operate Victorian era infrastructure day in day out with no end in sight. It’s embarrassing to say the least.
It's generally worse with the Inverness services, but some Aberdeens too.
Indeed I've seen trains are early alot on Edinburgh/Glasgow to Inverness and Glasgow to Aberdeen
The problem is that the further you get from the core (wherever that core is - be it Central Scotland, Birmingham, Cardiff, London etc), the less likely it is that the “electrification” boxes get ticked (high frequency, frequent stops, population affected by diesel fumes etc) - so it’s easier for some to try to make political capital by calling it a waste of money.
There isn't really the space to allow for this, you'd need space for both a faster turnout and to allow an up departure from the middle platform to simultaneously occur with an arrival/pass at the loop (3rd) platform. If you did this without these changes every non-stop train that uses the loop platform would have to slow to 15 mph to pass through the station and you'd still have the clash with an up departure from the middle platform. The line speed through the two other platforms is 75mph.
I take your point but £200m promised and all that’s happened is a track realignment near Perth, a couple of disused overbridges demolished and two rebuilt in 8 years! Network rail have been clearing disused bridges across the U.K. for some time now and renewals is usually down to poor condition or strengthening too. There’s now a huge gulf between the Central belt and the railways north of the Forth. No new stock ordered, Dalmeny Electrification ditched and £6-8 million spent from a promised £200 million speaks volumes for a lack of commitment all the while a rolling programme of Electrification across the Central belt continues
Well - you could pose the same question about all the works done between Chippenham and Filton 10 or so years ago. OK - not in Scotland….
Potentially time to stop voting for a government that has run out of road. A shake up of Transport Scotland wouldn't go amiss either.
That may be all that's happened on the ground, but design work has been ongoing for a while now, for signalling at least. Construction can't take place without the necessary designs being complete.
I can't see any other ScoGov spending more.
Rail is as essential in the north as it is in the central belt. FWIW the roads in the central belt are better than those in the north too
No mention of spending in my post. More around the inability to deliver without confusion, delay and costs soaring. The common denominator in this is Transport Scotland, whichever transport mode is involved.
They’re hardly unique in this - even if they are to blame. Think the involvement of Transport Scotland in Hinkley Point C, Stuttgart 21, Berlin Brandenburg Airport et al is precisely zero.
One only has to look across the border at HS2, or closer to me, the GWR electrification programme.
