Could Carlisle - Glasgow services be diverted into Ayr during engineering works?

[d9009alycidon]

Confirmation of the blockade, no mention of Carlisle in the headline but alluded to in the article.

Trains on a busy line from Glasgow Central to Kilmarnock will be replaced by buses for the entirety of July, ScotRail has announced.

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23511200.scotrail-glasgow-kilmarnock-trains-off-month/?ref=rss

Surely the easiest diversion for the Carlisle services would be to send them to Ayr, and advise passengers to travel via there.

 

[adrock1976]

Surely the easiest diversion for the Carlisle services would be to send them to Ayr, and advise passengers to travel via there.

Are you referring to the line that diverges at Mauchline then goes a short cut across to Ayr?

I had a quick eyeball on Google Maps last week, and it appears that the lines to the yard near Newton Jct (Ayrshire) on the left hand side facing Ayr are not connected. However, it seems to connect to the main line in the Paisley/Glasgow direction just before Falkland Jct.

I have thought about if Mauchline station ever reopens, the existing Carlisle - Dumfries short workings could run to Ayr. However, I have not used the Automobile Association website to see how Ayr - Carlisle takes by road for comparison. Maybe a new thread if a lot of responses?

 

[MadMac]

Are you referring to the line that diverges at Mauchline then goes a short cut across to Ayr?

I had a quick eyeball on Google Maps last week, and it appears that the lines to the yard near Newton Jct (Ayrshire) on the left hand side facing Ayr are not connected. However, it seems to connect to the main line in the Paisley/Glasgow direction just before Falkland Jct.

I have thought about if Mauchline station ever reopens, the existing Carlisle - Dumfries short workings could run to Ayr. However, I have not used the Automobile Association website to see how Ayr - Carlisle takes by road for comparison. Maybe a new thread if a lot of responses?

I presume the previous poster was thinking about running via Kilmarnock. The “third side of the triangle” you’re referring to (Blackhouse Junction - Hawkhill Junction) was removed in the mid-70s: also, the signalling doesn’t exist to reverse a passenger train at Newton-on-Ayr.

 

[d9009alycidon]

I presume the previous poster was thinking about running via Kilmarnock. The “third side of the triangle” you’re referring to (Blackhouse Junction - Hawkhill Junction) was removed in the mid-70s: also, the signalling doesn’t exist to reverse a passenger train at Newton-on-Ayr.

Correct, the link is already used by the Stanraer to Kilmarnock service, so route knowledge is there. Passengers travel to Ayr by electric service, then change at Ayr for the Carlisle via Barassie and Kilmarnock service.

 

[Falcon1200]

Passengers travel to Ayr by electric service, then change at Ayr for the Carlisle via Barassie and Kilmarnock service.

No need to go right to Ayr, passengers could change at Troon, assuming the times worked out of course. However it would still probably be just as quick to take the Rail Replacement Bus between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

 

[Frankton Junct]

No need to go right to Ayr, passengers could change at Troon, assuming the times worked out of course. However it would still probably be just as quick to take the Rail Replacement Bus between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

If the rail replacement bus is an all stations service from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, then the Stagecoach express coach via the M77 would be the fastest option for anyone wanting to travel to Kilmarnock or destinations further south.

 

[Falcon1200]

If the rail replacement bus is an all stations service from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, then the Stagecoach express coach via the M77 would be the fastest option for anyone wanting to travel to Kilmarnock or destinations further south.

But rail tickets would not be valid on Stagecoach - And there is no £2 bus fare cap in Scotland!

 

[Frankton Junct]

Although there is no £2 bus fare cap in Scotland, there is free anytime bus travel for holders of the National Entitlement Card aged under 22 or 60+.
Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme

Stagecoach sell a Flexi Day 5 ticket £50 for unlimited bus travel between Kilmarnock and Glasgow - valid any 5 days in 12 months. The Scotrail anytime day return is £12.20 (no railcard).
So, for a commuter, there is not a lot in it price wise, the advantage of the train is that it does not get delayed by peak time queues on the M77 (I have seen morning queues into Glasgow from as far back as Newton Mearns).

There is a risk commuters who travel by coach for weeks during the blockade establish a new habit and the business is lost to rail.

 

[MadMac]

No need to go right to Ayr, passengers could change at Troon, assuming the times worked out of course. However it would still probably be just as quick to take the Rail Replacement Bus between Glasgow and Kilmarnock.

True, but Ayr has the advantage of a cross-platform change.

 

[SC318250]

True, but Ayr has the advantage of a cross-platform change.

A lot of the Ayr to Glasgow services use platform 3 and 4 as anything over a 4 car 380 doesnt fit in platform 1 and 2

 

[MadMac]

A lot of the Ayr to Glasgow services use platform 3 and 4 as anything over a 4 car 380 doesnt fit in platform 1 and 2

Good point. Presumably, any resolution of that would be dependent on some sort of conclusion to the ongoing Station Hotel issues?

 

[adrock1976]

See the tread I started at https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...dumfries-carlisle-clockface-timetable.248729/ for my earlier suggestion above regarding extending the short Carlisle - Dumfries workings to Ayr.