backontrack
Established Member
Rare post from me. Here's some news from the north:
Services from Inverness to Dingwall, Tain, Thurso, Wick, Plockton and Kyle of Lochalsh will be made more reliable when a passing loop is installed to the west of Inverness.
The Delmore Loop will be opened in 2024.
The Friends of the Far North Line has been campaigning for a passing loop between Inverness and Beauly for a long time. These campaigns intensified after a sustained period of unreliability and delays during the mid-2010s adversely affected passenger numbers, which before then had been gradually rising. This loop is just what the railway needs, and should allow for more short-worked trains to the Easter Ross towns as well as ensuring that long-distance services to Wick and Kyle too do not suffer so much from accumulative delays. A very welcome development.
The next item on the agenda for the Far North Line is the formation of a community rail partnership - alongside its campaign group - which will be tasked with promoting the line between Tain and Thurso/Wick. There's an article about it here, though paywalled.
Services from Inverness to Dingwall, Tain, Thurso, Wick, Plockton and Kyle of Lochalsh will be made more reliable when a passing loop is installed to the west of Inverness.
The Delmore Loop will be opened in 2024.
Railway campaign group gets back on track in Dingwall
A NORTH rail campaign group met again for the first time in more than two years as they held their first in-person AGM after lockdown.
www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk
A NORTH rail campaign group met again for the first time in more than two years as they held their first in-person AGM since the lockdown.
Members of the Friends of the Far North Line met at the National Hotel in Dingwall for their AGM and Conference.
More than 50 people attended the event which saw several speakers taking on stage to focus on the current state of the railway in the northern Highlands.
Convener Ian Budd said: "This was our first live event since 2019 and it was wonderful to meet up with everyone face to face again.We were afraid that attendance might have been severely reduced by the rail disruption but were delighted that over 50 people came along, many by car and bus, which is ironic for a rail campaign group’s meeting.
"The members’ AGM was followed by the conference and, as always, we were lucky to have excellent speakers, beginning with Matt Powell, head of sponsorship for Network Rail, who gave us an insight into the progress of the current batch of improvements to the Far North Line. Many good things are happening but the best news was that the new passing loop near Inverness, which we have been campaigning for for many years, is about to enter the final design stage and will be opened in 2024. "
Ian Budd, convener of Friends of the Far North Line.
According to Mr Budd, The “Delmore Loop” will allow trains to pass each other on the busy stretch between Inverness and Beauly, which is shared with the Kyle Line and is currently a frequent source of delays to many services if one train is running late.
Kate Forbes MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy and local MSP for Dingwall and the Black Isle, was the second speaker.
Mr Budd said: "Kate’s enthusiasm for rail was infectious and we were delighted to realise that she and we are on the same page when it comes to the importance of expanding rail provision in the Highlands. This is essential to enable the modal shift away from road transport for passengers and freight, which is required by the climate emergency.
Kate Forbes MSP was enthusiastic about rail travel.
"Our ScotRail speaker, David Simpson, service delivery director, had to turn back en route because of family illness – fortunately we had his presentation on our computer and were able to deliver it, albeit in a much less entertaining way than David would have done!
"The final speaker was Phil Sherratt, the editor of the influential magazine Modern Railways, who gave a very complimentary view of Scotland’s railway and its organisation from his southern perspective. For all rail’s problems, we should be pleased that we are in Scotland."
To learn more about the campaign group, visit www.fofnl.org.uk or Friends of the Far North Line's Facebook page.
The Friends of the Far North Line has been campaigning for a passing loop between Inverness and Beauly for a long time. These campaigns intensified after a sustained period of unreliability and delays during the mid-2010s adversely affected passenger numbers, which before then had been gradually rising. This loop is just what the railway needs, and should allow for more short-worked trains to the Easter Ross towns as well as ensuring that long-distance services to Wick and Kyle too do not suffer so much from accumulative delays. A very welcome development.
The next item on the agenda for the Far North Line is the formation of a community rail partnership - alongside its campaign group - which will be tasked with promoting the line between Tain and Thurso/Wick. There's an article about it here, though paywalled.