Far North & Kyle lines get new passing loop

[backontrack]

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.

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.

 

[snowball]

Google Maps show a Delmore Garage and Delmore Bungalow which are two or three miles west of Inverness station.

 

[Railsigns]

This is the same new loop that I mentioned in this post last year, but its proposed name has since changed from Scorguie to Delmore. The middle of the proposed loop is at mileage 2 miles 27 chains.

 

[snowball]

Are the north-accessible platforms at Inverness station often all occupied? Otherwise I can't see why they would want a loop so near to the terminus, in preference to one further along the line.

 

[hexagon789]

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.

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

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.

Some good news. Hopefully the loop proves its worth when timetables are restored to more usual frequency, difficult to envisage much use at the moment.

Are the north-accessible platforms at Inverness station often all occupied? Otherwise I can't see why they would want a loop so near to the terminus, in preference to one further along the line.

Presumably it would allow a late running service into Inverness to be held for a departure to be let out? That would then mean only one service would be delayed instead of the imminent departure having to wait for the inbound to platform first.

I'm not sure though how often such a situation can develop - ie if there are many instances of an inbound arrival being scheduled to arrive close to an outbound departure at Inverness.

 

[Railsigns]

Are the north-accessible platforms at Inverness station often all occupied? Otherwise I can't see why they would want a loop so near to the terminus, in preference to one further along the line.

The new loop's position was determined by timetabling considerations, assuming a new timetable with a more frequent service. A workable timetable wasn't achievable with the loop located further to the west.

 

[NotATrainspott]

The 2043 Route Study suggested a 2tph service from Inverness to Dingwall. Electrification is also in the works, up to Tain. So, adding another loop or two seems sensible to enable and make the most of the other improvements.

 

[Falcon1200]

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.

Excellent news indeed. With the increase in train frequency of recent years (probably the best the route has ever had ?), the Far North service in particular became very difficult to manage in the event of late running, so much so that if the afternoon northbound was late we would hold it at Helmsdale for upwards of an hour to avoid delaying the afternoon southbound; If the latter ran late, the Far North timetable was wrecked for the rest of the day, and the Kyle line was affected too.

 

[GLC]

Will this loop perform much of the role the Lentran loop was proposed for, or are both still ideal?

 

[Railsigns]

Will this loop perform much of the role the Lentran loop was proposed for, or are both still ideal?

What started off as "the Lentran Loop Project" determined that the best place to put a new crossing loop was Delmore. A second loop at Lentran isn't being considered.

 

[CEN60]

Lentran / Scorguie & Now Delmore - are all the same thing (just the name changed over the course of the feasibilty study!!). I have a small amount of knowledge about the proposal - short loop proposed on the straight just to the west of the Overbridge just past Clachnaharry.

 

[XAM2175]

Excellent news!

 

[snowball]

Simply as points on the map, Lentran appears to be about 3 miles west of Delmore or Scourgie, so maybe the proposed location of the loop has shifted slightly?

 

[CEN60]

Simply as points on the map, Lentran appears to be about 3 miles west of Delmore or Scourgie, so maybe the proposed location of the loop has shifted slightly?

There were numerous options on the table all collectively known as Lentran Loop (of varying lengths and locations) - my understanding is that NR did not want any confusion with regards the close proximity of Lentran Level Cossing, so initially it was then referred to Scorguie Loop and subsequently it will now be referred as "Delmore Loop"

 

[Railsigns]

The project started out as the "Lentran Loop project" in reference to the former crossing loop at Lentran that was removed in 1988, and an initial expectation that the new loop would be built somewhere in the same vicinity. The new loop isn't named Lentran for the simple reason that it isn't going at Lentran after all; it'll be three and a half miles further east.

 

[Gloster]

As the Clachnaharry swing bridge has a speed restriction (5 m.p.h?), the first mile and a half or so from the station throat at Inverness is going to take a disproportionate amount of time to cover compared to the rest of the section to the first loop. This makes having the loop off centre quite logical.

 

[Sox]

As the Clachnaharry swing bridge has a speed restriction (5 m.p.h?), the first mile and a half or so from the station throat at Inverness is going to take a disproportionate amount of time to cover compared to the rest of the section to the first loop. This makes having the loop off centre quite logical.

These were my initial thoughts, i.e. a slow drag out of/into Inverness, presume the next passing place is at Muir of Ord station, 13 miles 2 ch west of Inverness?

So, taking Railsigns' info above, we have (approx): Inverness to Delmore 2.3 miles, then Delmore to Muir of Ord 10.75 miles

Will there be any land purchase requirements for the passing-loop, or is the formation already gauged for double track?

 

[Gloster]

These were my initial thoughts, i.e. a slow drag out of/into Inverness, presume the next passing place is at Muir of Ord station, 13 miles 2 ch west of Inverness?

So, taking Railsigns' info above, we have (approx): Inverness to Delmore 2.3 miles, then Delmore to Muir of Ord 10.75 miles

Will there be any land purchase requirements for the passing-loop, or is the formation already gauged for double track?

It was once double-track from Clachnaharry to Clunes.

 

[Railsigns]

Will there be any land purchase requirements for the passing-loop, or is the formation already gauged for double track?

The loop location lies on a former double-track solum, but some land take will inevitably be needed for access roads, equipment positioning and formation widening.

 

[Sox]

Feels like history reinventing itself in that, despite the singling of the line in 1966, there was always a need for some kind of passing place in that area?