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Levenmouth rail link to reopen: project updates

Class83

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I imagine that trains going via Dunfermline to Edinburgh would take longer than the anticipated 70 minutes journey time
From Glenrothes (i.e. Thornton) to Haymarket; via Dunfermline seems to be 56mins, via Kirkcaldy is 57 or 58 mins. Those are 'all stops' times, there are a couple of faster ones, but they omit stops. So for stoppers there's not a great deal of difference.
 
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edwin_m

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From Glenrothes (i.e. Thornton) to Haymarket; via Dunfermline seems to be 56mins, via Kirkcaldy is 57 or 58 mins. Those are 'all stops' times, there are a couple of faster ones, but they omit stops. So for stoppers there's not a great deal of difference.
If the Cowdenbeath terminator was extended to Levenmouth then it might skip Lochgelly and Cardenden so would be a bit quicker than that time. It would also give passengers between the new line and Kirkcaldy or beyond a reasonably direct route changing at Glenrothes, though I haven't tried to work out whether that would work without losing the near-even service intervals on the Fife network.

However if the Levenmouth service ran via Kirkcaldy then passengers for the Dunfermline route would have to change there and double back several miles, and some existing journey opportunities would be lost (unless an extra path into Edinburgh could be found). So extending the Cowdenbeath seems the logical thing to do.
 

railjock

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From Glenrothes (i.e. Thornton) to Haymarket; via Dunfermline seems to be 56mins, via Kirkcaldy is 57 or 58 mins. Those are 'all stops' times, there are a couple of faster ones, but they omit stops. So for stoppers there's not a great deal of difference.
My fault for assuming the Dunfermline route would be slower. Is there a still extant formation that allows the Levenmouth line to access the Dunfermline line without using, and impacting the ECML?
 

mcmad

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No, but the impact of using the Kirkcaldy services would be similar.
 

InOban

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First, can I add my congratulations, for what they're worth.
I don't know who were the experts who suggested a new stabling facility, but I assume that they must have spoken to Abellio/Transportation Scotland. It is somewhat crazy that all the Fife DMUs are based at Haymarket, which is a very constrained site near the centre of a city with very high house prices, and there must be hundreds of miles of ECS working every day.
A facility in Fife might start with secure sidings with facilities for fuel, water and toilet emptying, but I'm sure additional maintenance areas could be added. It's just a pity that all capital expenditure is caught up in the present political mess.
 

och aye

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It is always fantastic to see parts of the country being reconnected to the railway network. So congratulations to all those involved to getting the campaign to this stage.

Hopefully it will give other railway campaigners a good morale boost in their attempts to get stations back in their part of the country.

Do we know if the scheme is planned to be completed within CP6?
 

overthewater

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what will the Fife Heritage railway do now since the tracks are going back into commercial use.
 

Bald Rick

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It is always fantastic to see parts of the country being reconnected to the railway network. So congratulations to all those involved to getting the campaign to this stage.

Hopefully it will give other railway campaigners a good morale boost in their attempts to get stations back in their part of the country.

Do we know if the scheme is planned to be completed within CP6?

CP6 would be rather ambitious.
 

duffield

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what will the Fife Heritage railway do now since the tracks are going back into commercial use.

My impression is that they are situated entirely in the Kirkland sidings and don't run on the 'main line' so they shouldn't necessarily be affected, but it's not entirely clear and I may be wrong.

Edit: Further inspection of the satellite photos seems to bear this out with the 'main line' almost completely overgrown but the sidings clear for about 0.5 miles which is the line length mentioned on the website.

They could potentially get a NR connection but I expect it would be too expensive.

Of course, NR might want the sidings for the possible depot...
 
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InOban

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Ok, almost all are based at Haymarket overnight. But stabling in the Thornton area still makes sense.
 

deltic08

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Where have I ever said £300m a mile?

Edit:
I have stated £30m/mile (and more) for new twin track railways. I stand by that. .
I thought it was in the Morpeth Curve thread, but you only quoted £200m+ for two or three miles. It was somewhere this year.
 

LMRC

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Thanks to those recognising the huge commitment by the Campaigners. The Levenmouth reopening was driven by the community campaign. We appreciate support from Fife Council and the elected reps but we'd still be in the wilderness if not for the pressure from the Campaign backed by the community (eg the lead local Councillor mentioned the reopening of the line was the issue most raised on doorsteps which is remarkable). So hope for other campaigns with a very strong case. Sadly we cannot dissolve it, since the same community voice and pressure is needed for the next stage

Interesting information being posted on here which is helpful for that next stage of the Campaign. A few points re those raised
 

LMRC

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To respond to some specific points raised:

-The Minister committed to reconnecting Levenmouth in CP6 and would like this sooner than at the end of the 5 years, it’s an example of the new pipeline approach. Mind you, if there a Chinese rail contractor, I’d imagine it might not take more than a long weekend.
-The Fife Heritage Railway is not directly affected. They own 21 acres on the edge of Leven adjoining the line and with track of their own. They said there is sufficient trackbed from Mountfleurie into Leven for 4 tracks so could envisage shorter services in future. A regular rail connection would undoubtedly bring more visitors to their site plus the potential to run/ receive steam excursions.
-A Fife rail depot is needed, according to experts, to reduce empty running of trains in/out of Fife first and last thing. In addition current Edinburgh and Perth services are cramped but there are other considerations. For example, drivers based in Edinburgh are easily recruited by rail companies elsewhere we were told but this may slightly reduced if they were more locally than city based. Informally we understand Thornton might still preferred to Leven but we’d love to have the economic/high wage boost of a depot here
 

och aye

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To respond to some specific points raised:

-The Minister committed to reconnecting Levenmouth in CP6 and would like this sooner than at the end of the 5 years, it’s an example of the new pipeline approach. Mind you, if there a Chinese rail contractor, I’d imagine it might not take more than a long weekend.
:lol:

Also great to hear that the Scottish Government/Transport Scotland are going to try and get the line reconnected within CP6.
 

Mag_seven

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:lol:

Also great to hear that the Scottish Government/Transport Scotland are going to try and get the line reconnected within CP6.

Network Rail have announced that Vegetation clearance works have commenced.



Vegetation clearance heralds start of work to get Levenmouth reconnected
Region & Route: Scotland’s Railway: Scotland
Network Rail will shortly begin the first phase of work which will lead to the reinstatement of passenger services to Leven.

Engineers will be carrying out vegetation clearance and site survey and geological investigations to inform the development of the project which will see the reinstatement of 19 single track kilometres of railway and two new modern accessible stations for the east of Fife.
 

fgwrich

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Network Rail have announced that Vegetation clearance works have commenced.


It is also good to hear, if a little surprising, that the route will be re-instated with double track! Though there is some confusion in the NR Press release, as they state "19 single track kilometres" when the line itself is 8KM in length.
 

snookertam

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Ok, almost all are based at Haymarket overnight. But stabling in the Thornton area still makes sense.

Late to this. Comparatively few units stabled at Haymarket on any given night, it’s mainly units for maintenance that go in. Most Fife units start and finish at Perth currently, but you’re right, a stabling facility at Thornton would be beneficial, especially in light of purposed remodelling at Perth in the coming years.
 

Bald Rick

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It is also good to hear, if a little surprising, that the route will be re-instated with double track! Though there is some confusion in the NR Press release, as they state "19 single track kilometres" when the line itself is 8KM in length.

It’s just over 9km, and will need work at the Junction with the main line, so 19 is about right for a double track line.
 

fgwrich

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Late to this. Comparatively few units stabled at Haymarket on any given night, it’s mainly units for maintenance that go in. Most Fife units start and finish at Perth currently, but you’re right, a stabling facility at Thornton would be beneficial, especially in light of purposed remodelling at Perth in the coming years.

I was thinking about this this afternoon actually and heading on a slight thread diversion. I'm surprised that ScotRail has chosen Cadder yard for it's new HST depot over re-instating Perth New Yard - I would have thought Perth would have been the better bet located almost in the middle of the ScotRail IC7 network - while also catering for the outstation DMU Fleet (am I right in thinking that was going to release the space in Perth station for redevelopment?). Having a DMU (and laterally EMU) Stabling depot in the former Thornton Yard does make sense though, allowing for potentially earlier and later services on the Fife Circle.

It’s just over 9km, and will need work at the Junction with the main line, so 19 is about right for a double track line.

Thanks for confirming it's length - some places seem to have it listed as 8 & 8.5KM.
 

alangla

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I would have thought Perth would have been the better bet located almost in the middle of the ScotRail IC7 network
Is that not the problem? It’s at a place where lots passes through but not a lot starts or ends the day.
 

och aye

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Consultation for siting of new stations is now open.


Levenmouth rail link campaigners have urged people to have their say on locations for two new railway stations.

They want as many people as possible to get involved in an online consultation for the new rail link, due to open in 2023.

The public can also give their views on other aspects of the project, including what facilities they would like at the railway stations and options for travel links.

Network Rail has mooted four possible locations for a railway station in Leven town centre.

Link to consultation website:

 

bluesfromagun

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I was always curious myself what service Glenrothes with Thornton would see if the Levenmouth link was reopened. I wonder if there has been any thought of re-siting the Glenrothes With Thornton station to the site of the old Thornton station, allowing services on both parts of the Fife Circle to terminate at Levenmouth instead while still keeping the same level of services calling at Glenrothes?

There's no need to re-site Glenrothes station - the Leven branch can be accessed both from Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes stations already without any reversals or changes to current signalling.
From Glenrothes platform 1 you can only go South - towards Kirkcaldy or Cardenden.
From Glenrothes platform 2 you can only go North - towards Markinch or Leven. The two platforms are on different routes as the station is situated on a triangle of three junctions.
 
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Xenophon PCDGS

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Just a point requiring clarification. The thread title says "Levenmouth to reopen" not "Levenmouth rail link to open". That therefore presupposes there was an earlier Levenmouth station with such a name, but all my researches have come to naught. There are proposed stations at Cameron Bridge and at Leven.
 
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Altnabreac

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Just a point requiring clarification. The thread title says "Levenmouth to reopen". That presupposes there was an earlier Levenmouth station with such a name, but all my researches have come to naught. There are proposed stations at Cameron Bridge and at Leven.

Levenmouth is the collective name for the conurbation consisting of the towns of Leven, Methil and Buckhaven.

In times past there were stations in each of the three towns, the former on the Leven & East Fife Railway and the latter two on the Wemyss and Buckhaven railway.

The new station is to be alongside the river which marks the boundary between Leven and Methil and not on the site of any of the three former stations.

I can therefore see the logic of using the Conurbation name rather than any of the three individual towns.
 

och aye

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Is there anyone local who can give some feedback on the potential 4 locations for the station in Leven?

As a non-local just looking at the map, locations 3 and 4 appear to be the best options, being nearer to the bus station and local amenities.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Levenmouth is the collective name for the conurbation consisting of the towns of Leven, Methil and Buckhaven.

In times past there were stations in each of the three towns, the former on the Leven & East Fife Railway and the latter two on the Wemyss and Buckhaven railway.

The new station is to be alongside the river which marks the boundary between Leven and Methil and not on the site of any of the three former stations.

I can therefore see the logic of using the Conurbation name rather than any of the three individual towns.

Thanks for the above. Its was the word "reopen" in the title of thread stating "Levenmouth to reopen" that caused to wonder where the original Levenmouth station might have been situated.

As the person who has been running the Closed Stations Journey quiz on this website since 2011, I am well aware of both the Leven and East Fife Railway and the Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway, as both of those lines have been used in quiz journeys in the past.
 

Altnabreac

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Thanks for the above. Its was the word "reopen" in the title of thread stating "Levenmouth to reopen" that caused to wonder where the original Levenmouth station might have been situated.

As the person who has been running the Closed Stations Journey quiz on this website since 2011, I am well aware of both the Leven and East Fife Railway and the Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway, as both of those lines have been used in quiz journeys in the past.
“Levenmouth Rail Link to reopen” is the usual phrasing used by both campaigners and local government. Seems reasonable that this refers to reopening of a rail link to the conurbation of Levenmouth.

You could complain about anyone talking about reopening Levenmouth Station but I’ve never seen any reference to a "Levenmouth Station reopening” either in this thread or indeed anywhere else.
 

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