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Rail latest

(570 posts)
  • Started 2 years ago by chdot
  • Latest reply from Morningsider

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  1. Tulyar
    Member

    @laidback Using Cross Country only is much cheaper for rail return, but less frequent trains

    Using 10-journey carnets for coach & train - 1 way rail & 1 way road cuts costs dramatically - go rail for 35-40 minutes to Haymarket go road for c.1 hour/1h 10m Glasgow-Haymarket but with bale out points from Newbridge for 9 miles along old A8, & also at Ballieston(Easterhouse) & Harthill

    BR pricing manual(ORCATS) still leaves some wrinkles GLC-LDS via APP is half the price of all other routes, and can be faster if connection at CAR is good

    Posted 1 year ago #
  2. Arellcat
    Moderator

    @neddie Faster & Cheaper to catch Ember coach (St Andrew Square) & get off at Friarton Interchange with off road path (but stream to cross) along river to Perth, or ride road (a bit busy)

    Also stops by request at Bridge of Earn junction (slip roads) & you cycle in on Perth-Newburgh road (old A90 via Glenfarg)

    Did you mean Walnut Grove/West Road End, which is right after the Friarton bridge? You would take the A85 next to the river and turn left for the city centre, or alternatively take a footpath from the Willowgate cafe to Bellwood park. Ember doesn't list a stop at the Friarton (aka Craigend) Interchange, which I wouldn't enjoy cycling from anyway, but does list Bridge of Earn as a bookable stop, but obviously that's further from the city.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  3. Greenroofer
    Member

    I have used Ember for a bike-based adventure from Perth. I got a very early bus from St Andrew Square and it dropped me and my bike here: https://what3words.com/bids.nail.above

    I took a convoluted route home via Ben Lawers (other, less bonkers, options are available) which was fun apart from the farcical National Cycle Route 'facilities' between Killin and Callander which caused actual damage to my bike because they are so poor.

    Route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/7716953935 (although the first bit from the bus stop is hidden by Strava)

    Posted 1 year ago #
  4. neddie
    Member

    Sorry, I should have been more specific: I was trying to get to Pitlochry on the direct train via Stirling, avoiding the closed Forth Bridge.

    The answer is that bikes need to be booked, it is emblazoned on the side of the "bike" doors

    Posted 1 year ago #
  5. chdot
    Admin

  6. gembo
    Member

    Surely scott Arthur would advise the tunnels are too small for the trains.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  7. neddie
    Member

    Must be the fault of the Spanish SNP/Greens

    Posted 1 year ago #
  8. chdot
    Admin

    Perhaps transport ministers should resign for allowing cars to get wider.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  9. gembo
    Member

    Zactly

    Posted 1 year ago #
  10. chdot
    Admin

    ScotRail has released details of its alternative travel plan for customers impacted by major upgrade works by Network Rail set to take place at Carstairs.

    Network Rail will work to modernise the layout of the Carstairs Junction, a key section of the West Coast Mainline linking Glasgow and Edinburgh to London, in three phases between 4 March and 30 May 2023.

    The £164million overhaul will see the infrastructure operator simplify and upgrade the track-layout to clear an existing bottleneck on the network, making it more reliable and able to better cope with both passenger and freight demands.

    ScotRail is urging customers in Carstairs, Carluke, Wishaw, and Motherwell, to plan ahead and know their travel options, as services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Carstairs will be impacted for the duration of the works.

    https://www.scotrail.co.uk/about-scotrail/news/scotrail-issues-alternative-travel-plan-during-major-improvement-works-carstairs

    Posted 1 year ago #
  11. chdot
    Admin

  12. chdot
    Admin

    The boss of HS2 has said that construction of the high-speed rail line could be further delayed in an effort to curb costs.

    Mark Thurston, the chief executive of HS2 Ltd, said that soaring inflation had resulted in significant increases in the price of materials, raising the already ballooning cost of the much-delayed project to link London, the Midlands and the north of England.

    “Whether that’s in timber, steel, aggregates for all the concrete we need to use to build the job, labour, all our energy costs, fuel,” he told the BBC.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/03/hs2-rail-line-could-be-further-delayed-to-cut-costs-says-boss

    Posted 1 year ago #
  13. chdot
    Admin

  14. chdot
    Admin

    Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections as Ohio crash prompts scrutiny to industry

    Exclusive: employee says manager told her to stop marking cars for repair, as Ohio derailment brings hard look at industry’s record of blocking safety rules

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/us-rail-workers-east-palestine-ohio-train-crash

    Posted 1 year ago #
  15. chdot
    Admin

  16. chdot
    Admin

  17. chdot
    Admin

    At least £2bn extra needed for London-Birmingham section as inflation spike fuels yet more cost overruns and delays on troubled rail project

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/09/hs2-costs-soar-as-ministers-prepare-to-deliver-more-bad-news-on-timetable

    Posted 1 year ago #
  18. neddie
    Member

    I guess we won't be getting a parallel cycle lane then?

    The whole thing is a massive white elephant, designed to increase long-distance commuting. Just cancel it and spend the money saved electrifying what we've already got.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  19. chdot
    Admin

  20. chdot
    Admin

  21. chdot
    Admin

  22. chdot
    Admin

  23. chdot
    Admin

    By the 1980s, however, it had become clear that private cars were not the panacea assumed two decades earlier. Concerns about the environment, road congestion, local economic regeneration and social mobility fuelled pressure for rail solutions, and no fewer than 91 passenger stations have opened or re-opened in Scotland since 1970. Thirty-seven were on half a dozen routes previously carrying only freight traffic or completely abandoned – most notably the Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Galashiels and Tweedbank.

    https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/dr-beechings-rail-cuts-in-scotland-60-years-on-progress-towards-reversing-the-damage-done-is-stalling-david-spaven-4074743

    Posted 1 year ago #
  24. chdot
    Admin

  25. chdot
    Admin

  26. Tulyar
    Member

    I already get 50% discount on local train trips with my bus pass, as I believe many others do.

    That and a good knowledge of the old British Rail ORCATS pricing system used for National Rail fares, which makes Glasgow-Leeds via Appleby half the price of all the other routes, and it takes less time if the connections work well (might also be valid fare from Edinburgh too)

    Posted 11 months ago #
  27. chdot
    Admin

  28. Morningsider
    Member

    Honestly, I swear the railway would ban passengers on the grounds of safety and efficiency if they could get away with it.

    There have been no e-scooter fires on trains in the UK. It is national policy to encourage both public transport use and multi-modal travel. Yet a Scottish Government owned company has made both that little bit more difficult for some.

    (I understand e-scooters are illegal to use almost everywhere, but they are here and no-one is un-inventing them.)

    Posted 11 months ago #
  29. chdot
    Admin

    Orient Express to axe UK section after 41 years due to Brexit

    Luxury train operator cuts service ahead of biometric passport checks so passengers will have to join train in Paris

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/apr/15/brexit-orient-express-murder-london-folkestone-leg-route-border-delays

    Posted 11 months ago #
  30. chdot
    Admin


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