Reinstatement of the Waverley Route

[60041]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s ... d-21367816

[52D]

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-eveni ... -1-2782822
The members on my facebook page keep me well posted with Waverley info, I will put the major links up when I get them. Read this one I think the Scotsman should sort out its grammar as the tunnel should be 130 foot long rather than 130 foot wide . Anyway im glad to say the preliminary work is continuing at a pace.

[60041]

More doom and gloom from the refuseniks and philestines who think that the money would be better spent on roads:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/tran ... il%2Balert

Surely things have progressed far enough now that reports like this are superfluous; the railway is going to be built regardless, or I hope it is. I was in Galasheils on tuesday and there is sign of progress almost everywhere you look, the clearance work north of Gala is well advanced, the trackbed has been cleared through the town right along to Tweedbank. I mentioned the line to quite a few people when I was there, and every one of them was keen to see it reopened.

[60527]

Interestingly the two newspapers linked in the previous posts have readership numbers that are in absolute free fall. One of the reasons for this I suspect is they are so out of touch with the nation and the tone of these articles, especially the Herald reflect this. Effectively no-one is actually reading this guff. The constitutional question has gotten the anti SNP, anti independence forces into such a lather that reading or listening to what purports to be the news in Scotland is now laughable. This is not about the Waverley route it is simply an attack piece.

On the positive side, every other rail reinstatement project has been a success, so most of us believe this will be as well.

[52D]

An Interesting slant about the property crash, it was rumoured that the Tweedmouth St Boswells track was left intact for the same reason. St Boswells was going to get new town status and grants etc so the track was left alone. With the then upcoming closure of the Waverley and the quiet dropping of the New town plans the line was doomed and quickly lifted.

[Coboman]

I do love that newspapers report on the expected passenger numbers, it seems they know who many will travel not to the nearset 10000, or even 1000 but to 1! Nobody can reliably predict the effect on the local economy of the opening of this line, not to that degree. That article reads like a typical accountants very short sighted view of things, the very sort of view that has lost us most our industry. Its high time we locked accountants up again in back rooms where they belong.
I will be very suprised if it doesn't create a mini property boom on its route, and I wont be suprised if it gets extended to Hawick in the next 10 - 15 years.

[60041]

On a much more positve note, this report from today's Scotsman supports the business case for the railway:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/ ... -1-2820819

It is interesting to see a reference to David Spaven, he has worked behind the scenes for years campaigning for the reinstatement of the Waverley Route and has written a very good book about the line

[52D]

Latest from the BBC or just cross border politics from Salmond and co. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s ... d-27140140
EDIT - somehow the link was lost, sorry chaps.

[strang steel]

I think that report is right. A completed Waverley route would have a great future from the rail leisure travel industry, just as the Settle-Carlisle has had. Just imagine Tornado or Duchess of Hamilton pounding over Whitrope on a Pullman dining train and you get the picture, and that is before you add the diesel hauled scenic tours.

I just hope that I live long enough to see this plan completed, and maybe to be able to travel over myself.

[PinzaC55]

If the Scots do vote for independence I would hope that one of their priorities would be to renationalise the railway network for the benefit of the Scottish people.

[bricam5]

Everyone seems to agree that the re-opening of the Waverley route would be a great boost for the economy of the area and I include myself too.
Which leaves me wondering, what twisted logic/insane thinking/political vandalism caused the route to be closed in the first place.

[PinzaC55]

Everyone seems to agree that the re-opening of the Waverley route would be a great boost for the economy of the area and I include myself too.
Which leaves me wondering, what twisted logic/insane thinking/political vandalism caused the route to be closed in the first place.

Because there was another route via Carstairs which didn't involve lots of high maintenance viaducts and tunnels. Those were the first days when they attempted to run the national rail system effectively as a business rather than a service - the forerunner of the mess we have today.
I've never heard of a major road being abandoned because there was an "alternative route" 30 miles away ?

[61962]

The section currently under construction was intended to be single line with dynamic loops for trains to pass at 90mph without stopping. There were also proposals to signal it using the very latest technology using wireless communication with in cab moving block signalling and no lineside equipment. If this is how the design has progressed then I doubt we will see steam locos on it until large sections of the network have also been upgraded as well. All this electronic gubbins is mega expensive, e.g. around 10K to fit TPWS to a locomotive and who knows for this latest stuff!

Eddie

[60041]

News from The Scotsman today:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/ ... -1-3392993

It looks very much like the railway is being built on the cheap

[strang steel]

Presumably, with the inbuilt road/motorway bias of the Whitehall and Holyrood civil servants, the railway has to be built on the cheap; otherwise it would not get built at all.