Argyle Line

The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. It connects the Lanarkshire towns of Lanark, Larkhall and Motherwell to West Dunbartonshire via Glasgow.

History

Opened in November 1979, the Argyle Line was created, as joint venture by British Rail and the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE), by reinstating central Glasgow core section of the Glasgow Central Railway sections of track between Rutherglen and Stobcross in the Glasgow area which had been closed by the Beeching Axe.Skillen, Brian S. (1979). "The Once and Future Railway". In: "Scottish Transport". Issue No. 33, Pp 13-19. Scottish Tramway Museum Society. December 1979. ISSN 0048-9808.] Outside of Glasgow's central area, it uses sections of the North Clyde and West Coast Main Line (WCML). Services on the line are operated by First ScotRail on behalf of Transport Scotland.

2005 extension

The Larkhall Line was opened as an extension to Argyle Line services and was opened in December 2005 by First Minister Jack McConnell. The line was the reopening of the Coalburn Branch and Mid Lanark Lines of the Caledonian Railway; and it begins at Haughhead Junction, just east of Hamilton Central. Stations are located at Chatelherault, Merryton and Larkhall, where services terminate. [ [http://www.spt.co.uk/news/story318.html SPT News] ] The branch is single line throughout, with a crossing loop at Allanton.

ervice lines

The line serves stations between Dalmuir (a sub district of Clydebank), Milngavie or Balloch on Sundays and the Clyde Valley, terminating at either Motherwell, Larkhall, Coatbridge Central or Lanark. Some services also terminate at Carstairs. The principal station on the route is Glasgow Central Low Level - part of Glasgow Central station.

At Lanark, the line originates on a two platform terminal station, to run on a single track branch for 2 miles, where it joins the WCML at Lanark Junction, before calling at Carluke.

The line diverges from the WCML just north of Carluke, to join the Wishaw Deviation line, before calling at Wishaw. Here, the line splits into two sections. The main Argyle line rejoins the WCML at Shieldmuir before approaching Motherwell from the south. This is the fastest section of the line, with a maximum linespeed of 105mph, well above the 90mph maximum of the Class 334s used on the route. A spur recently reopened to regular passenger services continues along the Wishaw Deviation line towards Holytown before approaching Motherwell from the north.

Trains approaching Motherwell from Shieldmuir then leave the WCML again to call at Bellshill before rejoining the mainline at Uddingston. It then meets the Hamilton Circle line at Newton.

Trains approaching Motherwell from Holytown or Coatbridge Central, cross the WCML to travel onto the Hamilton Circle, before calling at Airbles. Between here and Hamilton Central, a spur from Larkhall joins. The line then passes through Hamilton West, Blantyre and Newton before rejoining the WCML and the main route of the Argyle line between here and Cambuslang.

The line then leaves the WCML for the last time at Rutherglen. Between Dalmarnock and Exhibition Centre (previously called 'Stobcross', then 'Finnieston'), the line runs below ground. On this section, there are ghost stations at Glasgow Green and underneath Glasgow Cross (adjacent to the Tollbooth) both constructed by the Glasgow Central Railway - the original builders of the 6.25 mile long underground line between Rutherglen and Stobcross. Today the frontage of Glasgow Green station still exists, whilst the entrance to Glasgow Cross station have been turned into ventilation ducts which can still be seen on the traffic island between Trongate and London Road. West of Stobcross, to Partick and Hyndland, a section of the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway tunnel towards Partick Central, together with a 1970s constructed tunnel for eastbound trains, and a link ramp for westbound trains are used to reach the North British Railway line from Queen Street station.

Going North-westwards, Partick is currently undergoing a multi million pound redevelopment to create and improve the access to this busy interchange station, the fifth busiest in Scotland. [The usage information (Station Entries and Station Exits) is based on ticket sales in the financial year 2002/03 and covers all National Rail stations. [http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/performance_statistics/stat_usage/stat_usage_notes.pdf Continued usage notes] , and [http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/performance_statistics/stat_usage/stat_usage.exc Excel format table for all stations] available.] The Argyle Line connects to the North Clyde Line, and shares the same track. Trains then either travel towards Dalmuir via Yoker, or go via Anniesland to Milngavie or Dalmuir and on Sundays, Balloch via Yoker.

Service patterns

1979

From the opening in November 1979, the basic weekday service was one train per hour from Dumbarton to the Hamilton Circle (anticlockwise), and one train from Dumbarton to Hamilton Circle (clockwise, including Newton), two trains per hour from Dalmuir to Hamilton Circle (anticlockwise) and two trains per hour to Hamilton Circle (clockwise, including Newton), and one train per hour between Milngavie and Lanark (non-stop from Argyle Street to Motherwell).

2006/07

On Mondays to Saturdays the off peak service is two limited stop trains per hour (train/h) between Larkhall and Dalmuir via Singer; one train/h between Motherwell and Milngavie via Blantyre; one train/h between Lanark and Milngavie via Holytown & Blantyre; one train/h between Motherwell and Dalmuir via Bellshill & Yoker; and one train/h between Lanark and Dalmuir via Bellshill & Yoker. There are peak services to Coatbridge Central & Carstairs.

On Sundays there are two train/h between Motherwell and Balloch via Blantyre & Yoker; one train/h between Lanark and Milngavie via Bellshill; and one train/h between Motherwell and Milngavie via Bellshill.

2007/08 (from December 2007)

On Mondays to Saturdays the off peak service is two limited stop trains per hour (train/h) between Larkhall and Dalmuir via Singer; one train/h between Motherwell and Milngavie via Blantyre; one train/h between Lanark and Milngavie via Holytown & Blantyre; one train/h between Motherwell and Dalmuir via Bellshill & Yoker; and one train/h between Lanark and Dalmuir via Bellshill & Yoker. There are peak services to Coatbridge Central & Carstairs.

On Sundays there are two train/h between Motherwell and Balloch via Blantyre & Yoker; one train/h between Lanark and Milngavie via Bellshill; one train/h between Motherwell and Milngavie via Bellshill; and one train/h between Larkhall and Partick.

Rolling stock

At its opening, the staple rolling stock on the Argyle Line was the brand new Class 314 electric multiple units. These were accompanied by a number of the older Class 303 "Blue Train" sets from the North Clyde route. After the 303s were finally retired in 2002, the route was operated by a mixture of new Class 334 Alstom "Juniper" units, alongside a small number of 1980s vintage Class 318 trains cascaded from the Ayrshire routes, with the original Class 314 sets transferred to the Cathcart Circle.

Class 320 trains cannot operate in this line, due to the tight tunnels between Anderston and Bridgeton.Fact|date=July 2007

Class 320 trains do not run on this line in passenger service due to the previous positioning of platform monitors, which were incompatible with the driver's position within the driving cab. They do however use the line when making movements for maintenance purposes.Fact|date=February 2008

References