- Whifflet Line
The Whifflet Line is one of the lines within the
Strathclyde suburban rail network inScotland .History
The line was built between 1863 and 1865 as the
Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway , part of theCaledonian Railway . It opened to goods traffic (mainly coal and iron) in September 1865 and to passengers in August 1866. It has been in continuous operation ever since. Stations in the first service on the line were at Carmyle, Broomhouse (now Mount Vernon), Baillieston, Langloan and Whifflet. Passenger services ceased in the1960 s following theBeeching Axe Between 1972 and 1974 period scheduled passenger trains between Glasgow Central and Perth used the route. For the following twenty years, the route was only used for freight and diverted passenger services. However, the line reopened to scheduled passenger services with intermediate stations on4 October 1993 .Line description
The modern line currently serves 7 stations. It connects parts of south east
Glasgow ,Bargeddie andCoatbridge to Glasgow city centre. Between Glasgow Central andRutherglen , the line shares the same track as theWest Coast Main Line (and is hence electrified up until here), before branching off in a north easterly direction towards Coatbridge (this section is not electrified).Services
The route is operated by
First ScotRail on behalf ofStrathclyde Partnership for Transport as part of the larger Strathclyde network. The line is not electrified and services are operated using Class 156diesel multiple unit s. Currently, there are three diagrams for trains operating on this line, all of which are dedicated diagrams.2007 service pattern
Trains operate at a half hour frequency. All services are scheduled to run as two car trains only, although a four carriage service is technically possible should the need arise in the future.
There is currently no Sunday service on this line, however a reduced timetable occasionally operates on Sundays over the Christmas period, to accommodate the extra shoppers. One of these extra trains per hour is usually extended to terminate at Shotts.
Future developments
In
2006 ,Network Rail announced tentative proposals to electrify the Rutherglen - Whifflet section, as part of a £1.4bn upgrade to Scotland's railways. The main benefits of this scheme would appear to provide an enhanced frequency for the Whifflet-Central routes, and to provide an electric diversionary path for long distance WCML services.Sources
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* [http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/gf/strath%20north%20east%20book.pdf Page 25 - First ScotRail timetable] for this route.
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