GB RailRover – Day 6

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

Having spent the night in Newcastle an Azuma soon has me back in Edinburgh; it is misty this morning so the views are not so good as earlier in the week.   A very early plan for the week had me spending an additional night in Edinburgh to cover some local services – and this return allows those to be covered.

I leave Edinburgh in the direction from which I arrived as I am heading to North Berwick for a little section of new track down the branch line before re-visiting Edinburgh once again and I then take two trips over the Forth Bridge as I circumnavigate the Fife Circle – there are few trains around the circle during the week but are common at the weekend and so I cover the curve into Glenrothes-with-Thornton.  This section re-opened to passenger traffic in 1989 with the station being constructed in 1992 with the oddity that the two platforms are both capable of bi-directional operation.  A return visit to this area will be required from June 2024 when the branch to Leven is re-opened to passenger traffic but these are to be routed by the coastal route so not covering the west to north curve at Thornton Junction.

Dodge of the day when planning the detail was to detrain at Haymarket and consequently make a connection onto the next service without having to run around like a headless chicken – simply up to the concourse and down the other side – if I had thought about it I might even have had time for a cup of coffee but better safe than sorry!

I leave Edinburgh (Haymarket) for the last time on this holiday by another one of the routes to Glasgow – this time via Shotts which is less developed than the route via Bathgate take earlier in the trip.  The train rolls into Glasgow Central and originally my plan was to use my time here to traverse the Glasgow subway and see the new trains  currently being introduced.

However I will be arriving in Oban far too late to eat.  The meal last night was poor – and I have not had a really decent meal since Inverness.  A little review of restaurant possibilities throws up a branch of the Gaucho chain conveniently half way between Central and Queen Street stations!  As it is mid-afternoon the absence of a booking is not a problem (earlier visits to Scotland had taught me that without a booking you can rapidly be turned away from many restaurants so care is needed).  An excellent steak (far better than one in the Station Hotel Aberdeen) and a glass of Rioja are very welcome given my travels.  I sit and reflect on how excellent most of the time keeping has been over recent days and a decent meal is far better than travelling around the Glasgow Subway – so another return visit is needed – also to cover most of the rail lines south of the Clyde.

Never having previously been outside a station in Glasgow it is a pleasant walk through the City Centre and the distance between the two main stations is perhaps less than anticipated.

A hugely disappointing event then happened.  The unit for the Oban working is obviously standing on platform 5 for the 18:21 departure.  The gates and announcement are made at about 18:19 – so there is a mad dash of passengers with a fair degree of luggage, bikes and so forth.  And finally at 18:21 the train doors are opened.  Given that there are signs indicating that doors will be closed 30 seconds prior to departure this treatment of passengers is simply wrong.  There is mad panic as people scramble aboard and try to find seats.  I guess incorrectly and sit on the “wrong” side of the train in the rush.  Departure happens at 18:23.

Scotrail this is the second time today when doors open too close to departure time (the train to North Berwick being the other one).  It cannot aid running off on time services and is far from best treatment for passengers.  If you cannot ensure staff are in the right place to allow earlier door opening at terminals then you are not planning correctly.

We again depart out through the north west districts of Glasgow which were visited earlier in the week and then take the line the north-west.  So again I run past the northern edge of the River Clyde and it then passes alongside Gare Loch and Loch Long for an extended distance.  The views then switch to the other side as are running along Loch Lomond, with a slightly different viewpoint to the road which is right on the edge of the Loch.  At Crianlarich the line splits and we head off to the left and running close to the A85 Old Military Road and the River Lochy which we follow until we pick up the River Orchy which feeds Loch Awe.  We then turn up to Loch Etive which we track to Connel Ferry, long replaced by a bridge, before running southwards and then north to run into the much simplified Oban station.  We pass the Royal Scotsman train running away from Oban.

Oban is much reduced and my hotel resides on the former freight depot – but allows bags to be dumped before a drink in an adjacent public house.

Rolling Stock

The Azuma gave a good ride back across the border and the only real question is if they are worth what they have cost as they are expensive.

Scotrail units are not overly clean – hence some photos showing light streaks from the muck on the windows.  Internally they are not too bad given the usage.

All generally in good order with class 156 units to Crianlarich and a single unit to Oban.  Generally good loadings on most services – the early Azuma to Edinburgh was lightly loaded but to my slight surprise the train to North Berwick was well loaded as were the other local trains.  It looked like the majority of passengers on the Oban service were actually going all the way with few leaving at intermediate stations.  I remain of the opinion that ensuring trains can be accessed a few minutes before departure from the commencing terminal so that people can be seated before the journey commences is a good thing.

Ticket Checks

A little sparse today compared with some of the ticket checking undertaken earlier in the week by Scotrail – but still in evidence.

Summary

This turned out to be an excellent way to pass a Sunday avoiding any delays due to engineering.  Inevitably wonderful scenery on the line to Oban – even being sat on the wrong side for the best of it.  The evening sun lighting up the Highland hillsides beautifully.