Helensburgh Central

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

Operations on the Day

Today I have my first opportunity to travel the Borders line to Tweedbank closed in 1969 and re-opened in September 2015 and once we get off the Edinburgh main line the first few stations are close together.  Noticeably the car parks along the line (and at many other Scotrail stations) are very full.  As we get further along the line the stations are more widely spread and I know from driving through the Borders Country the much touted extension towards Carlisle passes through many sheep but no real conurbations which will provide traffic.  A pity it was not constructed as electrified line and my understanding is that spare capacity for additional services is limited – but decent patronage.

Highlight on the return journey is to spot a deer in an adjacent field which seems unsure if it should runaway.

My next journey is westwards on the line to Helensburgh Central via Bathgate  on a line previously either part closed or freight only which was reinstated in 2010 as an electrified line and now attracts significant passenger usage through the main Central Belt of Scotland.  West of Glasgow it eventually joins the line to the West Highlands before reaching Helensburgh Central.

Retracing my steps slightly I am now going to visit a pair of branch termini – Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond and Milngavie where I suddenly realise that my incoming train does not form the outgoing connection which is pawing the ground awaiting a green signal at the other platform.  I was already at the front pair of doors and walk around the end of the two trains and onto the rear doors of the unit which is ready to depart.

That was scary!

This runs through to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level and I ascend into the modern main station.  Here I have time for a cup of coffee before joining an I7C (HST stock) for a train to Inverness.  For the first time today I am in real comfort in some well maintained and recently updated rolling stock and with decent power these units are providing some real quality for travellers as we head up to the Highlands.  This is very definitely the way to travel.

The line to Tweedbank is mainly agricultural as we get away from Edinburgh whilst even the Central Belt line via Bathgate is not entirely devoid of some open fields, although more industrialised than earlier.  West of Glasgow the line runs along the Clyde river – largely mud on this tidal area but later in the week it will be passed covered with water.  Once heading towards the Highlands the landscape starts changing significantly as we travel towards Inverness especially as we parallel the A9 for a large chunk of the journey and are typically moving faster than the road traffic as we traverse the Cairngorms National Park which covers the line from around Killiecrankie until a little way short of Tomatin.  Lovely to watch the world go by!

Lunch was easily obtained when I first arrived at Edinburgh this morning and consumed whilst using the Bathgate line.  Pre-planning meant that dinner was booked for the Mustard Seed in Inverness and this is located along the river front and is recommended.  Many mussels and followed by an some excellent venison.

The four branch termini (Tweedbank, Helensburgh Central, Balloch (sadly the onward length Balloch Pier is long gone) and Milngavie have not previously been visited so quite a bit of new track covered today and one of the most interesting changes was Westerton where I caught a train once before and remember it being a little bit of a wasteland.  It is now developed all around, with relatively modern developments showing a huge increase in residential development in the area.

Trains were generally all well used and time keeping was generally excellent throughout the day.

Rolling Stock

On the Borders line Class 170 with first class accommodation is used, although it was not clear that first class tickets are available and indeed there seems to be a war on first class on many journeys – one wonders why operators are so keen to forego revenue from first class (probably slightly warped view as I was travelling on a first class ticket ahead of a particular journey later in the week).

The electric operations are a variety of class 334, 318 and 320 units notably one of each of the latter two paired up and this must be deliberate to run the two types together for some reason.  All workmanlike and varying degrees of dirt.  Heavily used workhorses and nothing wrong with that.

The I7C units are a class apart of course and have the benefit of a lot of spare power (compared to the weight) to get trains moving rapidly and then to hold decent speeds on the main lines.  Very comfortable seating and inevitably a snooze or two happened as we headed northwards.

Ticket Checks

I found Edinburgh rather strange – a ticket was needed to get through the barrier off of the sleeper but joining the train to Helensburgh later did not mean passing through barriers as I recall.  On train the trip on the Class 170 there were ticket checks on the train and the same was true on all of the electric services where the checking was regular.  Given that there are often two units coupled on these services I have to assume that both units are each carrying revenue staff which means three people on a train – a long way from Thameslink services!

Summary

An excellent day – not the best of weather but that matters little when on a train and it improved in the Highlands.  The excellent time keeping and rail activities made it all straightforward with little worry or concern.  A solidly boring and reliable railway today.