Shotts Line.html



Shotts Line
Legend Glasgow Central ( St Enoch) Cambuslang Uddingston Bellshill Holytown Carfin Cleland Hartwood Shotts Fauldhouse Breich Addiewell West Calder Livingston South Kirknewton Curriehill Wester Hailes Kingsknowe Slateford Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley

The Shotts Line is a suburban railway line linking Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts in Scotland. The route from Glasgow to Shotts is part of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport network. Between Glasgow Central and Uddingston, the line is shared with the West Coast Main Line (WCML), before branching off towards Bellshill, rejoining the Edinburgh branch of the WCML at Midcalder Junction.

Glasgow to Edinburgh services

Although the line links the two cities, it is not the major service between the cities with the journey taking around twice as long as the frequent main Glasgow Queen Street-Edinburgh service via Falkirk.

History of route

The majority of the route follows ex-Caledonian Railway metals, with the North British Railway at the Edinburgh end.

• Glasgow Central Lines (CR)
• Polloc and Govan Railway between Eglinton Street Tunnels and Rutherglen (CR)
• Clydesdale Junction Railway between Rutherglen and Uddingston (CR)
• Cleland and Midcalder Line between Uddingston and Kirknewton (CR)
• Caledonian Railway Main Line between Kirknewton and Haymarket
• Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway between Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley (NBR)

Transport studies

In 2002, the Scottish Association Public Transport (SAPT) published a report suggesting that electrification of the Shotts Line would open up the Glasgow suburban electric network to Edinburgh and beyond, principally linking the capital to the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (timetabled for completion in 2009). This has been proposed as an alternative to the Glasgow Crossrail scheme, since it would not depend on the heavily used North Clyde Line, and would also provide a more direct electric link between Edinburgh and Glasgow without using the longer route via the WCML through Carstairs Junction.

Stations

The Shotts line serves the following stations:

• Glasgow Central
• Cambuslang
  • connections for Larkhall and services via Newton and Blantyre
• Uddingston
• Bellshill
  • connections to Motherwell, Hamilton West, Hamilton Central and Lanark railway station.
• Holytown
• Carfin
• Cleland
• Hartwood
• Shotts - Up to here is also part of the Strathclyde network.
• Fauldhouse
• Breich
• Addiewell
• West Calder
• Livingston South
• Kirknewton
  • from here is within the City of Edinburgh
• Curriehill
• Wester Hailes
• Kingsknowe
• Slateford
• Haymarket
• Edinburgh Waverley

Electrification

Parts of the route are electrified using the 25kV overhead system. These are:-

• Glasgow Central to Holytown
• Midcalder Junction (between Livingston South and Kirknewton on the Edinburgh Branch of the Caledonian Railway) and Edinburgh Waverley

The line follows the electrified West Coast Main Line as far as Uddingston Junction where it branches off to the east. Until Holytown Junction the line is electrified and also used by Argyle Line services (as far as Mossend West Junction). From Holytown the un-electrified line continues through open countryside past Shotts and joins the electrified Edinburgh Branch of the Caledonian Railway (part of the WCML) at Midcalder Junction. The central section between Holytown and Midcalder Junction is not electrified.

Train services

2006/07

Most of the stations between WCML and Edinburgh Haymarket are served principally by trains on the Shotts Line, which are operated by First ScotRail, however they are also served by electric trains between Glasgow Central and North Berwick (via Motherwell and Carstairs).

Train services on the line are provided by First ScotRail Class 156 DMUs on an hourly basis from early morning to late night. The services via Motherwell and Carstairs are provided by First Scotrail Class 156, Class 158 (rarely seen) DMUs or Class 322 EMUs on a peak time only basis.

2007/08

Since the December 2007 timetable change it became increasingly common to find Class 158 and occasional Class 170 units being used on these services.

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2006)