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Chunnel trains aim to attract more Scots

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Published Date: 12 September 2007
EUROSTAR yesterday predicted the number of Scottish passengers using its trains would triple over the next five years but admitted measures to attract more foreign rail passengers to Scotland had yet to be devised.
The rail operator hopes its services to Paris and Brussels will become more attractive when its London terminus moves from Waterloo to St Pancras in November. The refurbished station is five minutes' walk from King's Cross, where GNER trains from Scotland arrive, and ten minutes from Euston, the terminus for Virgin Trains and First ScotRail sleepers.

Through tickets from Scotland go on sale in November, but the Scottish Tourism Forum has criticised the lack of such fares for travellers from Europe.



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  • Last Updated: 11 September 2007 10:45 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Channel Tunnel
 
1

Horrible Cankers esq,

From the depths of a snotty hankie 12/09/2007 04:46:21

Pain in the erse...why bother moving it in the first place...and mibbe ye'd attract more customers if ye cut the price...especially at Christmas...money grabbing blood sucking leeches...exploiting me and my fellow 'terrified of flying' ilk.......gawd this grog's good!

As in cold remedy....

2

SouthernSkye,

12/09/2007 05:56:14

I bet it's only moving from Waterloo as that is a word the French are not too enamoured with ;-)

3

Jeeemy,

12/09/2007 08:28:30

What happened to the plan to run Euro star trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh?
Yes it was another f***-up using two electric systems in the "London" area meant that the trains purchased to do that and the sleeper ones were sold off. Some back to Canada where they were built.
Now the new ones to run from St Pancras are being built in Japan, and the media have already “christened” them “Bullet Trains” which they are not. A Quick visit to York by train would be enlightening and thence to the National Railway Museum, where they could see what a “Bullet Train” and stop printing this rubbish.

4

Dunaskin,

Edinburgh 12/09/2007 09:21:17

Suspect that a tripling of Scottish Eurostar users won't be hard to achieve, starting from a low base. The problem with the original plans to run Eurostars to Edinburgh and Glasgow is that the start of cheap airlines wrecked the business case. The trains were never introduced, but were mothballed The sleepers were sold to Canada, and GNER use a few of the day-sets for the White Rose, KX-Leeds. But even that needed EC approval as the trains were paid for with regional development funds.
The Japanese Hitachi trains are for high-speed commuter trains on the Channel tunnel route, but not (I believe) cross-Channel. And they'll be borrowed for the Olympic shuttles.

5

Dougie Douglas,

Brisbane 12/09/2007 11:12:16

hmm

a rather familiar sounding tale

6

The Ghost of Sir William Arrol,

The Forthy Bridge 12/09/2007 12:29:46

Some corrections to the above comments are required.

The regional Eurostar train sets are currently in use by SNCF (the French railways) to add capacity to their high speed domestic services. The 185 mph trains were deemed too expensive, sophisticated (being able to run on dual voltage catenary AC or third rail DC) power hungry and wrongly geared to run on the GNER White Rose service to Leeds at only 125 miles an hour. The trains were withdrawn and returned to the leasing company.

A Mk4 Mallard set hauled by a Class 91 locomotive can do the same job at 125 mph (The ECML speed limit) at lower operating costs.

The Hitachi Javelin commuter trains cruise at 140 mph and will use spare timetable capacity between the Eurostar services to provide a domestic service between London and Kent.

The ECML has a maximum speed limit of 125 mph on the better stretches of track, but there are many miles of the route where curvature and structural speed limits are considerably lower. The flashing green signals (5 aspect) which enabled 140 mph on the straight bits are no longer permitted under EU regulations and trains are now limited to 125 mph.

What is really needed is a properly engineered high speed railway alignment between Scotland and London with in cab signalling and grade separated junctions - a proper LGV line.

It will be cheaper just to build an entirely new line than to try and upgrade the slow geometry left by the Victorians.

7

AMNo2tiredofmoaningtothemoderator,

Biting his nails until the 90 minutes are up. 12/09/2007 13:03:30

I'm hugely impressed that £50 billion means I can now get from London to Folkestone 20 minutes faster.


 

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