Aberdeen Crossrail

Aberdeen Crossrail is a proposed railway development in Scotland, first proposed within the 2003 Scottish Strategic Rail Study. It is supported by Nestrans, the north-east of Scotland's voluntary regional transport partnership.

Aberdeen Crossrail
Overview
StatusIn service
OwnerNational Rail
LocaleAberdeen
Scotland
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
Inverurie
 Dyce ( to )
 Aberdeen
Portlethen
 Stonehaven
 Laurencekirk

Crossrail aims to provide a frequent, cross-city rail service between Inverurie, Aberdeen and Stonehaven, coupled with new stations.

It proposed upgrading existing train services from Aberdeen to Inverurie to a regular half-hourly service, adding more services between Aberdeen and Stonehaven, and opening new stations along existing lines in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. It could also bring about the re-opening of lines and stations between Aberdeen and the towns of Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Banchory.

The project is seen as vital in reducing traffic congestion within Aberdeen. Currently, only 12% of north-east residents live within 1 km of a railway station, but if all of the Crossrail proposals were to go ahead, this could rise to 25%. This would aid commuting into the city centre and provide a viable alternative to using the car.[1]

Feasibility study

The Scottish Executive began a £400,000 feasibility study into the project in June 2005, the outcome of which was expected to be announced by March 2007.[2]

This feasibility study into the project indicated that Crossrail could best be delivered on an incremental basis. Nestrans' Draft Rail Action Plan 2010-2021 considered how to achieve frequency and service improvements in the short term, leading to the opening of new stations - such as at Kintore - and more significant service enhancements over time.

Laurencekirk Station was re-opened on 18 May 2009. Network Rail has completed a GRIP2 study to investigate options for Aberdeen - Inverness line improvements, including consideration of a new station at Kintore. The report was published on the Transport Scotland website on 22 March 2011. This confirmed that an hourly service frequency and two hour journey time would be feasible. The Stage 3 study examining the range of options in greater detail is underway and is expected to be completed during 2012.[1]

Implementation

Transport Scotland announced in March 2016 that the scheme will go ahead as part of a wider timetable recast in 2018.[3] The new service will run between Inverurie and Montrose, serving all existing intermediate stations and one at Kintore from 2019 (now rescheduled to May 2020). The Aberdeen to Inverurie section will then have a 30-minute interval service in operation. Infrastructure enhancements on the Aberdeen to Inverness line (including the redoubling of track from Aberdeen to Inverurie) are also scheduled to be completed by this time, as part of a £170 million route upgrade project.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Crossrail". Transport Partnership for Aberdeen City and Shire.
  2. "SSRS Study". Scottish Executive.
  3. Transport Scotland (15 March 2016). "'Rail revolution' means 200 more services and 20,000 more seats for Scots passengers" (Press release). Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  4. "Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Improvement Project, Scotland". Railway-technology.com. Retrieved 19 August 2016.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.