INVESTMENT PROMPTS PASSENGER GROWTH

THEO STEEL EXAMINES TRENDS ON ROUTES IN THE CENTRAL BELT

A brief foray to Scotland via the East Coast main line caused me to research recent passenger growth trends.

The number of new houses near the railway on the route in from Dunbar/Drem was particularly noticeable. The service to these stations is irregular hourly with extras in the peaks; some services run through to Glasgow. With the increasing number of longer-distance trains proposed there are likely to be more issues than power supply given that the route is double track, albeit with some scope to add back.

Arriving at Edinburgh Waverley – where traffic has grown strongly despite the disruption during electrification in the central belt (Table 1) – I was impressed by the additional platforms and other modifications. That said, further growth will require more than incremental improvements.

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