Between 31 October and 12 November, the world’s leaders will descend on Glasgow for the COP26 climate change conference. Tens of thousands of people are expected to join them as delegates, protesters or lobbyists, and Scotland’s railway will take the brunt of moving many of these people.
ScotRail Operations Director David Simpson says planning has been under way for almost two years. COP26 was originally due to be held in 2020, but the Covid pandemic deferred it until this year, providing valuable extra time to ensure transport plans are as refined and robust as possible.
‘We took as a starting point the plans made for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014’ Mr Simpson says. With similar pressures on Scotland’s transport network to those of COP26, the rail aspect worked well, providing a valuable springboard for these preparations.
Moving tens of thousands of extra people has required a co-ordinated, multi-agency approach, with ScotRail, Avanti West Coast, LNER, TransPennine Express and Caledonian Sleeper working closely with Network Rail, Transport Scotland and the British Transport Police from the start. However, while this undoubtedly presents challenges, Mr Simpson believes there are real op…
