ScotRail

ScotRail Rèile na h-Alba

Basic information
Concession and duration	Abellio ScotRail April 1, 2015 - March 31, 2025
Parent company	Abellio
Seat	Atrium Court 50 Waterloo St Glasgow G2 6HQ Scotland
Employee	4,850
statistics
fleet	295 (2016)
Train stations	346
Main region	Scotland
website
www.scotrail.co.uk

Routes of the ScotRail network (as of 2018)

Rail transport in Scotland is operated under the ScotRail brand ( Scottish Gaelic Rèile na h-Alba ) . The franchise includes all suburban, regional and inner-Scottish InterCity connections. Until 2014, this also included the daily Caledonian Sleeper night trains from Glasgow , Edinburgh and Inverness to Euston Station in London . ScotRail does not include long-distance daytime trains to England via the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line .

history

Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station

The British Rail network was divided into regions following the implementation of the Transport Act 1947 . Unlike, for example, the Western Region or the Southern Region , which largely corresponded to the previous networks of the private predecessor companies, a separate region was created for Scotland in which the Scottish network parts of the former London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) were merged. From 1983 the region acted under the brand name "ScotRail". As a regional unit of British Rail, ScotRail existed until 1997. In that year the privatization process of British Rail , which began as a result of the Railways Act 1993 , was completed. A separate franchise was formed and awarded for Scotland under the established brand name, which, with the exception of daytime long-distance trains to England, comprised all passenger transport offers in the Scottish railway network.

Until October 17, 2004, the Scottish franchise was operated by the National Express Group . From that point on took FirstGroup the franchise after it was able to prevail against National Express to tender of the British Ministry of Transport. The name was then changed to First ScotRail . In September 2008 Transport Scotland announced that all First ScotRail trains would be repainted in a new blue. Since then the slogan has been ScotRail: Scotland's Railway (Eng. "Scotland's Railway").

On October 8, 2014, First ScotRail confirmed that the franchise will move to Abellio on April 1, 2015 . Abellio took over operations under the new name Abellio ScotRail on April 1, 2015 for ten years. The two night train offers of the Caledonian Sleeper , which have been operated as a separate franchise by the service company Serco since 2015, have been outsourced . In January 2019, Abellio had to apologize for the inadequate quality of the service after protests by passengers about delays and train cancellations. In December 2018, Abellio ScotRail was asked by the responsible Scottish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Michael Matheson , to present a plan of action to remedy defects and improve quality. Unions and passenger associations demanded that Abellio withdraw the franchise.

Route network

As with all UK rail franchises, the ScotRail franchise does not include the rail infrastructure , which is owned by Network Rail . The total length of the routes traveled by ScotRail is approximately 1,700 miles (2,735 km). In 2004/5, First ScotRail carried 66.1 million passengers, 45 million of them in the Greater Glasgow area.

The heart of the network is the Glasgow high-speed rail system , most of which is electrified with 25 KV. It comprises 183 stations and is the UK's largest commuter train system to London . The largest train stations in Glasgow are Central and Queen Street . Until 2005, First ScotRail operated the traffic in Strathclyde under the brand name of SPT , which sets the timetables and fares, as well as providing the rolling stock . Only the Glasgow Subway and a few less important ferry connections are operated by SPT itself.

The railway network around Edinburgh is much less dense than around Glasgow. The main train station is Waverley . Express trains run between the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness (on the Highland Main Line ) and Aberdeen . The better-known branch lines include the West Highland Line (Glasgow - Mallaig / Oban), the Kyle of Lochalsh Line (Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh) and the Far North Line (Inverness - Thurso). The demand is low, but these lines continue to exist, mainly for tourist reasons. They have been significantly upgraded from 2007 - in cooperation with local communities, commuter initiatives and politics. Train stations on these routes, which have been closed for years, are also to be reopened for commuter traffic. In September 2015, the franchise expanded to include the rebuilt route of the Waverley Line , which has been closed since 1969, between Edinburgh and Tweedbank , which has since been referred to as the Borders Railway .

Almost all of the 336 train stations in Scotland (as of 2014) are operated by the respective ScotRail franchise owner, but they are owned by the infrastructure company Network Rail . Exceptions are the train station at Glasgow Prestwick Airport (owned and operated by the Airport Company), Dunbar (National Express East Coast), Edinburgh Waverley (Network Rail) and Glasgow Central (Network Rail). Lockerbie Train Station is also part of the franchise , although there is no ScotRail train service.

The franchise does not include long-distance services to England, alongside the trains on WCML ( Virgin Trains ) and ECML ( East Coast ) to London, as well as First TransPennine Express trains from Edinburgh and Glasgow to destinations such as Manchester and Blackpool .

Rolling stock

ScotRail mainly uses railcars , as is common across the UK. The Class 156 “ Super Sprinters ”, Class 158 “ Express Sprinters ” and the Class 170 “Turbostars” are in use on the non-electrified routes . Electric railcars that are in use are Class 314, Class 318, Class 320, Class 322 and the modern Class 334 "Junipers". In July 2008 an order was placed for 38 new Class 380 “Desiro”, which went into operation at the end of 2010. The night trains, which belonged to ScotRail until April 2015 and have been operated as an independent franchise by Serco since then, are composed of Mark 3 wagon compositions and pulled by EWS locomotives.

Since December 2018, High Speed Trains (14 4-car + 2 power cars and 13 5-car + 2 power cars) that were previously in operation at Great Western have taken over the services between Edinburgh / Glasgow and Aberdeen / Inverness .

Existing vehicles
model series	image	Type	V / max	passenger cars	number	Construction year
British class 43		Diesel locomotive	201 km / h		54	1975-82
British class Mark 3		Passenger cars	201 km / h	4 and 5	121	1975-82
British class 68		Diesel locomotive	161 km / h		2	2013-2014
British class Mark 2		Passenger cars	161 km / h	6th	12	1973-1975
British class 156		Railcar (diesel)	120 km / h	2	48	1987-1989
British class 158			145 km / h	2	46	1989-1992
British class 170			161 km / h	3	55	1998-2005
British class 314		Railcar ( electric )	121 km / h	3	16	1979
British class 318			145 km / h	3	21st	1986-1987
British class 320			145 km / h	3	22nd	1990
British class 320			160 km / h	3	7th	1989-1990
British class 334			145 km / h	3	40	1999-2002
British class 380			160 km / h	3	22nd	2009-2011
British class 380			160 km / h	4th	16	2009-2011
British class 365			161 km / h	4th	10	1994-1995
British class 385		Railcar ( electric )	161 km / h	3	46	since 2015
British class 385		Railcar ( electric )	161 km / h	4th	24	since 2015