Published: Wednesday, 19th March, 2008 12:00
Railway timetable is in a bit of a muddle
By Jamie MacDonald
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Confusion surrounds the date when trains will be running on the new Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine line.
THERE appears to be confusion over the long awaited opening date of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail line.
As the light at the end of the tunnel draws nearer regarding the completion of the project, confirmation of exactly when trains will start to arrive has still to be confirmed.
Clackmannanshire Council’s Railway Fayre to celebrate the reopening of the railway takes place on Saturday 17 May and the company in charge of integrating the new station with existing bus services released a statement this week suggesting Sunday 18 May as the big day.
However, Transport Scotland – the Government body in charge of the project – is adamant no date has been fixed, but that everything is on schedule for the line to open in the summer.
A spokesperson for Transport Scotland said, “Works on the SAK railway continue to the revised programme for completion in Spring 2008 and opening in Summer 2008.”
When contacted by the Advertiser, Clackmannanshire Council said that the date chosen for the fayre bares no relation to the actual opening date of the 13 mile rail line.
JMP Consultants – the company in charge of ensuring as many residents as possible have access to the station - announced the 18 May date on its website.
The statement from JMP says, “After a break of 40 years, passenger rail services are to return to Alloa in Clackmannanshire from 18 May, and JMP has won the job of ensuring that as many of the Wee County residents as possible have access to the station by integration of bus and rail services.
“The study will investigate if the road network and bus facilities in Alloa town centre need to be changed to allow better integration between bus and rail, while also maintaining or improving access to the town centre by bus.”
In an attempt to clear up the confusion the Advertiser contacted Scotrail and SEStran – the regional transport partnership for South East Scotland – who both referred us back to Transport Scotland.
The Transport Scotland spokesperson added that although the line would not open until summer, work was ongoing and signalling and telecommunication installation works were now complete.
Safety inspections are also now being carried out by Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation.
She continued, “The level crossings at Cambus and Blackgrange are substantially complete.
“The project will undertake major engineering works in the Stirling area over the Easter weekend. These will complete installation of most of the equipment required to allow the new railway to tie into the existing operational railway.”
The railway was originally scheduled to arrive last summer at a cost of £35 million, but it has gradually been pushed back with costs also increasing drastically to a figure now believed to be over £70 million.
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