£9bn upgrade for west coast line

Tilting trains will reduce journey times

The long-awaited full upgrade of the west coast main line is going ahead, it has been confirmed.

The project, which will cost about £9bn, aims to cut journey times between Glasgow to London by 45 minutes by 2006.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said that the work would bring real benefits.

The green light for the project was announced on Monday by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA).

Confirmation came as the body which oversees Britain's railways outlined its plans to improve the operation and performance of the train network.

It also published figures showing no improvement in punctuality on British railways over the last year.

It is something that is long overdue and I am very glad that government has been able to find the money to do it

Alistair Darling

The upgrade of the west coast main line will eventually see 125 miles per hour tilting trains running on the route.

A short, sharp shock approach will be taken to carrying out the modernising work.

As the upgrade goes ahead, there will be two long blockades of the line in the hope of minimising disruption.

Mr Darling told BBC Scotland that journey times from London to Glasgow would be cut from just over five hours to just over four-and-a-half hours by next year.

"When it is fully in place there will be trains running mostly every hour and they will take just over four-and-a-quarter hours," Mr Darling said.

"It is nearly £9bn of investment, it is virtually renovating the west coast main line.

'Enormous benefits'

"It is something that is long overdue and I am very glad that government has been able to find the money to do it.

"It will bring enormous benefits and provide a very real alternative for people travelling between central Scotland and the south of England as opposed to driving by car going by plane, so it is a very very good initiative."

Scottish Transport Minister Nicol Stephen said: "We welcome the SRA's strategy for modernising the west coast main line, which will deliver a reliable, high-quality inter-city service between Scottish cities and south of the border with increased capacity for growth on the rail network.

It was a bit like Holyrood on rails, we didn't know the final cost of the project and we didn't know when it was going to be delivered

Robert Samson,
Rail Passengers' Council

"The SRA is working to deliver a more reliable, better-quality service for passengers and freight, using the existing rail network to its best effect, and we welcome these improvements."

Chairman of the SRA, Richard Bowler, said: "There will be improved services to Glasgow, some new services to Edinburgh as well, a much more frequent service and much better journey time."

And consumer group the Rail Passengers' Council welcomed a final timescale being placed on the project.

Secretary Robert Samson said: "It was a bit like Holyrood on rails, we didn't know the final cost of the project and we didn't know when it was going to be delivered.

Run on time

"But today the SRA have made their announcement, they've reduced the cost by some £3bn and there's a definite timescale when passengers can see the full benefit of modernisation."

Meanwhile, SRA figures suggested that about a fifth of passenger trains do not run on time in Scotland.

Its report showed that 83.8% of ScotRail trains and 74.8% of Great North Eastern Railway services arrived at their destination on time between January and March this year.

Those figures rose from 79.4% and 69.2% respectively during the same period last year.