Edinburgh Park railway station being kept off mainline route for sake of 30 seconds
07/03/08
If Edinburgh Park Railway Station were to gain mainline status on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route it would only add 30 seconds to the overall journey time, according to a recent study announced today.
New Edinburgh Limited (NEL), the developers of Edinburgh Park, commissioned Faber Maunsell to undertake an initial study to look at the economic case and operating feasibility of adding an Edinburgh Park stop to the Edinburgh – Glasgow mainline service to demonstrate the positive impact it would have for the West Edinburgh business economy.
The initial findings established that:
• The inclusion of an Edinburgh Park stop on the existing half hourly eastbound Glasgow - Edinburgh (via Croy, Falkirk High and Haymarket) service could be accommodated without increasing the overall journey time.
• The inclusion of an Edinburgh Park stop on the exiting half hourly westbound Edinburgh - Glasgow (via Haymarket, Falkirk High and Croy) service could be accommodated with an increase in overall journey time of only 30 seconds.
• Annual patronage at the Edinburgh Park halt could increase by approximately 200,000 in the first year (900 passengers a day,) highlighting the significant effect Edinburgh Park’s inclusion could play on public transport patronage across Scotland’s central belt.
• Inclusion of the stop on this service would likely have a positive economic present value of benefit.
The Scottish Government will not commit to the inclusion of the railway station on the mainline despite major commitments from the previous administration to have it on the timetable by December 2007. NEL continues to gain a great deal of cross-party support for the rail station inclusion, despite the Government maintaining that it is not a transport priority for Edinburgh.
Pamela Grant, development director, New Edinburgh Limited, said: “Edinburgh Park is Scotland’s fourth largest economic area and west Edinburgh as a whole is a prospering business district. Strong transport links are fundamental to the area’s success and the inclusion of Edinburgh Park Railway Station on the Glasgow/Edinburgh mainline is an essential provision for the local business community.
“The £4.5 million investment in the station, made by New Edinburgh Limited and CEC, was based on an assurance from the Scottish Executive that trains on the Glasgow/Edinburgh route would stop at The Park – to date the Scottish Government has not delivered on this promise, clearly ignoring the economic and environmental benefits it would generate. This also appears to be a direct contradiction of government claims that it is committed to reducing car journeys and therefore C02 emissions.
"New Edinburgh Limited does strongly welcome the continued cross-party political support to help drive forward our case to grant Edinburgh Park station mainline status.”
Previous research has also shown that 85% of employees travelling to Glasgow for business would use the train for their journey either occasionally or regularly if there was a direct link. For one company, if a direct rail link was introduced, the number of staff who would commute by train would increase from 3% to 16%. These indicate the strength of employee support for the mainline status, also helping to ease traffic congestion and promoting ‘green’ travel alternatives.
Edinburgh Park is the largest business park in Scotland with approximately 7,000 employees based at the 21 leading UK organisations on the Park. There are a further 18,000 employed in the nearby area, who would be served by the rail station, including the RBS HQ at Gogarburn.