Karen Boswell, managing director of the Government-owned East Coast rail company, conceded that plans announced by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis last month for a train journey between the capitals of less than four hours were “aspirational” and depended on difficult timetabling negotiations being undertaken by Network Rail.
“The ambition of having a train journey of less than four hours between Edinburgh and London is something Network Rail has given a clear commitment to have a look at and see what’s possible over the next two years. It’s aspirational,” she told The Herald.
“To put it in context, Network Rail has to work with eight train-operating companies and freight operators; on the East Coast Main Line every day there are 2,300 services including freight, of which East Coast provides 136. Timetabling all these services contains some very tricky issues.”
Ms Boswell was speaking at the start of a public consultation on plans to overhaul train timetables on the East Coast Main Line -- the biggest change seen on the prestigious route in more than a decade -- which will include a regular 4hr 20min Edinburgh to London journey every hour and an earlier morning departure from May 2011.
Lord Adonis said ahead of the consultation last month that he aimed to re-introduce the Flying Scotsman service when the temporarily nationalised East Coast franchise is handed back to the private sector, and had asked Network Rail to examine bringing it back within two years.
The iconic service ran continuously between Edinburgh and London, with two trains leaving each capital at 10am every day, from 1862 until the 1980s. The name was later revived by former incumbent Great North Eastern Railways for a sub-four-hour journey but then scrapped in 2002 due to lack of demand.
Transport Scotland, the Government agency with responsibility for rail, has pushed for journeys between Edinburgh and London to be brought under four hours in order to boost the Scottish economy, and has previously expressed disappointment that this did not feature in the forthcoming timetable.
However, industry sources claim the growth of passenger services and freight traffic on the route over the past decade would make it difficult to implement an express, at less than four hours.
Observers have also pointed to the furore that has greeted the current timetable changes, which have already been delayed by six months and could yet be subjected to a legal challenge.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We understand the benefits to passengers of reducing journey times, especially on a long-distance route such as the East Coast Main Line, and will always try to make the best use of the capacity available on such a busy route.
“Over the coming months we will consult with the eight passenger and freight train operators that use the East Coast Main Line to understand what is involved in attempting to introduce sub-four hour services and come to a decision that delivers the most benefits.”
A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said it had welcomed Lord Adonis’s proposals for a sub-four hour journey between Edinburgh and London but was “disappointed” at cuts to services between Glasgow and London King’s Cross.
She added: “We will continue to press the Department for Transport to reconsider further improvements which they have chosen not to include. The current consultation clearly provides an opportunity for travellers and others affected to make their views known and highlight the importance of this service to them.”
