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The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. It connects the Lanarkshire towns of Lanark, Larkhall and Motherwell to West Dunbartonshire via central Glasgow using sub-surface running. It takes its name from Glasgow's Argyle Street, under which a significant section of the line runs via a cut-and-cover tunnel.
The term "Argyle Line" is loosely used in two contexts:
- to describe an urban passenger train service; and
- to describe a length of railway infrastructure.
The train service extends considerably beyond the Argyle Line infrastructure, connecting the suburban areas of North Clydeside with Motherwell, Hamilton and Lanark.
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Train service
On Mondays to Saturdays, the off peak service each hour is:
- two limited stop trains between Larkhall and Dalmuir via Singer;
- one train between Motherwell and Milngavie via Blantyre;
- one train between Lanark and Milngavie via Holytown and Blantyre;
- one train between Motherwell and Dalmuir via Bellshill and Yoker;
- one train between Lanark and Dalmuir via Bellshill and Yoker.
There are also peak services to Coatbridge Central and Carstairs. There is no regular freight operation on the route.
On Sundays, the hourly service is:
- two trains between Motherwell and Balloch via Blantyre and Yoker;
- one train between Lanark and Milngavie via Bellshill;
- one train between Motherwell and Milngavie via Bellshill;
- one train between Larkhall and Partick.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure of the Argyle Line consists of a route from Finnieston West Junction (Eastbound), Finnieston East Junction (Westbound) (both East of Partick Statiion, diverging from the Queen Street and Airdrie line) and Dalmarnock Junction (near Rutherglen, joining the Caledonian main line towards Motherwell). It is double track throughout, with a grade-separated junction comprising the Finnieston East and West Junctions; eastwards from there the route dives underground and is sub-surface as far as Dalmarnock station. There are no intermediate sidings or junctions, and the stations are of island or two-platform design.
The route serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area.
Service routes
The south-eastern extremity of the train service is the two-platform station at Lanark, on a two mile single track branch from Lanark Junction. Trains from Lanark continue northbound on the West Coast Main Line as far as Law Junction, diverging northwards there on the Holytown route as far as Wishaw North Junction, where they diverge to rejoin the West Coast Main Line at Shieldmuir Junction.
Passing through Motherwell, the trains then leave the West Coast Main Line again to call at Bellshill before rejoining the main line at Uddingston. The Hamilton Circle line converges at Newton.
Trains approaching Motherwell from Holytown or Coatbridge Central, cross the WCML to travel onto the Hamilton Circle, before calling at Airbles. Between here and Hamilton Central, a spur from Larkhall joins. The line then passes through Hamilton West, Blantyre and Newton before rejoining the West Coast Main Line as far as Rutherglen.
At Dalmarnock Junction, trains diverge northwards to enter the infrastructure of the Argyle Line, diving underground after Dalmarnock station. West of Exhibition Centre Station, the line to Partick and Hyndland, diverges to form a burrowing junction. Westbound trains rise up a steep incline to join the North British Railway line from Queen Street station. This steep section originally gave access to the sidings at Queen's Dock from the Stobcross Railway. Eastbound trains enter what is now known as Kelvinhaugh Tunnel, immediately to the West of Sandyford Street. This tunnel joins the original Kelvinhaugh Tunnel on the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway from Partick Central, just South of Kelvinhaugh Street; finally meeting the disused Stobcross Depot Tunnel on the Glasgow Central Railway, just inside the common South East portal of these two tunnels. The mouth of the Stobcross Depot Tunnel can be seen from the Eastbound platform of Exhibition Centre Station.
Going North-westwards, Partick is the fifth busiest in Scotland.[1] Trains then either travel towards Dalmuir via Yoker, or go via Anniesland to Milngavie or Dalmuir and on Sundays, Balloch via Yoker.
Initial service pattern
From the opening in November 1979, the basic weekday service was one train per hour from Dumbarton to the Hamilton Circle (anticlockwise), and one train from Dumbarton to Hamilton Circle (clockwise, including Newton), two trains per hour from Dalmuir to Hamilton Circle (anticlockwise) and two trains per hour to Hamilton Circle (clockwise, including Newton), and one train per hour between Milngavie and Lanark (non-stop from Argyle Street to Motherwell).
For a few years from the re-opening, the northbound West Highland sleeping car train from London used the route on Saturdays only. It was detached from another portion at Mossend and diesel-hauled via the Rutherglen & Coatbridge line.
Rolling stock
At its opening, the rolling stock on the Argyle Line was Class 314 electric multiple units, which were then new. These were accompanied by a number of the older Class 303 "Blue Train" sets from the North Clyde route. In the late 1980s & early 1990s Class 311 trains also operated on this route. After the 303s were finally retired in 2002, the route was operated by a mixture of new Class 334 Alstom "Juniper" units, alongside a small number of 1980s vintage Class 318 trains cascaded from the Ayrshire routes, with the original Class 314 sets transferred to the Cathcart Circle.
From March 2011, all Class 318s will operate on the Argyle Line, together with eight Class 320s.
History
A west-to-east railway -- the "Glasgow Central Railway" -- under central Glasgow had been opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1886, connecting its north Clydeside network from Clydebank and Whiteinch with Rutherglen and the south east of the city. The line closed in 1964.[2]
In November 1979, the Argyle Line was created, as joint venture by British Rail and the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPTE), by reopening most of the former route.[3] However, the former Caledonian Railway route from Whiteinch was not to be re-opened, and a new connection with the former North British Railway route via Hyndland was created, incorporating a grade-separated junction with the Queen Street Low Level route.
A key part of the re-opening was the implementation of an intensive electrically operated passenger train service between Dalmuir and Milngavie, and Motherwell and Lanark. The service west of Partick was to be integrated with the existing North Clyde srvices on the Queen Street Low Level line. Outside of Glasgow's central area, the train service used sections of the North Clyde and West Coast Main Line (WCML).
Two stations were constructed for the re-opening of the line;
- Argyle Street; this was entirely new, i.e. both the site and the construction. Due to its proximity to Glasgow Cross station, the latter was not re-opened.
- Exhibition Centre station (called Finnieston until 1986); whilst this station was located only slightly to the west of the original Stobcross station on the Glasgow Central Railway, the only commonality between the two is the location of much of the eastbound platform (which was originally the westbound one).
On the central tunnel section, there are ghost stations at Glasgow Green and at Glasgow Cross (adjacent to the Tollbooth), both constructed by the Glasgow Central Railway. The frontage of Glasgow Green station still exists, whilst the entrance to Glasgow Cross station has been turned into ventilation ducts, visible from the traffic island between Trongate and London Road.
Extensions
The Larkhall Line was opened as an extension to Argyle Line services in December 2005 by First Minister Jack McConnell. The line was the reopening of the Coalburn Branch and Mid Lanark Lines of the Caledonian Railway and it begins at Haughhead Junction, just east of Hamilton Central. Stations are located at Chatelherault, Merryton and Larkhall, where services terminate.[4] The branch is single line throughout, with a crossing loop at Allanton.
In 2006, Network Rail announced tentative proposals to electrify the Rutherglen - Whifflet section, as part of a £1.4bn upgrade to Scotland's railways. The main benefits of this scheme would appear to provide an enhanced frequency for the Whifflet-Central routes, and to provide an electric diversionary path for long distance WCML services. As the services are part of the Argyle Line, if the plan goes successfully; we could see either Class 320 or Class 318 on Whifflet routes instead of current stock Class 156 (Prior to the electrification). Electrifications also would mean the Whifflet Line being added to the Argyle Line system with services through Glasgow Central Low Level to the western suburbs.
References
- ^ The usage information (Station Entries and Station Exits) is based on ticket sales in the financial year 2002/03 and covers all National Rail stations. Continued usage notes, and Excel format table for all stations available.
- ^ The Railways of Great Britain - a Historical Atlas, Volume 2; Cobb, Col M H; 2003; Ian Allan Publishing Ltd
- ^ Skillen, Brian S. (1979). "The Once and Future Railway". In: Scottish Transport. Issue No. 33, Pp 13-19. Scottish Tramway Museum Society. December 1979. ISSN 0048-9808.
- ^ SPT News
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