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The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the Glasgow North Electric Suburban line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. It links the towns of Airdrie and Coatbridge on the eastern edge of the Greater Glasgow conurbation to the northern Clyde coast, principally to the towns of Helensburgh and Balloch.
In addition to this there are two spurs from the line which serve the town of Milngavie, and the Glasgow suburb of Springburn. Westwards between Partick and Dalmuir, the line splits into two routes via Singer and Yoker. The line is also used by Argyle Line services. A spur from High Street to Bridgeton Central was closed to passenger services in 1979. A further spur runs near Coatbridge Sunnyside south to join the West Coast Main Line at Motherwell - this is a predominantly freight route, but is sometimes used for diverting Argyle Line services to Lanark.
Between Westerton and Craigendoran, using the Singer branch, West Highland Line services also run on the North Clyde.
The route is operated by First ScotRail, on behalf of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (of Transport Scotland).
History
Like most of Glasgow's suburban railways, the North Clyde lines as they are known today were built piecemeal from a patchwork of routes from many Victorian-era railway companies. These are listed below:
- Helensburgh Central/Dumbarton via Singer - Westerton: Originally part of the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway (1855)
- Balloch/Dumbarton-Bowling: Built by the Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway (1846)
- Milngavie-Westerton: Built by the Glasgow and Milngavie Juction Railway (1863)
- Charing Cross/Finnieston - High Street via Glasgow Queen Street Low Level: Originally part of the Glasgow City & District Railway
- High Street-Bellgrove/Springburn and Carntyne: Built by the City of Glasgow Union Railway
- Shettleston-Coatbridge (Sunnyside) Part of the Glasgow, Airdrie and Monklands Junction Railway (1845)
- Coatbridge-Drumgelloch/Bathgate via Airdrie Part of the Bathgate and Coatbridge railway
Following the nationalisation of 1948, these lines came under the jurisdiction of British Railways.
The line was electrified in 1960 to the 25kV 50Hz ac standard, with the central area, Springburn, Bridgeton and Milngavie branches and the Yoker loop at 6.25kV, later converted to 25kV throughout as insulation technology improved. Following the Beeching Axe of 1963, the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive (GGPTE) was created to oversee all suburban railways in the Glasgow area. That organisation (which has evolved into the SPT of today) has run the line ever since.
Route
The line runs through Central Glasgow, and the main station on the line is the low-level platforms of Queen Street station. The Central Glasgow section of the line is built underground between High Street and the former Finnieston station, west of Charing Cross at the intersection of Argyle Street and Kent Road. This is in fact the oldest stretch of underground railway in Glasgow, opened as the Glasgow City & District Railway in 1886 and predating the Glasgow Underground by some ten years. The eastern end of the line was extended some 2km east from Airdrie to Drumgelloch in 1989.
Rolling Stock
Electrification brought the introduction of the legendary and locally-built Class 303 electric multiple unit, joined in 1967 by the similar, Sheffield-built Class 311, which survived only until the early 1990s. The trains were quickly nicknamed the "Blue Trains" by Glaswegians owing to their bright Caledonian Blue colour scheme. This was later changed to the standard British Rail blue/grey livery in the 1970s, then to the distinctive SPT orange-and-black scheme in the 1980s. A few units received the new SPT carmine/cream livery in the late 1990s.
The Class 303 fleet was progressively phased out over the years; it was joined on the North Clyde route by the Class 314 (which were introduced to mainly serve the Argyle Line) in 1979, and then in 1990, more Class 303s were made extinct on the route by the introduction of the Class 320. A small number of 303 units continued to operate on the North Clyde route until December 2002, at which time they were withdrawn completely and replaced by the Class 334 Alstom "Juniper" trains. A small number of Class 318 units, cascaded from the Ayrshire route have replaced the 314 units, which are now used exclusively on the Cathcart Circle line.
Future Development
Glasgow Crossrail
SPT has long pressed for a "Crossrail" initiative which will link the North Clyde with the railways emanating to and from Glasgow Central station, thus giving Glasgow a valuable rail corridor linking the northern and southern halves of the city. The plan would involve reinstating the City Union Line (currently used only by freight and service traffic) for passenger use. It presently leaves the North Clyde at High Street, and joins the West Coast Main Line near the Gorbals area. Funding for the scheme has yet to be sought, and is further complicated by the need to realign the platforms of High Street station, which would be expensive.
In 2005, the Scottish Executive declared that in line with plans to upgrade the unfinished part of the A8 to motorway standard, public transport links between Glasgow and Edinburgh must also improve. A closed section of line between Airdrie and Bathgate will be rebuilt and electrified, and Drumgelloch station remodelled with two-track running. North Clyde services would therefore be extended all the way to Edinburgh Waverley via Livingston and Bathgate on a 4 trains per hour schedule and an increased line speed of 80mph.
With the initial feasibility study complete, the scheme is likely to be presented to Parliament early in 2006. If approved the new link could be operational by 2010.
"North Clyde Line"