The Friends of the Far North Line
Cairdean Na Loine Tuath
the campaign group for rail north of
Inverness - lobbying for improved services for the local user, tourist and freight
operator
The Highland Council has given the go-ahead to a development of 160 new homes in Conon Bridge. Since the reopening of the railway station the village has become an attractive prospect for commuters to Inverness.
ScotRail has taken the interesting and useful step of incorporating the split-ticketing option within the booking system on its website. It has always been possible to purchase tickets this way, but it required either trial and error, or the use of a split-ticketing website.
All of this does beg the question of why it is that ScotRail doesn't just use a distance-based calculation for fares. The answer is probably to do with trying to get the most income from each route, based on demand.
There have been two disappointing pieces of news on the freight front this year. In February the Scottish Government announced the abolition of its share of the UK's Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme, putting at risk cross-border freight operations. This elicited a sharp comment from Maggie Simpson, Director General of the Rail Freight Group: "This not only leaves DfT in a difficult position, it risks the wholesale loss of traffic back to road if the grant is not sufficient to cover the financial gap. This would be a crying shame at a time when the opportunity for growth is so high, and we can only hope that sense will prevail."
In July it was revealed that there was a 20% drop in Scottish rail freight carried when comparing a period just at the outset of Covid in early 2020 to an equivalent period at the start of 2024.
ScotRail reports that works are underway, and consents in place, for the reopening of the troubled station by the end of September. [As of 17 October, still no news...]
Network Rail has said that people crossing the railway at Dunrobin Castle are putting themselves in danger by not following the correct procedures. There have been reports from train drivers of users not following the instructions. NR points out that trains may be travelling at 70 mph over the crossing if not required to stop at the station which is a request stop. NR is working with Sutherland Estates to ensure that guests, visitors and others using the crossing do so safely.
Having visited Forsinard on 26 July the King was to be found on the Far North Line again on 7 August when he was invited by the Lord-Lieutenant of Sutherland, Major General Patrick Marriott, to unveil a plaque at Helmsdale Station marking the 150th Anniversary of the completion of the line from there to Thurso and Wick. He then went into the village to mark the forthcoming centenary of the Kildonan parish war memorial.
Given our views on the vastly expensive and largely unnecessary dualling of the A9, which will promote modal shift away from rail and use up a large part of the Scottish Government's limited funds, Transport Scotland could have found a more tactful, and less ironic way to make this announcement!
A photo to celebrate a routine job beautifully done by Network Rail contractors of resurfacing and lining out the roadway over the Millburn level crossing in Inverness.
