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
It is FoFNL policy to choose venues for our AGM which are different each year, to reflect our membership being drawn from the whole route. In 2017 we met in Inverness, last year the AGM was held in Thurso and in 2019 we are heading back part of the way south to Brora.
This year's AGM & Conference will be held on Friday 21 June in the Royal Marine Hotel: Golf Road, Brora, KW9 6QS, Tel: 01408 621252
The AGM, which is open only to members, will begin at 10:30, followed by the Conference, which is open to the public, at 11:15.
First to speak will be Bill Reeve, Director of Rail at Transport Scotland, who will bring us up to date on the work in progress on the Far North Line which was proposed by the Review Team which had its final meeting in February.
We will then hear from Sir Peter Hendy, Chairman of Network Rail who will talk about the current changes in the organisation as the constituent routes are devolved. In Scotland there are strong views in the government and the rail industry that NR Scotland Route should be split from NR and join the rest of the rail provision (apart from cross-border operators) in being financed and controlled by the Scottish Government. We cannot expect Sir Peter to express a view on that, as he is an appointee of the UK Secretary of State.
David Shirres, editor of Railway Engineer magazine will speak to us about current developments and innovation in powering rolling stock, particularly apt as FoFNL is hoping that one of the Vivarail battery trains might be used to provide an experimental Thurso-Wick shuttle service if money becomes available.
ScotRail's plans for future service patterns and timetables on the Far North Line will be discussed by Scott Prentice, Head of Business Development, ScotRail.
The next speaker will be Dr Nick Lindsay, chairman of Clyne Heritage Society who will give us some insight into the work of the society, which is based in Brora, and came into being to help preserve the area's fascinating heritage.
The conference will be concluded as always with an update from Frank Roach, FoFNL member and HITRANS Partnership Manager.