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| Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | Scotland | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| System | National Rail | ||
| Operator(s) | ScotRail Avanti West Coast CrossCountry TransPennine Express DB Cargo Freightliner Direct Rail Services | ||
| Rolling stock | Class 220 "Voyager" Class 221 "SuperVoyager" Class 385 Class 397 "Civity" Class 390 "Pendolino" | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
| Electrification | 25 kV 50 Hz AC | ||
| |||
TheGlasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line is a main railway route which connects theScottish cities ofGlasgow andEdinburgh, by means of their respective sections of theWest Coast Main Line (WCML).
Along with theShotts line, theFalkirk line, and theHelensburgh to Edinburgh route via Airdrie and Bathgate, the line is one offour directelectrifiedrail links between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and is frequently used by passenger and freight traffic. Passenger services are operated byScotRail,Avanti West Coast,CrossCountry andTransPennine Express with freight services operated byDB Cargo,Freightliner andDirect Rail Services.
This line was opened by theCaledonian Railway as part of a plan to link Glasgow and Edinburgh to the railways in England. Themain line from England (now known as theWest Coast Main Line) splits atCarstairs, with one branch going toEdinburgh Waverley and the other toGlasgow Central. The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line consists of those two branches joined by a short connecting chord at Carstairs. The Edinburgh portion opened for passengers on 15 February 1848, and the Glasgow section opened for passengers on 1 November 1849.
The original Edinburgh terminus was at Lothian Road, untilPrinces Street opened on 2 May 1870. It closed under theBeeching cuts in 1965, when the remaining services were diverted to Edinburgh Waverley. The Glasgow terminus was initiallyBuchanan Street, but when Glasgow Central opened on 31 July 1879 this became the terminus, and has remained so ever since.
From 1849 to 1869 the Caledonian Railway provided a service from Edinburgh (Lothian Road) to Glasgow (Buchanan Street), by way of Carstairs,Coatbridge andStepps, although this was a somewhat circuitous route compared to the rivalEdinburgh and Glasgow Railway line viaFalkirk High. The E&G line was already well established by this time, having opened fromGlasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Haymarket in February 1842 and been extended to Edinburgh Waverley in August 1846. The Caledonian therefore opened itsdirect route via Shotts in 1869, and diverted all of its Edinburgh to Glasgow services via that line. Regular services between the two cities via Carstairs did not resume for over 120 years, although the lines remained busy with services from both cities to and from England.
After the 1922 grouping, all the lines became part of theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway company, and after nationalisation in 1948 they became part ofBritish Rail.
The Carstairs to Glasgow section was electrified by British Rail in 1974 as part of the electrification of theWeaver Junction to Glasgow Central section of the WCML.[1] The Carstairs to Edinburgh section was not electrified at that time. Many long-distance trains from the south used to split into separate Edinburgh and Glasgow portions at Carstairs, and diesel locomotives continued to operate the Carstairs to Edinburgh part of the service. This procedure added significantly to journey times, typically adding at least 20 minutes to Edinburgh schedules. Division on northbound services was relatively simple, with the electric locomotive continuing forward with the Glasgow portion of the train, while a diesel loco would be attached to the rear part and would haul the Edinburgh train in the opposite direction. However, attachment would involve the section from Edinburgh arriving into Carstairs first behind a diesel locomotive, and pointing in the Glasgow direction, with the Glasgow portion running past under electric power. The Edinburgh portion would then reverse back into the opposite platform to join the back of the Glasgow section and the fully joined up train would then head south. After WCML electrification the Edinburgh portions were typically hauled by a Haymarket locomotive fitted with Electric Train Heating, either aClass 47 orClass 40.
The Carstairs–Edinburgh line was electrified in 1991 as part of the electrification of theEast Coast Main Line (ECML). When this was completed, two new services from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Carstairs were reintroduced. Although the line via Carstairs is the longest of the various routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow, its electrification allowed theLondon King's Cross to Glasgow Intercity services (which had previously run to Glasgow Queen Street via the E&GR line) to be operated byInterCity 225 electric trains and diverted to Glasgow Central station. Electrification of the Queen Street route was not planned at the time, and the London services caused congestion at Queen Street where the platforms were not long enough to accommodate them. In addition, as theNorth Berwick Line was included in the ECML electrification and the depot for itsEMU trains wasGlasgow Shields Road TMD, a limited stopScotRail service was also introduced between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Carstairs partly as a means of using what would otherwise have been empty stock movements. Some of these services operate all the way through from Glasgow Central to North Berwick.
From 2011, changes to thefranchising arrangements resulted in most of theEast Coast London King's Cross to Glasgow Central services being withdrawn. Instead, someCrossCountry services from south-west England to Edinburgh viaYork were extended from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central in order to maintain a service from Glasgow to north-east England. Although these are operated by diesel trains they continue to operate via Carstairs rather than the more direct Shotts line, which is not maintained for high speed running.
Starting fromGlasgow Central (High Level), the line follows the main spine of the WCML toMotherwell where it continues toCarstairs. South of the station, the line splits atCarstairs Junction where it joins another branch from the southern section of the WCML through a tight curve (the Calder Chord) with a permanent speed restriction of 20 mph (30 km/h).
From Carstairs the line proceeds in a north easterly direction up the Edinburgh branch of the WCML towards Edinburgh. AtKirknewton the line joins up with the Shotts line and continues towardsHaymarket station in western Edinburgh.
At Haymarket, the line joins theGlasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line fromGlasgow Queen Street with four tracks running through the two main tunnels into Edinburgh Waverley station.London North Eastern Railway services and someAvanti West Coast services use the two straight through platforms at either side of the historic station, whileScotRail services not working toNorth Berwick terminate at the several bay platforms on the west side of the station.
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The main services to use the route are East Coast, Cross Country and Scottish Regional Services. It is generally not regarded as a main commuter route between Glasgow and Edinburgh owing to its circuitous route which involves travelling 30 miles (50 km) south towards Carstairs and returning north again, and the lack of available train paths since long-distance freight and express services towards England are given priority on it.
The most frequent user of the line wasGNER which runs a service to and from Glasgow Central every two hours until 2000. However, due to engineering work at Edinburgh Waverley from late July until November, only one return service per day used the line. Buses replaced trains from Motherwell station, and passengers were advised to travel from Glasgow Queen Street station.
Virgin Trains West Coast operated services from both Edinburgh and Glasgow Central toLondon Euston via the WCML.Virgin CrossCountry operated services from Edinburgh via the ECML and Glasgow via the WCML to destinations as far asBrighton,Bournemouth andPenzance.
First ScotRail operates services to/from North Berwick on the line. Only a few services continued from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central from the coastal town. A similar service operated from Glasgow Central to North Berwick.
The users of the line were:
As of May 2018:Abellio ScotRail (ScotRail since April 2022) run a service roughly every two hours between Glasgow and Edinburgh calling at Motherwell, Wishaw, Carluke, Carstairs, Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley though 2 trains call at Kirknewton, Curriehill, Wester Hales, Kingsknowe and Slateford. All other services pass through these stations without calling but served by Shotts Line services regularly. Most of these services are extended to/from Ayr with a few also continuing beyond Edinburgh to North Berwick, These services are operated byClass 380s thoughClass 156s can also be seen. These services do not operate on Sundays.
CrossCountry run a two hourly service to/from Glasgow Central with these services being operated byClass 220s,Class 221s andInterCity 125s.
TransPennine Express run hourly fromManchester Airport to either Glasgow Central (1tp2h) or Edinburgh (1tp2h), alternating with Avanti West Coast services.
As of May 2025 Scotrail run a service roughly every two hours from Glasgow and Edinburgh with Peak extras that run to/from Carstairs. Cross Country runs 2 trains a day in each direction, with the Glasgow to Edinburgh Service running in the morning and returning in the other direction in the evening. These services run to/from Plymouth.
Avanti West Coast operate a 2 hourly service along the line from Carstairs to Edinburgh, although services only stop at Haymarket and Edinburgh. These services alternate with TransPennine Express services to provide an hourly service from the West Coast Mainline.
LNER withdrew all services over the route in December 2024.
The route is electrified throughout using 25 kVoverhead lines, and three of the passenger companies that use the route employ electric traction.Class 220 (non-tilting) andClass 221 (tilting) 'Voyager' diesel units are used on services to the Midlands and western and southern England.
Carstairs station was also the home of one of Virgin's special 'Thunderbird'Class 57 locomotives named after theThunderbirds animation series and locomotives use characters from the series as their names. 'Thunderbirds' were used to haul broken down services for Virgin and are compatible with both the Pendolino and Voyager fleets. As of 2019, Virgin no longer run the franchise.
