SCOTLAND'S busiest railway line is to become one of the best of its type in the world under ambitious plans by Network Rail, The Scotsman can reveal.
The firm wants the main Edinburgh-Glasgow route to have "world-class" punctuality and reliability that is as good as other similar lines anywhere.
Targets will be set to further improve timekeeping, which is already at its best for a decade
. An extra £5 million has been added to the £20 million annual spending on the line, which could triple in future years.
The line has been at the forefront of rail technology since it opened in 1842 as the world's first intercity line. It is also something of an engineering masterpiece, being virtually flat along its entire length.
Passenger watchdogs applauded the move but said Network Rail still had a long way to go to achieve its aim. The project is a British first, with the route – used by 6.5 million people a year – being chosen by Network Rail after an internal competition. Other lines are set to follow.
Network Rail hopes the project will enable it to cut the current 48-minute average journey time – with every minute saved estimated to boost the economy by £60 million.
Journeys now take longer than 30 years ago because trains stop more frequently, with 60 per cent of the route's passengers using intermediate stations. Non-stop trains would be faster than in the 1970s as the speed limit has been raised from 90mph to 100mph, but the line is so busy other trains would have to be cancelled.
More than seven out of ten trains currently arrive on time and more than nine in ten are within five minutes of schedule. New targets have still to be set.
David Simpson, Network Rail's route director for Scotland, said the project's aims included a "world-class experience for passengers with faultless delivery".
Measures include raising speed limits on sections of the line, accelerating fault reporting and improving lineside fencing to deter trespassers.
Mr Simpson said: "We want to be among the best in the world and this work is aimed at achieving that."
The best performing similar lines include those in Germany, Holland and Switzerland. Experts said 98-99 per cent of trains on lines such as Basel-Zurich arrived within five minutes.
Robert Samson, the Scotland manager for Passenger Focus, the official watchdog, said: "The project is ambitious, but we hope it is successful and will be replicated elsewhere. The route is improving, but it still has to go a long way to be world-class."
First ScotRail, which runs trains on the line, said it had halved delays since 2004.
Surly staff and poor service… it's still far from a fare deal for commutersEVERY so often, on my morning commute from Glasgow to Edinburgh, I play a little game with myself. What else, I wonder, could I have bought for the price of my £17.70 peak day-return ticket? Eight McDonald's Happy Meals maybe? Perhaps 22 songs on iTunes? Or how about a really good pair of cashmere-lined earplugs, because heaven knows you need them to get through a journey with First Scotrail these days.
Life on the First Scotrail west-to-east commute is one of paradoxes. Take the ticket machines, helpfully installed at both Queen Street and Waverley to reduce queues at the booking counter. They're wonderful – when they work. Yesterday mine didn't, and nearly swallowed my debit card.
When, after a wait at the booking office, I tentatively suggested to a member of staff that they might want to put a sign up, the grunt of disdain could have rivalled Gordon Ramsay for venom.
Then there are the on-train announcements. Yesterday, just for fun (I know, I know), I counted up how many times on my 48-minute journey I would be informed that the train was going to Edinburgh Waverley. I gave up at 11. A little excessive one might say, not to mention irritating, for a peak-time train packed full of people who make this journey every single day.
I have been making this commute for eight years now. Over that time, I've seen many changes on the route, from the number of trains that run in a day to how many of them make it on time (more, and still not enough).
Things have certainly improved. There are very few serious delays these days, and my experience has indeed been that most trains arrive within five minutes of arrival time. But it's not enough.
Certain things still rankle, and for many of my fellow commuters the price is the main point of contention, because £17.70 is a lot of money, and no-one I know thinks it's worth it.
The staff are often surly and unhelpful, the announcements are too loud, frequent, and irrelevant, there's very little room for bike space on trains, no effort made to recycle the newspapers left on morning services and frequent problems with the ticket machines.
Best in the world? No chance. And for this price, it should be.
Emma Cowing