Modern Railways – April 2019

58 Modern Railways April 2019 http://www.modern-railways.com

Transport Scotland’s Rail Director BILL REEVE briefs PHILIP SHERRATT

on plans for the five-year funding period north of the border

F

or Scotland, the start of Control Period 6

on 1 April is a case of ‘back to the future’.

As the UK Government is doing, rail

enhancements will be adopting a pipeline

approach, rather than a list of schemes being

stated as the funding period begins, albeit

Scotland’s pipeline has a slightly different mechanic

to that of the Westminster Government.

Transport Scotland’s Rail Director Bill Reeve

points out that this was the approach used north

of the border prior to CP5, but it was suggested

in discussions with the regulator that projects

should be specified with pre-determined costs

at the outset to be included in the overall CP5

settlement. ‘We weren’t fully persuaded of the

merits, and the lesson is that we were right to have

reservations’ says Mr Reeve. ‘We’ve not faced the

scale of problems seen elsewhere in Britain during

CP5 – we’ve not cancelled any enhancement

projects, we’ve not bust our budget and we’ve

not had to postpone or defer any renewals. But

we remain convinced commitment to schemes

should take place only after an appropriate level of

development and that delivery should be phased,

aiming to create as smooth as possible a pipeline

and a steady workbank for the supply chain.’

Therefore, with Scottish Ministers set to unveil

the Government’s CP6 plans shortly after this issue

went to press, Bill Reeve cautions not to expect a

detailed list of projects which have been committed

to. That said, a number of significant projects begun

in CP5 will continue into the next five-year period.

Bill Reeve also emphasises the importance

of linking enhancements with renewals activity.

‘I struggle to think of major enhancements which

didn’t entail some level of renewals’ he points

out. ‘Conversely, renewals should consider the

opportunity for some form of change in output,

including enhancement. We see a single programme

of investment rather than two distinct entities.’

Examples of where this approach could

bear fruit include schemes funded in the CP6

Operations, Maintenance and Renewals budget

in Scotland. Bill Reeve highlights the need to

update the signalling control system in the

Edinburgh area as one opportunity to take

advantage of the pipeline investment approach,

while pointwork renewal at Carstairs Junction

ushers in a similar opportunity to improve the

layout here, potentially facilitating journey time

improvements for cross-border services.

A2I

Among major schemes set to complete within the

first year of CP6 is the first phase of the Aberdeen

to Inverness (A2I) programme. The first part of

this saw improvements at the western end of the

SCOTLAND SET FOR

CP6 PIPELINE

ScotRail’s new fleets: Stirling on 28 January 2019, as power car No 43143 (left) leads the 08.51 Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street and No 385118

waits to form the 11.21 departure to Queen Street. The rollout of both HSTs and ‘385s’ will continue in the early part of CP6. Ian Lothian

058-061_MR_Apr 2019_scotland.indd 58 12/03/2019 15:05