Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine (SAK) Railway Project
As one of the most important railway infrastructure projects in recent years, the reopening of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine line continues to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to the communities directly concerned and also indirectly to Scotland as a whole.
Through the re-opening around 21km of track, the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway provides passenger services from Alloa to Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh and opportunities for freight services to travel from West to East of Scotland and vice versa.
Following the launch of passenger services on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link in 2008, Network Rail now operates the railway infrastructure, with Scotrail providing the train services.
The SAK Railway project begins:
Following on from the successful campaign to have the railway brought back into use, and the passing of the bill to allow the project to proceed in the Scottish Parliament, the SAK Railway project was begun initially to see what could be achieved and at what cost.
As part of the design stage of the project a deviation to the north to avoid the villages of Clackmannan and Kincardine was explored and ultimately rejected as it would have cost many times as much as reopening the existing route. It would have used part of the former Alloa to Dunfermline main line, currently used as a cycle track and footpath, but would have required a tunnel in unknown and possibly problematic conditions in order to reach Longannet.
Therefore the original route to Longannet was to be retained and this allowed construction to begin in 2005.
Construction
After the clearance of trees and brush the remaining track was removed and the condition of the whole route was appraised. There were several areas such as bridges and ground works that needed more remedial work than had been expected, and this added to the final bill. Alloa Station had long since been demolished, and so a new station was needed on the route.
With the construction phase underway, the line was levelled, ballasted and laid from the Stirling end towards Alloa to passenger traffic speeds, 112 km/h (almost 70 mph) for passenger services, 100 km/h (62 mph) for freight.
With the signalling and point work being prepared on the Stirling to Alloa stretch, the freight line was laid from Longannet to Alloa to the slower 48 km/h (almost 30 mph) speed.
With both ends meeting in Alloa, the signalling completed, the line aligned and tested, and the new Alloa station built, it was time to open the line.
Re-opening
The line was formally reopened on Thursday 15th May 2008. A train headed by LNER Gresley K4 - 61994 "The Great Marquess", made four round trips from Alloa to Stirling, the first for VIPs, and the next three for paying passengers. All were fully loaded. As there are no run-around facilities for locomotives at Alloa, the return journeys were headed by a preserved Class 55 Deltic diesel electric locomotive - 55022 "Royal Scots Grey".
The line opened to regular passengers with the first timetabled train to Glasgow on Monday 19th May 2008.
According to the Scottish Parliament, the railway was predicted to host 155,000 passengers per year, but part way through the first year this was revised upwards to 416,000, vastly exceeding the target.
With this level of success in mind, with a track route present and with the Forth Rail Bridge struggling to cope with demand, Why not re-open the Alloa to Dunfermline line?
References:
transport.gov.uk
Wikipedia.org