FEATURE
20 | RailStaff | September 2015
© STUART NICOL
Border Supporter Eyes Carlisle Report by David Shirres ‘So much passion can only rub off on you,’ said ScotRail driver manager, David Campbell as railway staff set to work on the new Borders Railway. The 31-mile Borders Railway grabbed headlines as the Queen travelled on the new line the day she celebrated becoming Britain’s longest ruling monarch. Everyone is talking about the new railway, said David, particularly the friends and families of the new drivers. David managed the driver training programme for the new line, something he also did for the new Airdrie-Bathgate line. But he had no doubt that the Borders offers an interesting challenge for drivers. Airdrie-Bathgate has nothing to compare with driving a train at speed through the double S curves down the 1 in 70 gradient from the 880 ft Falahill summit.
Border Drivers For the new line, ScotRail had to train 54 of its drivers plus a small number of freight drivers who act as conductors on steam specials. Of these, 36 were existing drivers based in Edinburgh and 18 were newly recruited from the Borders region. The driver’s route training requirement was based on a risk assessment which took account
Supermodel Anna Freemantle modelling Pringle knitwear alongside an actor dressed as Sir Walter Scott.
of a number of factors, says David, including gradients, number of stops and speed changes. It also considered the virtual reality model of the line. After discussion with trade unions, it was concluded that each driver needed five full runs on the line, plus a twohour one-to-one briefing. The full driving course for newly recruited Borders drivers also required use of the simulator. However, this was not used for route learning. Instead, it was used to simulate extreme conditions such as low adhesion and foggy weather that could not otherwise be easily incorporated into a driver training programme.
Yvonne Pilots Press Train Driving the media preview train on 4 September was Edinburgh driver Yvonne Reid, who thinks the line is stunning. RailStaff was fortunate to have a place on the train - a Class 170 with a special Borders livery. There was a real buzz on the train. It was also a smooth ride. At one point, newspaper journalists could not believe that the train speed was 85 mph. However, Falahill summit was topped at 57 mph. Service trains will be Class 158 units, 40 of which are being refurbished at Knorr-Bremse Springburn workshops as part of a £14 million modernisation
A crowded platform at Eskbank on the first day of service.
programme that includes seats being better aligned to windows, better lighting, at-seat power sockets and improved accessibility. Before the media train’s departure there was a photo-call which featured supermodel Anna Freemantle modelling Pringle knitwear.
An actor dressed as Sir Walter Scott travelled on the train, which stopped at Newtongrange next to the Scottish Mining Museum. Here school children dressed as miners greeted the train. This is also the stop for Rosslyn Chapel, of Da Vinci Code fame, where taxis will be on hand to take tourists to the chapel five miles away. Goodie bags with Borders produce were given to the journalists on the train.
Borders Blueprint All this hype was intended to promote the region as well as the new railway. Also on the train was Samantha Smith, of the Scottish Borders Council, who is the Borders Railway blueprint programme manager. The blueprint programme, set up in November, aims to realise the full economic benefits of the line. There are 100 development sites along the line. These include a 4,000home development at Shawfair and a Central Borders Business Park at the line’s Tweedbank terminus. In 2017, Tweedbank is also to be the home of the 160 panels of the Great Tapestry of Scotland. Samantha said