The Whifflet Line is one of the lines within the

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

suburban

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

network in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

The line was built between 1863 and 1865 as the

Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway The Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway was a railway line in Scotland built by the Caledonian Railway to shorten the route from the Coatbridge area to Glasgow. It opened in 1865. It was later extended to Airdrie in 1886, competing with the riva ...

, part of the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

. It opened to goods traffic (mainly coal and iron) in September 1865 and to passengers in August 1866. It has been in continuous operation ever since. Stations in the first service on the line were at , (now ), , and (until 1964). Passenger services ceased in November 1966 following the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

(latterly running to ). Between 1972 and 1974 scheduled passenger trains between Glasgow Central and Perth used the route. For the following twenty years, the route was only used for freight and diverted passenger services. However the line was reopened by British Rail to scheduled passenger services with intermediate stations on 4 October 1993, running to the newly built station at rather than Coatbridge Central as previously.

Line description

The modern line currently serves seven stations. It connects parts of south east

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Bargeddie Bargeddie (; gd, Bàrr Geadaidh) is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, just inside the suburban fringe of Glasgow, east of the city centre, and close to the junction of the M73 motorway, M73 and M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorways. The n ...

and

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

to Glasgow city centre. Between and

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

, the line shares the same track as the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

(and is hence electrified) before branching off in a north easterly direction towards Coatbridge (this section is now electrified).

Services

The route is operated by ScotRail.

1993 to 2002

Following re-opening as a passenger line, service was provided by a mix of 1980s Class 156 and 1950s Class 101

DMUs A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

. During their final years, the last of BR ScotRail's power-twin Class 101 2-car DMUs, reduced from 3-car by having the centre trailer removed, operated the Whifflet and Paisley Canal lines almost exclusively, based at Corkerhill Depot. In 2002 the remaining 101s were sent South to Manchester and more modern units took over the services.

2009 service pattern

Trains operated at a half-hour frequency. All services were scheduled to run as two car trains only, although four carriage services were technically possible. Services were operated using Class 158 DMUs and the occasional Class 156 DMU. Three trains operated on this route during the day, usually remaining dedicated on this service throughout the day.

From December 2014

In late 2014, the Whifflet Line electrification was commissioned and from 14 December 2014 the service was incorporated into the

Argyle Line The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Argyl ...

, operated by

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

. At the same time an all year round Sunday service commenced. Current Sunday Service is hourly from Balloch to Motherwell via Whifflet

Line Developments

In 2006,

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

announced tentative proposals to electrify the Rutherglen - Whifflet section, as part of a £1.4bn upgrade to Scotland's railways. The main benefits of this scheme were to provide an enhanced frequency for the Whifflet to central Glasgow routes and to provide an electric diversionary path for long distance WCML services. The new timetable came into operation on 14 December 2014, the Whifflet Line has been added to the Argyle Line system with services through Glasgow Central Low Level to the western suburbs.

Sources

* *
Page 25 - First ScotRail timetable
for this route.

External links

Video of trains at Whifflet
{{Railway lines in Scotland Transport in Glasgow Railway lines in Scotland Standard gauge railways in Scotland Transport in North Lanarkshire