Passenger
Services
- Club 55 is back-
21 Jan- 31 March. It's valid on all FSR services in Scotland
after 0915 and not on some evening peak services from Glasgow
and Edinburgh and cost £15 (£19 First Class- Senior
Railcard holders get an additional £2 off these fares). (15/01/08)
- National Express commenced East Coast operations on 09 December, replacing Sea Containers' GNER services. (10.12.07)
- The National Rail Timetable commencing 09 Dec 2007 is available on the Network Rail website. Be warned, it's 59MB! (16.11.07)
- The final refurbished Class 156 has arrived in Scotland from Derby, completing the £2.7m programme of improvements. (16.11.07)
- Events Manager Theresa
Gault picked up the Employee of the Year award at the Scottish
Transport Awards recently, while Fort William driver John Hynd was named
Driver of the Year at the Railstaff Awards. (14.11.07)

Invergordon Immured
- Crianlarich Tea Room has won a Community Rail Award for the best Station Buffet. (08.11.07)
- Ticket vending machines at Inverness and Glasgow Queen St now sell tickets with Highland Railcard discounts. (25.10.07)
- Buy anything in Sainsbury's and get a voucher
for a £15 flat fare to anywhere in Scotland, plus one child free!
Available in store to 7 November. Travel 17.10.07 to 31.01.8 exluding
19.12.07-10.01.08. Visit www.firstscotrail.com for more details.
(25.10.07)
- Fort William Station is already looking better. (11.09.07)


- Spean Bridge has won HRP's Most Improved Staton Award. (11.09.07)
- Invergordon Station murals
are underway, complementing the impressive flower beds. Princess Anne
saw the progress on 04.09.07. Railway staff will have to remember that
some of the passengers who may be waiting are only 2 dimensional, even
though they appear to be smoking under the canopy. (04.09.07)
- FSR MD Mary Dickson said at the FOFNL AGM
that CET is being actively considered for 158s, with NR's Richard
Lungmuss offering funds. FOFNL were instrumental in raising the issue
across the nation. (16.07.07)
- The first refurbished 158, No 701 has returned from Springburn after reseating, new toilets,
carpets, lighting. It also includes power points for First Class and a
fully compliant wheelchair space, 2 extra cycles spaces amd priority
seating. The cost is £9.1m, funded by Transport Scotland
and covers the 24 Inverness based sets.(04.07.07)

Relief at last



- GNER has picked up the title of best long distance operator for cyclists,
beating Swiss Railways and DB. (06.06.07)
- Spean Bridge station
improvements continue with easier access
to the Fort Augustus platform - see below! (24.05.07)

37s are
back on the sleeper- for one
day at least (11.05.07)
- Club 55 is back on 1 May-30 June for those over 55. This year Club
Premier is not available Inverness-Glasgow/Edinburgh, Tickets are not
valid before 0915 and between 1630-1800 except on Oban, Ft
William, Mallaig, Wick, Thurso and Kyle.
- GNER Chief Jonathan Metcalfe has announced that
GNER Holdings has taken a minority share
in the Virgin-Stagecoach East Coast bid company. (16.04.07)
- First ScotRail's performance rose from
79.2% of trains arriving on time in 2005-6 Q3 to 84.6% in 2996-7 Q3,
with the Moving Annual Average increasing from 87.6 to 89.0. Q3 is October-December,
notorious for leaf fall. Subsidy per passenger kilometre fell from 5.8p in 04-05 to 5.1p in
05-06. (05.04.07)
- GNER's first HST refurbished to Mallard standard was flagged off in
Aberdeen on 16 March, by Archie Brown, formerly the BR Aberdeen Area
Manager who flagged off the first HST from the Granite City almost
exactly 25 years ago. (16.03.07)

Buffet area

First class saloon

Perth High School Mural#5
- ScotRail discounted fares (ie cheap day
returns, railcards fares etc)will no
longer be available on the train from a station with a booking
office/ticket machine. Only full price singles/returns will be
available. Unmanned stations continue as before. (10.01.07)
- Tavish Scott has announced a £20m fund to refurbish trains
and improve stations. Fort William
is to benefit from a £700k upgrade to improve facilities, with HITRANS contributing 25%. Highland 158s get a £9m
refurb: new seating, lighting, extra luggage and cycle space (to 4),
refurbed toilets and vestibules; HITRANS contributing £30k to the
cycle accommodation. 156s
on the West Highland (and elsewhere) get new seating, lights, table
tops, carpeting and a wheelchair space. Oban, Aviemore, Fort
William, Keith, Elgin, Nairn, Forres and Pitlochry get CCTV/CIS, Perth gets a car
park expansion plus Ticket Vending Machine, while island platform
stations on the West Highland will have mirrors installed in the
underpass. For full details see the Transport Scotland website. (19.12.06)
- GNER has signed a 15 month deal with DfT which
sees it running the East Coast route as a management
contract while a new franchise is drawn up for an April 2008
start. (15.1206)
- MSP Jamie Stone
boarded
the new 0813 Wick-Inverness service on its inaugural, skip-stop run to
Inverness. He was welcomed by Quality Service Director Natalie
Loughborough, who announced 29% growth between Inverness and Lairg
since the inception of Invernet. The new journey time is 3h31 from
Thurso, 4h from Wick. The new service ran over the reopened
Georgemas-Wick section, closed since the October floods.(13.12.06)

Jamie Stone placates the ticket
examiners!

Wick by night- OK, 0813 on a mid
winter's morning!
- Troubled GNER has insisted it is still afloat despite SeaCo filing for
protection. (25.10.06)
- The following changes apply across the HRP area
at Christmas/New Year: Suns
24,31 Dec- reduced service after 2100; 25,26 Dec and 1 Jan- no
services; 27-29 Dec- Sat service; 30 Dec- normal sat Service; 2
Jan- reduced Sun service from 1000. (25.10.06)
- First ScotRail last night picked up Operator of
the year at the National Cycle Awards
for its commitment to cycling shown in increasing cycle capacity to 8
on the North Berwick 322s. (25.10.06)
- First ScotRail have announced revenue uplift of
9% to £183m in the year
to 31 March, with pre tax profits at £11.9m. (24.10.06)
- Driver John Hynd of Fort William was joint
winner of the Outstanding Voluntary
Contribution award at Friday's Community Rail Award event,
sponsored by Jarvis. (26.09.06)
- The Mallaig
line is closed 22/10-5/11 for
engineering work- buses replace trains. (26.09.06)
- HRP and HITRANS are to fund studies into proposed timetable recasts for the
North Highland and West Highland Lines for the Dec 08 timetable change.
(26.09.06)
- The 0635 Lairg
extension of the Tain Commuter service is to continue in the Dec 06
timetable, with a funding package of £17k from HITRANS, HRP and
Highland Council. On 22.09.06 10 passengers from Lairg through to
Ardgay were carried. (26.09.06)
- The Arrochar
commuter introduced in Dec 06 with
support from HRP continues in the next timetable but without financial
help as its proved its worth. (11.09.06)
- Fort William driver John Hynd was the runner up
in the National Rail Awards Employee of the Year category. (11.09.06)
- It appears that Royal Mail failed to tender for
its Postbus contracts out of
Lairg. There will now be a new provider from 01.01.07. (06.09.06)

Cyclists
cock-a-hoop. Nairn on 29.08.06
- New fares come in on First ScotRail from 10 September. For further
information follow the link FARES.
(18/08/06)
- GNER Chief Executive Chris Garnett is to step down after
10 years on the footplate. (26.07.06)
- First ScotRail has been chosen Public Transport Operator of the Year
at the National Transport Awards, in recognition of its dramatic
improvement in punctuality, reliability and customer satisfaction.
(21.07.06)
- GNER looks set to be awarded the six extra paths each way
London-leeds following a re-examination of capacity by Network Rail on
the ECML. (21.07.06)
- The
Office of Rail Regulation is consulting on rolling stock provision,
following concern about the ROSCOs' market position. See
ORR website. (04.07.06)

158s at Lairg 19.06.06
- The
Wick cycle van started on Monday 12 June with a road van
shadowing the morning and middle departures from Wick, and the middle
and evening departures from Inverness. For more info see the First
ScotRail press release. (12.06.06)
- Class
67s commenced sleeper operations to Fort William on 11.06.06-
see pic on Railscot
site (12.06.06)
- EWS is to paint Class 90s in First
purple to complement the new sleeper coach livery. (05.06.06)
- First/DSB
have been
shortlisted along with Arriva for the Oresund link trains franchise
between Denmark and Sweden (05.06.06)
- From 2009 West Coast Mainline
trains to Glasgow will have journey times cut to 4h15 (05.06.06)
- From 11 June the Fort William sleeper moves over to
Class 67 timings, which are slower as the the heavier locos are speed
restricted over certain structures. (31.05.06)
- Passenger
Information Systems (PIS) are to be installed on First
ScotRail's 158 fleet at a cost of £1.5m. (29.05.06)
- Summer
timetable changes from 12 June- 1747 Inverness-Wick becomes 1753
to connect with the 1523 off Aberdeen; the 1800 Kyle becomes 1815-
jourmey time is shrunk by 2 minutes as the trains do not use Clunes
Intermediate signal, 0711 Glasgow -Inverness becomes 0708, 0648
Inverness-Edinburgh becomes 0645, 0924 Inverness-Glasgow becomes 0920,
1257 Tain-Inverness becomes 1302, 1527 Invergordon-Inverness becomes
1533, 1156 Sundays Wick-Inverness moves to 1146 until 24 Sept.
Additional summer Sunday services to Oban, Fort Wiliam and
Mallaig and Wick/Thurso continue until 24 Sept. The Fort William
sleeper arrives 0952- Class 67 timings. (29.05.06)
- Glenfinnan
Station hosts Steve Reich's 'Different Trains' as part of the
Loch Shiel Spring music festival on 17 May.
- First ScotRail's Club 55 Offer,- £14 anywhere
in Scotland (£18 First Class) is back 1 May to 30 June. After
representation the barring of passengers using the offer in Inverness
between 1600 and 1800 was lifted. (11.05.06)
- A trial 67 hauled sleeper arrived in Fort
William on Saturday (3.4.06)
- Alastair Darling used the RAIL
conference on 15 March to announce that HST2 would be ordered in 2007.
(20.03.06)
- The new 0813 Wick-Inverness
which starts in December 2006 will skip
smaller stops, and arrive in
Inverness in exactly 4 hours (3h 30 from Thurso). HRP Press Release
(23.02.06)
- HRP is conducting Adopt a Station seminars, aimed at
community involvement in station development. The first is on 15 March
in Inverness. (23.02.06)
- New rail watchdog Passenger Focus
has rated First ScotRail as the
UK's best train operator.
(03.02.06)
- The new Kingussie Commuter service was
cancelled on 02 and 03 Feb due to signalling problems (03.02.06)
- The
Kyle line is closed
from late Friday 17 -19 March west of Strathcarron with buses replacing
trains. Check www.firstgroup.com/scotrail for details. (03.02.06)

Oban
31.01.06
- EWS has retained the contract for
haulage of the First ScotRail sleepers.
(19.01.06)
- The First cycle hoops installation programme
at 178 stations has been completed with Invergowrie, Corrour and Roy
Bridge the last to be done. (19.01.6)
- ATOC reports an increase in passenger numbers
of 2.5% to 1.07bn in 2005. (19.01.06)
- Invernet
kicked off today with a
brief ceremony at Inverness. the 0915 in new First livery was flagged
off by Highland Councilor Convenor Alison Magee. In the west Cllr
Duncan Macintyre gave the right away to the the Arrochar Commuter.
Invernet provides additional services from Lairg, Kingussie ,
Tain and Invergordon to Inverness, creating the Highlands first ever
suburban rail service. (12.12.05)

Alison Magee and Stuart Black of INBSE assisted by
Maureen Macmillan MSP launch Invernet
- Invernet
signs are starting to appear on platforms from Lairg to
Kingussie (08.12.05)
- The new First ScotRail livery will appear for the first
time on a 158 at the launch of Invernet. (08.12.05)
- The Scottish Executive is planning
to fund a fourth train from Wick to
Inverness in Dec 2006 . Leaving at around 0815 it will ensure a
good conection at Thurso with the first ferry ferry which arrives from
Orkney at 0800. (21.11.05)
- From 12 December many of the
Inverness-Edinburgh/Glasgow trains will be formed of ex Hull trains 170
units with fixed buffets and hot food.
(21.11.05)
- Invernet will be launched on Mon 12
December with an event in Inverness; while Arrochar will be flagged off
by Cllr Duncan MacIntyre (16.11.06)
- The Kyle line will be closed west of
Strathcarron 17 Feb-20 March 2006 for engineering works. (16.11.05)
- The Far North line is reopened 16
November after track renewals at County March. except at
Altnabreac, which is closed for Total cost is £2.5m for the 3
mile relay.
(16.11.05)
- The Mallaig line was closed due to
a
bridge failing at Locheilside.
Scouring has been monitored for some time, but recently
deterioration increased. the track was unaffected. (3.11.05)
- Club 55 is back, with tickets to
anywhere in Scotland 1 Nov-11 Dec for
those lucky enough to be 55+ just £14 (£18 Premier). It
also includes GNER and Virgin internal Scottish journeys for the first
time! Book
on the day of travel from staffed stations, on the train or from
Telesales 08457 550033.
There is a bar on using the ticket in the peak, including for the first
time Inverness (24.10.05).
- 68.7m
passengers were carried on ScotRail in 04/05, 10% up on last
year. (26.09.05)
- When Invernet comes in on December
12, two new services are
likely to be added: an early commuter run from Lairg, and one of the
Tain terminators will now continue to Ardgay.
- Firstinfo's call centre at Fort
William was opened by Tavish Scott on 4.10.05. It was
established with the aid of a £603k grant
from
the HIE network. (04.10.05)
- It seems likely that EWS will
continue to supply sleeper traction,
including Class 67s to Ft William,
when the existing contract expires in December . (01.09.05)
- HITRANS
shelters are being
installed at Kildonan, Golspie and Achnasheen. (01.09.05)
- Tain station has received a facelift with CCTV, improved
lighting, disabled access to the southbound platform, a new shelter,
landscaping and a community noticeboard. The works were funded by
HITRANS, First ScotRail, HRP, Tain Initiative and Network Rail.
(01.08.05)
- Loco hauling has returned to
Scotland. FM Rail is supplying two
rakes of top'n'tailed 47s and Mark 2 coaches for additional
First ScotRail services Edinburgh-Dundee for golf Open at St Andrews.
(14.07.05)
- The SRA Yearbook states that
journeys to the
Highlands have increased 35%
to 1.2m.
- GNER has announced that there will be no smoking permitted on its services
from 29 August. First ScotRail will ban smoking in sleeper lounge
cars before March 06.
- Transport Secretary Alastair Darling has
predicted invitations to tender for HST2
in mid 2006.
- Train cleanliness
on FSR has improved, says a passenger survey, but complaints are up,
for the fourth quarter in a row.
- First ScotRail has announced an intention to run
the Arrochar commuter- one of
HRP's Hi-Five Rural Commuting projects- from 13 December, with
financial support from HRP. This means that history may well be
repeated as the first new service in the old franchise was the Dingwall
Commuter!
- First ScotRail have announced a new customer
contact centre based in Fort William.
50 jobs will be created at the centre, run by FirstInfo which runs
NRES, FWG and TPE centres. It will open in August.
- Highland
strengthening- 0850 Glasgow QS-Oban is
4 car 30 May-23 September. 1743 Inverness-Wick is 4 car to Tain 27
June-24 September.
- First Group rail franchises have increased profits by 36% due to
taking over the ScotRail network and more
passengers using its other services.
- Far North journey times will be extended from 12 June in an attempt
to overcome performance problems brought about by a combination of TPWS
speed sensors, on train monitoring and recording (black boxes),
increased calls at request stops, level crossing speed restrictions
and perhaps over-optimistic scheduling when 158s replaced 156s.
- First have followed their two year pay deal for
drivers with an 8% over two years pay
deal for conductors, ticket
examiners, station, clerical and engineering staff. By 2007 all staff
will be on a 35 hour week.
- Club 55
has returned. Over 55s can travel for £14 (£18 First Class)
anywhere in Scotland from 1 April-30 June. All tickets must be
purchased by 1800 the day before travel. Senor Railcard holders can get
a further £2 off.
- Squire- Service
Quality Inspection Regime- is now in place in central Scotland,
with Oban and Perth to soon be included. Strict guidelines have
to be adhered to by the franchisee on cleanliness, graffiti, PA systems
etc if fines are to be avoided..
- Cairngorm
National Park signs are now installed
at Badenoch and
Strathspey stations.