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The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line is a main railway route which connects the Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, by means of their respective branches of the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Along with the Shotts Line, the Falkirk Line and the Helensburgh to Edinburgh route via Airdrie and Bathgate, the line is one of four direct rail links between Edinburgh and Glasgow (and one of two electrified links) and is frequently used by passenger and freight traffic. Passenger services are operated by CrossCountry, Abellio ScotRail, Virgin Trains East Coast and Virgin Trains with freight services operated by DB Schenker, Freightliner and Direct Rail Services. ==History== This line was opened by the Caledonian Railway as part of a plan to link Glasgow and Edinburgh to the railways in England. The main line from England (now known as WCML, the West Coast Main Line) splits at Carstairs, with one branch going to Edinburgh and the other to Glasgow. The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line consists of those two branches joined by a short connecting chord at Carstairs. The Edinburgh portion opened for passengers on 15 February 1848; and the Glasgow section opened for passengers on 1 November 1849. The original Edinburgh terminus was at Lothian Road, until Princes Street opened on 2 May 1870. It closed under the Beeching Axe in 1965, when the remaining services were diverted to Waverley. The Glasgow terminus was initially Buchanan Street, but when Central opened on 31 July 1879 this became the terminus, and Central has remained the Glasgow terminus ever since. From 1849 to 1869 the Caledonian Railway provided a service from Edinburgh (Lothian Road) to Glasgow (Buchanan Street), by way of Carstairs, Coatbridge and Stepps, although this was a somewhat circuitous route compared to the rival Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway line via Falkirk High. The E&G line was already well established by this time, having opened from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Haymarket in February 1842 and been extended to Edinburgh Waverley in August 1846. The Caledonian therefore opened its direct route via Shotts in 1869, and diverted all of its Edinburgh to Glasgow services via that line. Regular services between the two cities via Carstairs would not resume for over 120 years, although the lines remained busy with services from both cities to and from England. After the 1922 grouping, all the lines became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway company, and after nationalisation in 1948 they became part of British Rail. The Carstairs to Glasgow section was electrified by British Rail in 1974, during the electrification of the northern, Weaver Junction to Glasgow Central, section of the WCML. The Carstairs to Edinburgh section was not electrified at that time. Many long distance trains from the south used to split into separate Edinburgh and Glasgow portions at Carstairs, and diesel locomotives continued to operate the Edinburgh to Carstairs part of the service. This procedure added significantly to journey times typically adding at least 20 minute to Edinburgh schedules. Division on northbound services was relatively simple, with the electric locomotive continuing forward with the Glasgow portion of the train, while a diesel loco would be attached to the rear part and would haul the Edinburgh train in the opposite direction. However, attachment would involve the section from Edinburgh arriving into Carstairs first, and pointing in the Glasgow direction, with the Glasgow portion running past and reversing back to join the back of the Edinburgh section. In 1989 the Carstairs to Edinburgh line was electrified, to connect with the electrification of the East Coast Main Line (ECML). When this was completed in 1991, two new services from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Carstairs were reintroduced. Although the line via Carstairs is the longest of the various routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow, its electrification allowed the London King's Cross to Glasgow Intercity services (which had previously run to Glasgow Queen Street via the E&GR line) to be operated by electric trains and diverted to Glasgow Central station. Electrification of the Queen Street route was not planned at the time, and the London services caused congestion at Queen Street where the platforms were not long enough to accommodate them. In addition, as the North Berwick Line was included in the ECML electrification and the depot for its EMU trains was Glasgow Shields Road TMD, a limited stop Scotrail service was also introduced between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Carstairs partly as a means of utilising what would otherwise have been empty stock movements. Some of these services operate all the way through from Glasgow Central to North Berwick. From 2011, changes to the franchising arrangements resulted in most of the Glasgow Central to London King's Cross services being withdrawn. Instead, some CrossCountry services from south-west England to Edinburgh via York were extended from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central in order to maintain a service from Glasgow to north-east England. Although these are operated by diesel trains they continue to operate via Carstairs rather than the more direct Shotts line, which is not maintained for high speed running. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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