Thursday 23rd January 2025 saw the final day of service of the Glasgow to East Kilbride line before it closed for four months for electrification and route improvement works. What does this mean? Fewer Class 156 disel trains out of Glasgow Central, and the demise of station footbridges built in the nineteenth century when accessibility laws didn't exist.
The final day was meant to be Friday 24th January but because of Storm Éowyn "Red Alert" we had a Scottish Government lockdown and no trains ran that day.
I travelled on the line on 22nd January visiting every station apart from Clarkston and this film shows my day and my narrative. I had filmed at Clarkston in 2023, and these clips are included.
It's not clear from current publicity when the full electric service will start, as there will be a need to source rolling stock, do route testing and and driver training. The December timetable change is a strong possibility.
A comment below indicates that the bridge at Busby shown in my film has been gifted to the Fife Railway Centre.
#railways #train #travel #trainspotting #glasgow #eastkilbride #scotrail #scotland #scotlandtravel #scotlandtourism #class156
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The music track on the film is When Johnny Comes Marching Home by Cooper Cannell downloaded royalty-free from YouTube Studio.
Thank you to the ScotRail train conductors and the various contractor staff on site for their friendly helpfulness on this day out.
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