Review of Current and Future Network Performance
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Transport Scotland Strategic Transport Projects Review Report 1 – Review of Current and Future Network Performance 7.15 Corridor 15: Glasgow to Stranraer and South West 7.15.1 Setting the Context Corridor 15 extends from the outskirts of Glasgow to Stranraer (approximately 136 kilometres) and from the west coast eastwards towards Corridor 18 (Glasgow to North West England), as shown in Figure 7.15.1. The corridor has a total population of 386,400670 and connects the city of Glasgow with population centres in Ayrshire and the south west of Scotland. The main towns include Kilmarnock, Ayr, Irvine and Stranraer. Glasgow Airport is also located along this corridor, to the north of the M8 Motorway near the St James Interchange, however the impact of the airport is addressed in the Glasgow urban network, which can be found in Chapter 5.4. The population in the corridor is forecast to decrease by approximately 9,100 people between 2005 and 2022, a decline of two per cent670. At the same time, the number of households in the corridor, centred on the core town areas (Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine), is forecast to increase by six per cent670 and employment is expected to increase by approximately five per cent670. Inactivity rates within the corridor are forecast to decline by 14 per cent between 2005 and 2022670. Figure 7.15.2 shows the areas of changes in population and employment in this corridor. Prestwick Airport, the Irvine Bay Regeneration Project and the ports along this corridor provide major economic activity and employment opportunities. The Irvine Bay Regeneration Project will encompass the five towns of Irvine, Saltcoats, Ardrossan, Stevenston and Kilwinning671. Action for this project is being focussed on providing new housing, improving the five town centres to attract new businesses, generating new employment, improving the environment and developing a clear role for the area within the wider Glasgow city-region. In addition, there are significant transport hubs along this corridor including Hunterston, and the ports at Cairnryan and Stranraer. The ports of Cairnryan and Stranraer provide frequent and heavily used ferry services between Scotland and Northern Ireland. Stena Line, who currently use the port of Stranraer, are progressing with plans for a new ferry port development on Loch Ryan. Although these proposals are not yet finalised, a new port development would provide additional capacity for freight and passenger traffic and would continue the positive impact of Loch Ryan ferries on the Scottish economy. In addition to the major ports, there are smaller ports at Ayr and Girvan, as well as the ports of Troon and Ardrossan which provide ferry services. Each of these ports provides employment opportunities for this corridor. 670 TELMoS 671 Irvine Bay Regeneration Company www.irvinebayurc.co.uk 546 Transport Scotland Strategic Transport Projects Review Report 1 – Review of Current and Future Network Performance 547 Transport Scotland Strategic Transport Projects Review Report 1 – Review of Current and Future Network Performance 548 Transport Scotland Strategic Transport Projects Review Report 1 – Review of Current and Future Network Performance Income levels for the corridor are £412 per week in North Ayrshire, £417 per week in East Ayrshire, £486 per week in South Ayrshire and £380 per week in Dumfries and Galloway. This equates to 100 per cent, 101 per cent, 118 per cent and 92 per cent respectively of the average for Scotland (£412)672. Car ownership in the corridor varies around the national average of 67 per cent, with the more rural areas having a higher percentage: • North Ayrshire: 66 per cent; • East Ayrshire: 65 per cent; • South Ayrshire: 71 per cent; and • Dumfries & Galloway: 74 per cent673. 7.15.2 Transport Network and Operations Infrastructure and Services The principal elements of the transport network that play a national strategic role are shown in Figure 7.15.1. The M77 Motorway (dual two-lane carriageway between Glasgow (M8) and Fenwick) and the A77 Trunk Road (dual two-lane carriageway between Fenwick and Ayr and then single lane carriageway to Stranraer) form the main spine of the road network. The A76 forms a link to Dumfries from Kilmarnock. The road and rail links to Dumfries and Carlisle should be read in the context of the commentary in Corridor 18 (Glasgow to North West England). Other important elements of the road network include: • A737 Trunk Road (dual two-lane carriageway from M8 to Johnstone and single lane carriageway to Kilwinning) links North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire; and • A70 and A71 (single lane carriageway) links Central Ayrshire with South Lanarkshire and the M74 Motorway. The M77 and A77 between Fenwick and the southern end of Kilmarnock include grade separated interchanges; however junctions on other routes are at-grade. Access from the secondary network is therefore via a series of priority junctions and roundabouts, some of which are signalised. The roads serve a dual purpose in terms of access for communities to local employment and services, while also providing strategic connections for the movements of goods and people to Glasgow and the remainder of the trunk road network. This interaction between local and strategic trips through at-grade junctions impacts performance, particularly where the route runs directly through settlements, such as Dalry, Kilwinning, Maybole and Girvan. 672 Scottish Economic Statistics 2006, table 4.20 673 Scotland’s Census 2001 – www.scrol.gov.uk Table KS17 549 Transport Scotland Strategic Transport Projects Review Report 1 – Review of Current and Future Network Performance The corridor is well served by the rail network with electrified double track from Glasgow to Ayr, electrified single track branches to Ardrossan Harbour and Largs and a separate single track branch to Hunterston. South of Ayr, the rail line continues to Stranraer as single track with passing loops. The Glasgow to Carlisle via Kilmarnock and Dumfries line also passes through this corridor. This is single track with passing loops from Glasgow to Kilmarnock and Annan to Gretna and double track between Kilmarnock and Annan. Service patterns on the corridor are generally: • Two trains per hour between Glasgow and Ayr; • One train per hour between Glasgow and Largs; • One train per hour between Glasgow and Ardrossan Town (five trains per day extend to Ardrossan Harbour); • Seven trains per day to Stranraer (from Glasgow and Carlisle) additional trips between Kilmarnock and Girvan; • One train every hour between Glasgow and Kilmarnock; and • Various freight services. A significant local bus network operates within Ayrshire. There are a number of local operators, but most services are provided by Stagecoach Western. A number of express services are provided that link to Glasgow. Services patterns are generally: • Two buses per hour between Glasgow and Ayr; • Two buses per hour between Glasgow and Kilmarnock (one per hour extend to A76 corridor); • Two buses per hour between Glasgow and Irvine; and • One bus per hour between Glasgow and Ardrossan, Saltcoats, and Stevenston. The corridor also provides access to Prestwick Airport and ports at Ardrossan, Troon, Cairnryan and Stranraer. Prestwick Airport has its own dedicated railway station on the Glasgow to Ayr line. Several bus services also call at the airport including direct routes to Glasgow. The principal interchange locations on the corridor are: • Paisley Gilmour Street (interchange between corridor rail services and those to Gourock and Wemyss Bay and local bus services including links to Glasgow Airport); • Ayr (interchange between rail services to Stranraer / Kilmarnock and local bus services); • Kilwinning (interchange between rail services on Ayr and Largs / Ardrossan lines); • Ardrossan Harbour (interchange between rail and ferry services to Arran); and • Stranraer (interchange between rail and ferry services to Larne and Belfast). 550 Transport Scotland Strategic Transport Projects Review Report 1 – Review of Current and Future Network Performance While the rail network provides good linkage to Glasgow, the destination of most of trips, however, travel to other corridors requires interchange within Glasgow or Paisley, reducing the attractiveness of rail for these journeys for some passengers. For example, passengers travelling from Stranraer to Edinburgh are required to travel by train from Stranraer to Glasgow Central before making a short trip across Glasgow City centre to Glasgow Queen Street station to board the train for Edinburgh. Whilst this involves only a short walk, taxi or free bus ride, some passengers find this to be an inconvenience thus reducing the attractiveness of rail. There are bus stations in Ayr and Kilmarnock that are near the town centres; however they are not close to the railway stations in the towns resulting in poor integration between the modes. The rail service to Ardrossan Harbour and Stranraer Harbour provides good integration with the ferry services from those ports; however the ferry ports of Troon and Cairnryan are located some distance from the nearest railway stations resulting in poor integration between rail and ferry at these locations. Prestwick Airport has good integration with both rail and bus services from Stranraer. Integrated tickets in the corridor are available in the form of the PLUSBUS ticket and the SPT ZoneCard. PLUSBUS covers rail journeys into Glasgow, Ayr and Kilmarnock and provides the addition of unlimited bus travel within the destination. The SPT ZoneCard is widely used and gives unlimited travel on bus, rail, subway and certain ferry services within designated zones in the SPT area which covers the majority of the corridor. Asset Management In 2007, 11 per cent of the trunk road network pavement674 in this corridor is judged to require structural strengthening as it has no theoretical residual strength. This compares with a national level of four per cent675. The sections with the poorest residual strength are the A78 between Largs and Montefode and the A737 / A738 Kilbarchan to Kilwinning. However, under Transport Scotland’s planned maintenance schedule, the net figure for the corridor is expected to fall to five per cent by 2012.