New Inverclyde timetable shaped by public consultation

The new Monday to Saturday summer timetable for Inverclyde services has been designed after a public consultation.

The consultation saw passengers, stakeholders and members of ScotRail staff submit over 800 responses to improve the services, with the main issue relating to the long journey times it currently takes to get into Glasgow from towns along the south of the Clyde.

ScotRail have put forward a timetable that it says will enable passengers to connect with education and employment opportunities, in addition to leisure facilities, which will contribute to growing the local economies along the line.

The changes to be implemented:

Glasgow to Gourock services

• There will be two off-peak trains an hour, including after the evening rush hour, the trains are scheduled to take 41 minutes from Glasgow, stopping at Paisley Gilmour Street, Bishopton, Port Glasgow and Bogston, before stopping at all remaining stations to Gourock.
•  More trains will be added to current services in the morning and evening rush hours.
•  The first two trains of the day from Gourock the 05:25 and 06:00 will now stop additionally at Woodhall, Langbank, and Paisley St James, to give commuters and leisure travellers at these stations earlier services into Glasgow.
• The last of the semi-fast trains will leave Gourock at 19:26 and Glasgow at 18:35, with all trains running a half-hour service after these times stopping at all stations. The 23:50 service will be the last train of the day from Glasgow to Gourock.

  Glasgow to Wemyss Bay services  

• Trains will run every 30 minutes throughout the day until 7 pm calling at all stations offering a journey time of 1 hour. After 7 pm an hourly service will run, calling only at Paisley Gilmour Street, Bishopton, Port Glasgow, Whinhill, Drumfrochar, Branchton, and Inverkip.  
•  The busiest morning rush hour train from Wemyss Bay to Glasgow the 07:28 will now leave at 07:35 and will take just 50 minutes to reach Glasgow.
•  The 22:55 will now be the last train of the day from Glasgow to Wemyss Bay replacing the existing 22:35 service.
•  No further changes will be made to the current Sunday services, as these were improved upon in December last year.  

As things stand these are only the draft plans for the upcoming new timetables to be launched in June later this year, these timetables can be viewed at https://www.scotrail.co.uk/ayrshire-and-inverclyde-timetable-consultation.

To keep train travel an assertive choice of transport, ScotRail will review the timetable after the summer period and build on and amend it further over the coming years, to give the people who travel by train along the south of the Clyde faster journeys at peak times.

We are delighted that so many people took the time to submit responses in the public consultation and play an active part in helping to decide what future timetables will look like. ScotRail is committed to delivering the best possible service to our customers and we believe these changes will result in more people using rail across Inverclyde both for local journeys and trips to Glasgow. Rail travel remains one of the easiest and sustainable ways to get around Scotland, and we will continue to look at ways of making it an even more attractive mode of transport.”   

Scott Prentice, ScotRail Strategic Planning Director