INDEPENDENT RAIL CONSULTANCY GROUP
RECENT PROJECTS

Recent projects carried out under the auspices of IRCG include :

Edinburgh – Glasgow : High Speed Line
IRCG was commissioned by a consortium of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and SEStrans to produce a feasibility report for significant journey time reductions between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland’s two principle cities. The study addressed what could be achieved by incremental upgrades of existing routes as well as new build, explored suitable timetable and rolling stock options and assessed the revenue benefits which would accrue from a range of journey time reductions.

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Morpeth – Bedlington : Reintroduction of Passenger Services
The North East Assembly wished to explore the feasibility of restoring passenger services between Morpeth and Bedlington in Northumberland with the objective of using existing resources to improve connectivity for a run down area. With the full cooperation of Northern Rail and Network Rail a scheme was developed which required only small scale operational cost increases, offered a low-budget solution to reintroducing station platforms and created new rail passenger business.

The study resulted in a follow-up commission from Nexus to explore, in a similar way, the feasibility of reintroducing a heavy rail service between Northumberland Park (connecting with the Metro) and Ashington, via Bedlington. As with the Morpeth – Bedlington project, an affordable and reasoned solution was presented to the client.

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Nottingham – Grantham – Skegness : Marketing Strategy
The commission from Lincolnshire County Council (who were acting on behalf of a number of stakeholder groups) was for IRCG to devise a strategy for marketing this 80 mile route which has to serve the diverse needs of urban areas, regional centres, areas of very low population and a major tourism destination. The IRCG study involved in-depth reviews of current business levels and distribution across the day/year, researching stakeholder aspirations, a branding review and an exploration of operational opportunities and constraints. The resulting report offered ways forward which could be implemented at a high level by the incoming train operator supported by local delivery by the invaluable volunteer support groups.

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Dalmarnock Station : Station Redevelopment
Dalmarnock is a suburb in the east end of Glasgow and a major centre in the Clyde Gateway Regeneration scheme. In addition, Dalmarnock is the site of the athletes village for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport commissioned IRCG to produce a Phase 1 study giving an overview of the development potential for the low-quality station at Dalmarnock. IRCG used its wider industry network to bring into the study a suitable rail civil engineering consultancy and a suitable architect. The resulting strategic proposal was endorsed by the client and other stakeholder organisations and forms the basis for Phase 2 of the study. IRCG has been invited to bid for Phase 2.

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