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| Borders railway reopens signalling fresh hope for more Scottish lines | Borders railway reopens signalling fresh hope for more Scottish lines |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Shirres was a passenger on the very last train to leave Edinburgh on the Waverley line just before it was axed as part of the Beeching cuts. He remembers the “plummy”, precise accent of the station announcer just before the sleeper to London pulled away on 5 January 1969. | David Shirres was a passenger on the very last train to leave Edinburgh on the Waverley line just before it was axed as part of the Beeching cuts. He remembers the “plummy”, precise accent of the station announcer just before the sleeper to London pulled away on 5 January 1969. |
| Then a trainee railway engineer aged 19, Shirres also remembers that the train’s journey south was heavily disrupted by furious locals blockading the track, despite a police guard, delaying its progress to St Pancras by three hours. “I was late for work by about two hours at Derby locomotive works,” he said. | Then a trainee railway engineer aged 19, Shirres also remembers that the train’s journey south was heavily disrupted by furious locals blockading the track, despite a police guard, delaying its progress to St Pancras by three hours. “I was late for work by about two hours at Derby locomotive works,” he said. |
| Now, however, those locals are jubilant and on Friday, Shirres, now a journalist with Rail Engineer, sits on board a media-special train running on the track. On Sunday, the first section of the Borders rail line will reopen to paying passengers, ending a 45-year wait since it was closed down and dug up after 107 years of service. | Now, however, those locals are jubilant and on Friday, Shirres, now a journalist with Rail Engineer, sits on board a media-special train running on the track. On Sunday, the first section of the Borders rail line will reopen to paying passengers, ending a 45-year wait since it was closed down and dug up after 107 years of service. |
| The new line will run half-hourly services from Edinburgh Waverley station on a 35 mile-long stretch – long sections of which are single track –taking travellers past castles, sheep farms and market towns deep in the Scottish Borders on refurbished 1980s diesel trains. It crosses 140 refurbished or rebuilt bridges and viaducts through heavily engineered embankments. | The new line will run half-hourly services from Edinburgh Waverley station on a 35 mile-long stretch – long sections of which are single track –taking travellers past castles, sheep farms and market towns deep in the Scottish Borders on refurbished 1980s diesel trains. It crosses 140 refurbished or rebuilt bridges and viaducts through heavily engineered embankments. |
| It is the the longest section of Beeching-cuts rail line yet reopened, and has cost roughly £10m a mile, its total cost some £350m. Until this weekend, the Borders was the largest area of the UK without a rail link. Now, campaigners and councillors across southern Scotland and in Carlisle and Cumbria in the north of England want more. | It is the the longest section of Beeching-cuts rail line yet reopened, and has cost roughly £10m a mile, its total cost some £350m. Until this weekend, the Borders was the largest area of the UK without a rail link. Now, campaigners and councillors across southern Scotland and in Carlisle and Cumbria in the north of England want more. |
| They are preparing to build a business case for the line to be fully reopened to Carlisle, its original destination, some 60 miles south west. It is high on the list of priorities for the Borderlands initiative – a cross-border alliance of councils in southern Scotland and northern England formed in the heat of the Scottish independence referendum. | They are preparing to build a business case for the line to be fully reopened to Carlisle, its original destination, some 60 miles south west. It is high on the list of priorities for the Borderlands initiative – a cross-border alliance of councils in southern Scotland and northern England formed in the heat of the Scottish independence referendum. |
| “This was only ever the first step,” said David Parker, leader of Scottish Borders council. “The economic benefits of the line will only be truly exploited if we go to Hawick and Carlisle.” | “This was only ever the first step,” said David Parker, leader of Scottish Borders council. “The economic benefits of the line will only be truly exploited if we go to Hawick and Carlisle.” |
| That would cost at least £500m, at a time of heavily squeezed public spending. So the first phase could be to reopen a 17-mile section to Hawick. And that may take 10 years to realise, said Parker. “It’s going to be one where the Scottish and UK governments work together, to link Scotland to England with a new rail link with huge strategic benefits for both countries,” he said. | That would cost at least £500m, at a time of heavily squeezed public spending. So the first phase could be to reopen a 17-mile section to Hawick. And that may take 10 years to realise, said Parker. “It’s going to be one where the Scottish and UK governments work together, to link Scotland to England with a new rail link with huge strategic benefits for both countries,” he said. |
| “I think there’s a real opportunity in the current political climate when debate is all around the union and the constitution and independence. If we get the politics of this right, this is something which could be delivered.” | “I think there’s a real opportunity in the current political climate when debate is all around the union and the constitution and independence. If we get the politics of this right, this is something which could be delivered.” |
| Colin Glover, the leader of Carlisle city council, said a new rail line opening up the Borders “would seize the imagination of people”. | Colin Glover, the leader of Carlisle city council, said a new rail line opening up the Borders “would seize the imagination of people”. |
| “There are common bonds there and it has been a long time to get the first stage opened and it will be a long time to get the full line open. But every journey has to start somewhere,” Glover added. | “There are common bonds there and it has been a long time to get the first stage opened and it will be a long time to get the full line open. But every journey has to start somewhere,” Glover added. |
| The plan to reopen the former Waverley line to Carlisle, however, faces tough competition. The Scottish government is poised to announce in February that it wants to build a new high speed rail line from Edinburgh to Glasgow, says Shirres, as it fights to be factored into the UK government’s London-centric HS2 programme. | The plan to reopen the former Waverley line to Carlisle, however, faces tough competition. The Scottish government is poised to announce in February that it wants to build a new high speed rail line from Edinburgh to Glasgow, says Shirres, as it fights to be factored into the UK government’s London-centric HS2 programme. |
| Keith Brown, the Scottish government’s transport secretary, insists he backs research into extending the Borders line. “We will play our part in any feasibility study,” he told the Guardian. But he warns that every project needs to compete. | Keith Brown, the Scottish government’s transport secretary, insists he backs research into extending the Borders line. “We will play our part in any feasibility study,” he told the Guardian. But he warns that every project needs to compete. |
| Brown said the Scottish government is very keen on funding a high speed rail feasibility study but insists other schemes, such as extending the Borders line, or several other projects around new lines in Fife or north-east Scotland, will have their chance. | |
| “That’s one of the things we’ll look at when it comes to looking at funding for high speed rail. It can’t mean, and it shouldn’t mean, that we stop investment elsewhere,” he said. “Let’s get the trains running on the Borders rail in the next couple of days and let’s see what the interest and the takeup is there. I’m very confident about that – but let’s do that first.” | “That’s one of the things we’ll look at when it comes to looking at funding for high speed rail. It can’t mean, and it shouldn’t mean, that we stop investment elsewhere,” he said. “Let’s get the trains running on the Borders rail in the next couple of days and let’s see what the interest and the takeup is there. I’m very confident about that – but let’s do that first.” |
| The towns and villages on the line – Galashiels, Stow, Newtongrange and Tweedbank – have days of celebrations planned: there are marquees pitched on playing fields, parties in village halls and, on Saturday, 480 “golden ticket” winners – local children, charity workers and ordinary people admired in the community, will enjoy the first three celebratory journeys on the track for the general public. | |
| On Wednesday, the Queen will officially reopen the line, travelling on the Union of South Africa steam locomotive, to mark her becoming Britain’s longest serving monarch. | On Wednesday, the Queen will officially reopen the line, travelling on the Union of South Africa steam locomotive, to mark her becoming Britain’s longest serving monarch. |
| Could the re-opening of the Waverley line spur a Scottish rail renaissance? | Could the re-opening of the Waverley line spur a Scottish rail renaissance? |
| • A campaign to rebuild the five mile-long Levenmouth line in southern Fife is seen as the most favoured new project, said David Spaven, a rail consultant and historian. It would reach the largest urban conurbation in Scotland – a neglected cluster of former mining and engineering towns at Leven, Methil and Buckhaven of some 37,000 people – without any railway. | |
| • Councillors and business leaders in north-east Scotland want to rebuild the line north from oil-rich Aberdeen to the fishing ports of Fraserburgh and Peterhead, a line finally closed to freight in 1979. It is central to a new consultation on the region’s transport networks as part of a £3bn City Deal package being proposed around the city. | |
| • In Glasgow, councillors are still hoping to open a partly underground line called Crosslink to connect southern and northern Scotland via the city’s largest stations, Central and Queen Street, and build several new urban stations in the city centre. | • In Glasgow, councillors are still hoping to open a partly underground line called Crosslink to connect southern and northern Scotland via the city’s largest stations, Central and Queen Street, and build several new urban stations in the city centre. |
| It would cost at least £250m but would finally close a gap in the UK’s west coast rail network: services from England and the south west of Scotland terminate at Central station but trains north to the Highlands and east can only be taken from Queen Street. However, transport Scotland, the government agency that oversees roads and rail investment, has rejected it on cost and justification grounds. | |
| • Campaigners in St Andrew’s want a new line to their town. It has the distinction of being Scotland’s only university town without a railway line, despite being the home of golf, its growing student population, its tourism and its famous beaches – scene of the famous opening sequence for Chariots of Fire where white-clad runners bound through the surf. The nearest mainline station is five miles west at the former RAF town of Leuchars. | |
| • There are more modest schemes to reopen disused stations on the west and east coast mainlines. Plans for Reston and East Linton on the east coast mainline south of Edinburgh are getting official backing and are expected to reopen. | • There are more modest schemes to reopen disused stations on the west and east coast mainlines. Plans for Reston and East Linton on the east coast mainline south of Edinburgh are getting official backing and are expected to reopen. |
| But there is another scheme that has not yet had any official support, to reopen the railway station at Beattock, a market town near the west coast mainline made famous by WH Auden’s poem for the 1936 documentary film Night Mail. | |
| In its introductory verse, Auden wrote: | In its introductory verse, Auden wrote: |
| This is the Night Mail crossing the border, | This is the Night Mail crossing the border, |
| Bringing the cheque and the postal order, | Bringing the cheque and the postal order, |
| Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, | Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, |
| The shop at the corner and the girl next door. | The shop at the corner and the girl next door. |
| Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb: | Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb: |
| The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time. | The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time. |
| Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder | Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder |
| Shovelling white steam over her shoulder, | Shovelling white steam over her shoulder, |
| Snorting noisily as she passes | Snorting noisily as she passes |
| Silent miles of wind-bent grasses. | Silent miles of wind-bent grasses. |