St Andrews salon owners, taxi drivers and café staff have backed the town’s latest push for a train station.
Businesses have revealed their support for the ongoing bid to reinstate the station that closed back in 1969.
Salon owner Aileen Wallace-Edgar believes a rail link is “needed” in the town.
“I think a rail service to St Andrews would be amazing,” she said.
“It’s something we would love to have here because it would bring so many more people into the town centre.
“It would be a great thing.”
If we had a rail link, it would make it so much easier”
Aileen Wallace-Edgar, Vintage Beauty Box in St Andrews
Aileen is the owner of the the Vintage Beauty Box on South Street.
She was raised in Fife and has worked in St Andrews for seven years.
“It’s something that’s needed in the town.
“Especially with the cost of living going up. It gives more options for people to get to St Andrews.
“Parking is not great here, so a lot of people just avoid St Andrews.
“A lot of my clients only come in for their treatments, not for shopping. They would rather go to Dundee where there’s more ample parking.
“If we had a rail link, it would make it so much easier for them. They wouldn’t have to worry about finding a parking space.
“And”, she joked, “my clients wouldn’t run late as often.”
Aileen, 40, believes the potential disruption during the construction of the railway line would be worth it for “the bigger picture”.
“That might be a bit of a nightmare but we’ll just have to deal with that for the positives in the long run,” she said.
Easy access for tourists
Staff at the popular Gorgeous Café just off Market Street see a railway line as a way to encourage more customers to the town.
Cailan Duane has been working at the café for a year. He said: “I think it would be quite a good thing for businesses in St Andrews.
“It will draw people in who might otherwise have gone right through Leuchars and left.
“Tourists love St Andrews and I think it would be good to give them a better line to it.”
Chandresh, who works for a taxi company in St Andrews, also sees the benefit of a rail link.
“It’s a good idea to have a railway link,” he told me. “That way you bring in more people.
“But it’s also a cost. It will take time, and there could be a lot of disruption.”
Many turn to taxis to get to St Andrews after they get off the train at Leuchars.
But Chandresh, 45, does not think a railway link between the two would be a bad thing for his trade.
He said: “My personal belief is that a link like that would lead to more business.
“If there are more people coming in, there will be more business.”
Emma Bell works at Short Stay St Andrews who offer rentals for visitors to the town.
“It would be very, very busy with a train station,” said the 23-year-old.
“But I think it would be good for the town. You can never be too busy.”
Does the St Andrews rail link have support from the university?
The university, one of the main employers in the town and a popular tourist destination, backs the potential rail link too – albeit tentatively.
A spokesperson said: “Our consistent position has been that we support a rail link to St Andrews in principle.”
StARLink’s railway bid has been delayed by Transport Scotland taking too long to pay their bills, say campaigners.
But for these businesses, it’s clear that the railway link cannot come soon enough.
Conversation