First the Borders, then Fife?
That’s the plea for campaigners hoping to re-establish a rail line between Thornton and Leven.
The Levenmouth Rail Campaign has welcomed the reopening of the Borders railway from Edinburgh to Galashiels and Tweedbank earlier this week, and has now argued that the Levenmouth link must be the top rail priority for Scottish Ministers and Transport Scotland.
The Thornton to Leven line was closed to passenger trains in 1969, but the line remains available, and reopening it would reconnect not only the largest urban area in Scotland to the rail network, but would also serve Diageo’s Fife distillery and bottling plants, campaigners argue.
A 2008 report on the reopening recommended using the existing line, at a projected cost of £76.6 million, and estimated it would have benefits worth one and a half times the cost.
Allen Armstrong, the secretary of the Levenmouth Rail Campaign, said: “It’s inspiring to see trains running again to Tweedbank, and we are so pleased for our friends in the Campaign for Borders Rail.
“They have run an impressive and dogged campaign, and their work will provide a major economic boost to the Borders.
“Like East Fife, the Borders has suffered from nearly 50 years without a rail connection, and we expect the revitalising effect of the Borders railway to be substantial.
“Over recent years, some of the worst rail closures of the 1960s have been reversed and as each of the revived lines succeeds it helps make the case for the next project.
“It seems clear to us that reopening the Levenmouth line should now be the first priority for the Scottish Government.
“We already know that it would bring major social, economic and environmental benefits, and a 2008 report showed an extremely positive cost benefit ratio for the project.”
Meanwhile, Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Liz Smith yesterday also called on Holyrood to reconsider a feasibility study into a Perth- Kinross-Edinburgh line, which could reduce journey times from Edinburgh to Perth and Inverness by 35 minutes.
“Only the reinstatement of this link will truly open up routes to the north from Edinburgh,” she said.