Project managers have been appointed to conduct a feasibility study into reinstating a railway line on the old Waverley route from Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders to Carlisle.
Project managers have been appointed to conduct a feasibility study into reinstating a railway line on the old Waverley route from Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders to Carlisle.
In February it was announced that £10 million was being allocated for a feasibility study with the Department for Transport and Scottish Government both contributing £5m.
The Scottish Borders Council has appointed Turner and Townsend as project managers. The international company has worked on major projects such as the Borders Railway phase one to Tweedbank, the Elizabeth line and the extension of Edinburgh trams to Newhaven.
Councillor Euan Jardine, the leader of Scottish Borders Council, described it as “a really significant development that will allow important groundwork to be undertaken to establish how feasible an extension to the Borders Railway beyond Tweedbank and to Hawick and Carlisle is.”
For Peter Heubeck, the Technical Adviser to the Campaign for Borders Rail, it is a “positive development.”
In a feature in RAIL1034, he praised the work of the team which built the Edinburgh to Tweedbank line and said he believes similar work can overcome engineering challenges facing the reinstatement of the line to Carlisle.
The study will look at different route options, including following the existing disused trackbed through Newcastleton and an alternative route via Langholm, never on the original Waverley route which closed in January 1969.
In appointing Turner and Townsend, Scottish Borders Council said the company had “vast experience in delivering complex major projects from business case through to completion.”
Marion Short, who chairs the Campaign for Borders Rail, does not want just an add-on to the existing line to Tweedbank: “We always call it the completion of the Borders Railway, not the extension…we’re firmly of the belief that this is for future generations.”
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Deep Space 30DQ - 27/05/2025 22:21
This project will also include reinstating the kelso branch to the east coast mainline. , from a parkway station at newton st Boswell's , giving. A vital link from the west coast to east coast mainlines , it will also allow slower trains for Edinburgh to leave the congested rlwest coast line at Carlisle , and freight would for the first time run on the railway , it may also include the reinstated Peebles route as well, with them saying they hoped to reconnect at Galashiels or near to the town , also new double track sections from gorebridge to cope with the extra traffic , and potential bay platforms there, and at keilder Forrest a special logging train track would be. Built simajlr to one on the far north line would see a loading point built to reduce the number of logging trucks on the A7, freeing up traffic and putting freight in the railway , this new link could also see a passenger halt and cafe tousot office and toilet facilities and cabins built with provisions for tourist trains. Built as well..this I learnt from our local msp, who also stated their plans to try reinstate the ' paddy line ' from Cairnryan and Stranraer to Dumfries , a d at Gretna there eisbstill a link to longtown , which was provided for when the A74 was upgraded to motorway , this link would allow travellers from the west of Dumfries and Galloway a far quicker route to Edinburgh, by the 1 mile lik into the borders railway, should it once it is rebuilt Also trains using the settle Carlisle line could use the extended route just as they used too all those years ago.