It is “50-50” as to whether Edinburgh’s Southern Suburban Railway could be reopened to passenger traffic, the city’s transport convener has said.
Scott Arthur, who leads on transport for the Labour administration that re-took control of Edinburgh City Council from the SNP last year, said there would be a consultation on the proposal in the summer.
The route, popularly known as ‘the Sub’, connected the city centre with Piershill, Portobello, Duddingston, Newington and Craiglockhart on a loop line across the city’s south. It was closed to stopping services in 1962, but maintained to passenger standard so that it could be used for diversions.
Consideration of a reopening of the route to passenger traffic was included in a city transport plan approved on February 2.
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Ross Clark - 13/03/2023 09:13
With the congestion in and around Edinburgh's roads the need to reopen the "Sub" is more pressing that ever. Let's keep encouraging the modal shift from cars and buses onto Rail. Electrification of the Sub should be straightforward thus increasing the green benefits of using rail. I say don't dither and get in with it.