Patience plea over Borders Railway extension plans

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has urged patience over a study into extending the Borders Railway.

Both the Scottish and UK governments agreed in 2021 to provide £10m towards exploring the feasibility of progressing the line from Tweedbank to Carlisle.

Campaigners have hit out at the lack of progress over the past three years.

Ms Hyslop, who met Borders politicians and rail campaigners this week, said: "All transport projects take time, and it is vital that we get things right from the start."

The original 98-mile (158km) Waverley Route between Edinburgh and Carlisle closed in 1969 as part of the Beeching cuts to the UK rail network.

A 30-mile (48km) section, between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank, reopened in September 2015, at a cost of £294m.

The initial success of the route, with greater than expected passenger numbers, strengthened calls for the Borders Railway to continue through Hawick and Newcastleton, on to Carlisle.

As part of the Borderlands Growth Deal, which was signed by both governments in 2021, £10m was earmarked for a feasibility study into extending the line across the border.

This week the transport secretary met with members of the Campaign for Borders Rail (CBR), representatives of Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and local MSPs to discuss the progress.

Ms Hyslop told the BBC: "There is £10m available for the feasibility study but everything takes time, and there are steps to go through to make sure we have as professional and robust a study as we can achieve.

"I appreciate the timescales can be frustrating for people but it's important we get this right.

"We have held a positive meeting and we all know what needs to be done for taking things forward."

The CBR was formed in 1999, and played an important role in re-establishing the railway from Edinburgh Waverley to Tweedbank some 15 years later.

Its current chair, Marion Short, admits the follow-on extension to Carlisle could face similar timescales.

She said: "We are well aware of the processes that we all need to go through just for the feasibility study to start - nothing is going to happen overnight.

"The whole country is in a difficult financial state just now, so it is important that we build up as strong a case as we can for completing the Borders Railway.

"Towns like Hawick suffer terribly from not having good transport links to the south or the north - the railway would transform a large area between Tweedbank and Carlisle."

MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Christine Grahame launched the Borders Rail cross-party group at Holyrood in 1999.

She believes the lengthy campaign to get trains to Tweedbank will need to be repeated for the extension proposals to be successful.

Speaking after this week's meeting in Galashiels, she said: "There were plenty of people who doubted a railway would ever come back to the Borders, but you have to keep up the pressure and keep driving forward.

"It worked before and it can work again.

"But we must have a robust feasibility study to present to the governments."

SBC has been given the go-ahead to appoint a project manager for the feasibility study.

It is expected other contracts for the study will be tendered later in the year as the funding is drawn down from the growth deal.

Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, added: "Everyone is behind this, but we have to be realistic that it is going to take time.

"Unlocking the £10m for the study is the next step."