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Reston station return approved after more than 50 years

Network Rail Video grabNetwork Rail
The new station plans include parking for up to 70 vehicles

Plans to open a railway station in a Borders village which last saw passenger services more than 50 years ago have been given the go-ahead.

Network Rail wants to build the two-platform structure with 70 parking spaces at Reston in Berwickshire.

A station opened in the village in 1846 but the last passenger services stopped in 1964.

Scottish Borders Council's planning committee approved the scheme with a string of conditions.

Councillors described it as a "very exciting development" which had the potential to open up transport links in the east of the region.

Campaigners have long been calling for improvements to rail services in the area.

More than a decade ago a feasibility study looked at the possibility of reopening a station on the East Coast Main Line.

A funding package for the project - estimated to cost more than £10m - has since been put together with backing from the council and the Scottish government.

The approval has been welcomed by the local Reston and Auchencrow Community Council.

Secretary Logan Inglis said it had been campaigning - along with the wider community - for the reopening since 1998.

Network Rail Station planNetwork Rail
It is hoped work can start on building the station later this year

"Today's good news is a step forward in revitalisation for the communities of Berwickshire and further afield," he said.

"The station reopening means a lot to the communities, not only for the connectivity to Edinburgh but also to Newcastle and further."

He paid credit to the campaign group Rages (Rail Action Group East of Scotland) for helping to bring about the project.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson has said the scheme had "real potential to deliver a number of benefits for the communities it would serve".

A Network Rail spokesperson said: "We are pleased Scottish Borders Council wishes to see this project progress.

"We will work hard with our partners to deliver this new station for our customers and the wider Reston community."

The proposals at Reston are for a two-platform station with 70 car parking spaces with sufficient land purchased for a further 40, a new access road, fully accessible lifts and a platform connecting footbridge.

It is hoped work can begin later this year.