Where better connectivity could be 'life-changing'

The idea of a bridge from Scotland to Northern Ireland may have been scrapped but the Union Connectivity Review has examined other transport issues and potential solutions in different parts of the country.

In Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders, many places still have concerns about the quality of their road and rail connections.

BBC Scotland has been hearing from people across the south of the country about what transport changes and improvements they would like to see happen.

Retired teacher Helen Keating, who has lived in Gatehouse of Fleet in the south west of Scotland with her husband Geoff for more than 30 years, knows first hand the difference road improvements can make.

HGVs used to be a familiar sight but now the nearby A75 - which runs from Gretna to Stranraer and carries Cairnryan ferry traffic - takes them past the town, rather than through it.

"We were lucky to get the bypass and take it over the river because the big lorries used to come through," she said.

"We had crashes and all sorts and the houses at the bottom of the town were cracking because the land was quite soft down there."

That's why she said taking traffic away from Crocketford and Springholm - where the A75 still passes through - should be tackled first.

"I think the main priority would be the bypasses on the villages, they were promised years ago - 30 years ago I think they talked about doing it," she said.

"They have suffered with all the traffic going past their front doors so close."

She said dual carriageway along the entire length of the route - about 95 miles - seemed unlikely as did reopening the Dumfries to Stranraer railway line which closed more than 50 years ago.

"It was single track all the way and one of the bridges was blown up and the other one is a bit dodgy," she added.

Keith McElrea has been involved with the Dual the A75 campaign for four years now.

He runs pharmacies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway - Newton Stewart, Whithorn and Wigtown with a fourth on the way in Stranraer - and said the road was a major headache for business.

"It is a 100-mile road which has some sections of dual carriageway but it is mostly single carriageway with very few overtaking opportunities," he said.

"You are meeting articulated lorries coming in the opposite direction on blind bends. It is a dangerous road."

Like Ms Keating, he said he did not expect dual carriageway along the entire route.

"What we are asking for is to start with the worst bits and create a stretch of dual carriageway that could be built with a view to joining them up later," he said.

He said that could be transformational.

"It is quite clear that infrastructure is strangling the economy in the south west," he said.

"I think it would breathe a breath of life into the area - Dumfries and Galloway is naturally situated to be a hub for business if the connectivity is there.

"Realistically this should be a place businesses are looking at and thinking: 'I am wanting to start my business there'.

"At the moment the infrastructure is what is stopping that."

Many miles east, at Reston in the east of Berwickshire, a station is set to reopen after nearly 60 years.

Local community council secretary Logan Inglis said that was a "step forward" for the revitalisation of communities in the area and beyond.

"There is a great deal of both relief and enthusiasm - relief as the station is finally being built and enthusiasm as people can't wait for the station to be opened," he said.

However, on the roads the village is close to the A1 where Mr Inglis said they had been battling to see an upgrade to its junction with the B6438 for 15 years.

"Disappointingly little has been done with regards to our request for safety measures and upgrades," he said.

"Every day we get to hear of residents now frightened to exit the junction, especially travelling south."

He said there had been some safety upgrades but they were concerned it would take a serious accident before more action was taken.

Newcastleton in the Borders sits in the centre of southern Scotland but lost its railway station when the line closed as part of cuts in the late 1960s.

Greg Cuthbert is a semi-retired mobile hairdresser who has lived there all his life.

"I can remember the railway - I was only a little lad when it closed, I was only six or seven," he said.

"It has left an indelible impression in most of our lives because of its loss.

"In truth we can mark the decline of our community from that very day."

He said they had gone from being a "thriving, key place" to being an area that was "basically abandoned".

"It blights our community the lack of connectivity," he said.

"Connectivity is crucial for a small area - we are like a land-locked island."

"Anyone living on a trunk road - they have got connectivity. We go miles before we join the national trunk road network."

He said extending the Borders Railway to Carlisle - it currently runs from Edinburgh to Tweedbank about 40 miles away - would have a huge impact on Newcastleton if it had a station on the line.

"It would be life-changing, absolutely life-changing," he said.

"Everything would grow from there like a spider's web - and we would be at the centre of it."