Calls have been made for the new £294 million Borders Railway to be extended to Hawick and onto Carlisle.
The route from Edinburgh Waverley to Tweedbank, near Galashiels, opens in September.
However, MPs said it should terminate in the English city and are urging the UK Government to work with the Scottish Government and others to help achieve this.
The Commons Scottish Affairs Committee made the suggestion in a report today (thur) calling for more co-operation" between the two administrations to tackle the problems the area is facing.
The report Borderlands said there had been "negative consequences" for the south of Scotland as a result of the "instinct of the Scottish Government to centralise power and functions in Edinburgh".
But they also said that in the wake of devolution it had been "too easy" for Whitehall Departments "not give adequate attention and priority to administering their reserved functions north of the border".
The MPs highlighted a number of "major structural challenges facing the residents of south of Scotland", including employment, access to public services, superfast broadband rollout, mobile phone coverage and cross-border transport services.
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