Boost for Borders rail project

Transport Correspondent

Saturday 28 July 2012

CAMPAIGNERS for a major new rail route in Scotland have welcomed a report showing local opinion has swung behind the £295 million project.

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DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent

A survey carried out for Network Rail, which took over the Borders railway project last year, found 82% of people living near the 35-mile route from Edinburgh to Tweedbank say it will benefit them or their community and 63% say they will use it. However, a significant proportion do not realise it will provide a direct link to Edinburgh when it is completed.

More than two-thirds said they would be most likely to use the railway for leisure purposes, with 15% saying they would use it to commute to work on a daily basis, according to a poll of 1000 people undertaken by TNS. The findings are seen as significant given the controversial history of the project in the Borders, with supporters claiming that re-connecting the region to the UK rail network for the first time in more than 40 years will boost jobs and investment while critics attacked it for encouraging unsustainable housing developments. The Borders Party, which has contested local elections on an anti-railway ticket, saw two candidates returned in 2007 and in May this year.However, as well as revealing public backing for the project, the TNS survey also highlighted a significant degree of confusion about what it will provide. More than one-fifth of those polled were not aware the line would enable them to travel to Edinburgh without changing trains, TNS found.Hugh Wark, Network Rail senior project manager, said: "The research results are very positive and show a great deal of interest in the Borders railway and an eagerness to see the project delivered. There are also some issues we've identified which we will need to address. For example, 27% of people in the wider community do not realise the new service will run all the way from Tweedbank to Edinburgh without the need to change trains. Awareness about the location of stations also needs to be improved, so we will look to develop local knowledge through our communications."Construction of the route was due to be undertaken by a private consortium but responsibility was handed to Network Rail, which owns and operates the UK rail network, last year following the collapse of a Scottish Government tendering competition.The latest completion date, for the project, following years of delays, is scheduled for 2014. However, both the budget and cost are subject to a final agreement between Network Rail and Government agency Transport Scotland.A £2m contract was awarded to BAM Nuttal earlier this year to draw up designs for the route though the company, which was involved in the Scottish Governnment-run tender competition, has an option to undertake the main construction work if a price and timescale can be agreed.David Spaven, author of the forthcoming Waverley Route: the Life, Death and Rebirth of the Borders Railway, said: "The Borders railway has been a long time coming, and a degree of frustration has inevitably developed, so it's encouraging that so many people are still very positive about the substantial benefits trains will bring to the central Borders and Midlothian."

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Boost for Borders rail project

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