WORK has started on a £300 million project which will see the reopening of the longest stretch of once-defunct railway in Britain.

The new Borders Railway will open in summer 2015, with more than 400 jobs being created to build it.

The new line will have seven new stations – at Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and the end of the line at Tweedbank.

The 35-mile route will run from Waverley to the Borders.

Site clearances, ground investigations and mine remediation works are under way.

A tunnel will be built beneath Edinburgh City Bypass this summer, with 50,000 commuters diverted each day along a temporary two-lane carriageway to allow for a 130ft-wide section of the road to be removed.