Credit: © VisitScotland / David N Anderson
Rail campaigners in the Borders have invited the UK government’s new transport minister, Louise Haigh, to the region to accelerate the feasibility study into extending the line from Tweedbank to Carlisle.
In 2021, the Borderlands Partnership allocated £10 million for a study and while Transport Scotland and the Department of Transport publicly backed it, the money has still to be signed off by both the Holyrood and Westminster governments.
Euan Jardine, leader of Scottish Borders Council, has written to the new Secretary of State for Transport this week inviting her to meet in the Borders, and commit to pushing forward with the study.
”It’s extremely frustrating that it [study] is there but it’s just getting it across the line, he told BBC Scotland.
“Sometimes these things can get lost in a government change and re-shuffle, so I’ve sent that letter straight away. I think it’s really important that we get this on the table now and invite her to the Borders and have full and frank discussions on this.
“I think it’s important we have the new Cabinet Secretary in the Borders so that we can also vent our frustrations on why it has taken so long to get here. There’s been a long wait for this extension and things become more complex the more time passes so we need that reassurance, just that sign-off from the UK and Scottish Governments, and then we can finally push forward with it.”
