Welcome to CBR’s News Blog, which will provide a platform for the most current news and views on the progress of the Borders Railway project. Look out for the first news posting on Wednesday 17th February, which will feature our latest campaign initiative – to get the best possible Tweedbank terminus for the new railway.
Richard Crockett says:
The suggestion made, tongue in cheek, in CBR newsletter no 37 of marketing the Borders railway under the name “Blue Bonnet Line” is perhaps not as far out as it might seem. Madge Elliot tells me that “Blue Bonnets over the Border” was actually played by the piper accompanying the delivery of the petition to 10 Downing Street protesting against the 1969 closure. Certainly we should book our piper now as part of the openign celebrations in 2014!
David Spaven says:
Line namings are certainly very popular nowadays – see ‘community railway’ routes down south – but doesn’t the now-official ‘Borders Railway’ say it all? The railway will help to put the whole region on the map again, and with the right bus-rail connections (at Gala) and park-and-ride (at Tweedbank) the large majority of the Borders’ population will get direct value from the line.
But maybe there’s a case for thinking of a name other than ‘Tweedbank’ for the terminus?
Ron Bell says:
There was a suggestion to call the terminus “Abbotsford” to stimulate tourism.
Dave McLaren says:
What was wrong with calling it the Waverley Line? One point to note is that this is more than just a borders railway as most of the new stations, and passengers probably, will be in/from Midlothian.
Kristian Keddie says:
The fact that big towns such as Hawick which is criminally overlooked by UK Governments and Gala do not have a railway line to them is a disgrace.
Richard Crockett says:
Those with access to the Scottish media will know that there was wide coverage of the turf-cutting ceremony performed by Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, near Galashiels on March 3rd. This marks the occasion when the 2006 Act became “active” i.e. the railway to Tweedbank has to be built by law – a process that could only be halted by further legislative procedure in the Holyrood parliament.
It is understood that some of the earliest work to shift utilities will be carried out with the town limits of Galashiels itself. This should do wonders by demonstrating to doubters, of which, remarkably, there are still a few, that the Borders Region is about to be re-connected to the outside world.
David Spaven says:
Yes, now we can get really focused on getting that ‘best possible Borders Railway by 2014’ eg through lobbying line bidders, Scottish Borders Council and Transport Scotland to ensure that the Tweedbank terminus is designed to accommodate passenger charter trains from Day 1 and freight traffic either then or at a later date.
John Mitchell says:
I am glad the SNP government has carried through on the promise to build the railway, up until May 2007 there was a lot of talk but no action by the previous Executive!
Geoff Ruderham says:
Well the countdown to the start of rebuilding can begin in earnest sometime between March and June.
Question now is how long do we wait for the extention to Carlisle?
David Spaven says:
Good timing for just this kind of initiative – we need to make sure that the stations are true community ‘hubs’ and that the very poor provision for walking and cycling access in the Airdrie-Bathgate re-opening is not repeated in the Borders. And we should be pushing for stations that are reasonably in harmony with their surroundings – dare I say ‘attractive’? – rather than being over-engineered exercises in concrete and steel.