Onward to Carlisle Fund
Campaign launches funding drive online
With around £2,500 already raised among members, the Campaign for Borders Rail today launched its Onward to Carlisle Fund via the online platform JustGiving.com.
Speaking at the lunchtime launch, Simon Walton, the Campaign’s chair, said that the pressure was on the Campaign to deliver. “We are closer than ever to seeing our goal achieved,” he said. “With the recent pledge from Westminster and Holyrood for a £10m feasibility study, it’s up to us to make sure this project does not get derailed.”
The Campaign seeks to build on the success of the opening in 2015 of the Borders Railway between Edinburgh and Tweedbank. The focus now is on extending that line to directly serve the Borders through Hawick and on to Carlisle.
“This voluntary organisation is working harder than ever, to engage with full-time agencies in England and Scotland,” said Mr Walton. “We intend to play a meaningful part in informing a feasibility study, and putting forward the best possible case for communities throughout the Borders, as well as the strategic case for building a new cross-border rail link, that best facilitates economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Our modest funding requirements are met entirely by our members and supporters, and that’s why the Onward to Carlisle Fund is so important to the Campaign. We need to see this railway established within years, not decades, and we need to take our message further into the national agenda right now,” he said.
The Borders has been without a direct rail service since what was known as the Waverley Route and all its branches closed in 1969. Since then, the region has been in economic decline and the remaining rail network has suffered from the lack of alternatives to the busy East and West coastal routes that entirely bypasses the 100,000 residents in the region. The Campaign for Borders Rail has lobbied for the past twenty years to reinstate that link for the benefit of the Borders, the UK national rail network and for future generations. To support the effort, visit www.JustGiving.com and simply search “Campaign for Borders Rail”.
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PRESS CONTACT: Simon Walton 07540 313018