Better connected

Published on 15/09/2012 00:00

I WAS interested to see (your report, 12 September) that Carstairs will soon be getting an improved train service. This would bring wider benefits if linked to Carlisle as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh, and had connecting buses to Lanark. At present it’s not easy to get to Lanark from Carlisle or Edinburgh, which deters tourists from visiting the New Lanark World Heritage Site.

Better still would be to build a new station a few miles to the west, near the A706, as this site could also be served by Glasgow-Lanark trains. I believe that this has potential to become a major interchange, with trains running at least half-hourly to Glasgow and Lanark and at least hourly to Edinburgh, Carlisle and Stirling; plus buses to Edinburgh Airport (via Livingston), Galashiels (via Carstairs village and Biggar), and various places in south-west Scotland, possibly including Ayr and the Irish ferries (via the A70 and/or A71), Dumfries, and Sanquhar via Wanlockhead.

All these routes would start at or run via Lanark, with direct buses to New Lanark. Such a network would make it much easier for tourists to visit the south of Scotland; at present most rail passengers have little choice but to stay on the train till it gets to Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Simon Norton

Hertford Street

Cambridge