Waverley link timetable is speeded up

Published on Wednesday 7 January 2009 09:26

CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed the news that the restoration of the £295 million Waverley rail link between Edinburgh and the Borders has been brought forward to next year.

Transport minister Stewart Stevenson today used the 40th anniversary of the last passenger train to run on the historic route to confirm the timetable on the delay-ridden project had been speeded up.

He initially told the Scottish Parliament in August that work would start on the 35-mile line during 2011. But yesterday he announced that starting date would now be in 2010.

South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame said: "This is wonderful news and it shows the commitment of this government.

"It was back in June 2000 that the entire Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to restore the line and there have been a lot of delays along the way. But we are really motoring now."

The 98-mile Waverley line – which ran between Edinburgh and Carlisle and first opened in 1849 – was closed to passenger trains on January 6, 1969.

The re-designed route will run between Edinburgh and Tweedbank and is scheduled to open in 2013.