Borders rail

Your correspondent Jim Sutherland (Letters, 12 May) describes the new Borders railway as a “tramway”, thereby apparently trying to link it to a troubled urban transport project currently being built in Edinburgh.

He also quotes a statement by Dr Beeching to try and justify his argument, but that statement has since been proved to have been based on inaccurate figures.

The people of the Borders can look forward to having a proper railway again, linking them by public transport to the main business centres of the country without having to rely on car ownership. The fact that “the major construction challenges along the route” are being looked at in advance shows good project management – they will not delay construction.

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Network Rail was responsible for rebuilding the Airdrie-Bathgate line, which came in on time and on budget. I look forward to being able to travel to the Borders tourist attractions by train and avoiding having to drive on poor roads like the A68.

Neil McDonald

Pencaitland

East Lothian