News - Waverley route

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Borders MSP Rachael Hamilton has met with Scottish Government Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop to discuss the Borders Railway extension and other transport options in the region.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Borders Railway Extension Waverley Route

A coalition representing councils, campaigners and governments have met to discuss progress with a £10m feasibility study to extend the Borders Railway.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Carlisle Hawick St Boswells Tweedbank Waverley Route


Hawick [2nd]: D5069 with the 09.20 Carlisle - Edinburgh train stands at Hawick on 21 December 1968.
K A Gray 21/12/1968


Riccarton Junction: A Carlisle-Edinburgh train rolls into Riccarton Junction in September 1963. The photographer's two sons - with camping gear, after an idyllic holiday here - are just visible on the platform.
Frank Spaven Collection (Courtesy David Spaven) /09/1963


St Boswells: Integrated rail transport, but not for much longer. Steam meets diesel at St Boswells on the station's last day as a passenger junction, 13th June 1964. The footplate crew of the Standard Class 2 2-6- ...
Frank Spaven Collection (Courtesy David Spaven) 13/06/1964

A multi-million-pound consultation into the extension of the Borders Railway into Cumbria could start this year.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Borders Railway Extension Waverley Route

£10 million has been allocated for a feasibility study into extending the Borders Railway into Cumbria, finishing at Carlisle.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Waverley Route

On Monday, hundreds of towns and villages across Scotland may rue the day 60 years ago when Dr Richard Beeching unveiled his infamous report, The Reshaping of British Railways. With rail passengers haemorrhaging to private cars, the chairman of British Railways wrote a prescription which has ever since been associated with swingeing cuts in the network. The axe fell hard in Scotland, with some 850 miles of passenger railway closed between 1964 and 1972, the worst cut being delivered in 1969 when the entire 98-mile Waverley Route through the Borders was shut.
(Permalink) British Railways David Spaven Richard Beeching Waverley Route


Leven: Looking up river from the Bawbee Bridge with the new Leven platforms under construction. 10 March. Image 85327 suggests these are the walls of an island platform.
Bill Roberton 10/03/2023


St Andrews [2nd]: A Gloucester DMU after arrival at St Andrews in wintry conditions on 28th December 1968. The station closed a week later.
Brian Haslehust 28/12/1968


Ellon: NBL Type 2 D6148 arrives at Ellon with a northbound train in July 1963.
Colin Miller /07/1963

Hopes of extending the Borders Railway are dead in the water, according to the councils transport chief.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Extension Carlisle Hawick Melrose St Boswells Waverley Route


St Boswells: A Class 26 brings an Edinburgh-bound service into St Boswells in September 1962.
Brian Haslehust 03/09/1962


Melrose: Scene at Melrose in the 1960s as a Brush type 4 pulls in with an up Waverley route service. The up side here is still largely intact, although the down side was demolished to make way for the A6091. S ...
Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //


Hawick [2nd]: View north at Hawick station as Waverley Route services cross there on 12 June 1968. The southbound train into which mail is being loaded is the 1445 Edinburgh - Carlisle headed by D14, one of the ear ...
Bruce McCartney 12/06/1968

A recent transport report by the Scottish Government has been branded an enormous let down by a Borders MP.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) - which will inform investment priorities from 2022 to 2042 was released on Thursday.

However, the report has been criticised for failing to directly mention an extension to the Borders Railway.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Borders Railway Extension Hawick Melrose STPR2 St Boswells Waverley Route


Tweedbank: 170426 arrives at platform 1, Tweedbank, with a service from Edinburgh on 21st June 2021. 170408 is spare in platform 2. In the background, the Borders Innovation Park takes shape.
Bill Roberton 21/06/2021


St Boswells: A northbound Sunday track-lifting train approaches St Boswells in the spring of 1971.
David Spaven //1971


Hawick [2nd]: View north over the abandoned platforms at Hawick in 1975.
Bill Roberton //1975

Mass transit schemes in big cities and bridges or tunnels to replace some island ferry links are among the recommendations.
(Permalink) Electrification Glasgow Airport Waverley Route

The Campaign For Border Rail group held an annual general meeting this weekend for the first time in its 22 year history. The meeting, which was held at Tullie House in Carlisle, heard a loud call for the extension of the border rail northwards from the city through Hawick. This is hoped that this would complete the reinstatement of the main line formerly known as the Waverley Route.
(Permalink) AGM Borders Railway Campaign for Borders Rail Carlisle Edinburgh Hawick Waverley Route


Hawick [2nd]: Deltic D9007 'Pinza' arriving at Hawick on 5 January 1969 with the northbound RCTS (West Riding Branch) 'Farewell to the Waverley Route' railtour.
Bruce McCartney 05/01/1969


Teviot Viaduct: Looking south at the stump of the Waverley Route embankment through Hawick on 18 September 2013.
Colin Miller 18/09/2013


Hawick [2nd]: The lever frame at Hawick South signal box at Christmas time in 1968. The photograph was taken at approximately 11.30pm on 23 December with the route set for a special Edinburgh - Hawick parcels train ...
Bruce McCartney 23/12/1968

The extension of the Borders Railway has been described as the 'best solution' to tackle the region's transport connectivity issues.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Waverley Route


Langholm: Class 4MT 2-6-0 43139 with a passenger service at Langholm on 16th March 1961.
David Murray-Smith 16/03/1961


Hawick [2nd]: Platform scene at Hawick on a bright and sunny Sunday 5 January 1969, as Deltic D9007 'Pinza' prepares to leave for Edinburgh with the northbound RCTS (West Riding Branch) 'Farewell to the Waverley Ro ...
D Walker Collection [Courtesy Bruce McCartney] 05/01/1969


St Boswells: Integrated rail transport, but not for much longer. Steam meets diesel at St Boswells on the station's last day as a passenger junction, 13th June 1964. The footplate crew of the Standard Class 2 2-6- ...
Frank Spaven Collection (Courtesy David Spaven) 13/06/1964

Governments have failed on their promises to publish far-reaching transport reviews.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Campaign for Borders Rail Waverley Route

The extension of the Borders Railway was 'discussed at length' during a visit to Carlisle from the UK Government minister for Scotland.
(Permalink) Borderlands Growth Deal Borders Railway Iain Stewart Waverley Route

The Langholm & District Rail Group say claims the town has lost thousands of jobs in the last 20 years and would benefit if a station was opened there.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Langholm Waverley Route


Langholm: Oiling of class 4MT 43139 at Langholm station in 1961.
David Murray-Smith 16/03/1961


Langholm: The cairn erected in Langholm marking the site of the former station and recording the departure of the last train. The cairn continues to be a focal point in the annual Langholm Common Riding celebra ...
Bruce McCartney /07/2009


Langholm: The Langholm branch from the OS One Inch map of 1955. Riddings Junction was on the English side of the border, but only just. My 1885 Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland lists Gilnockie only as a station, ...
David Panton //1955

Plans to complete the re-opening of the Waverley Route between Edinburgh and Carlisle face a little-known potential complication - the line crosses the Border not once, but three times.
(Permalink) Borders Railway Liddel Water Waverley Route


Liddel Viaduct: An aerial view of Riddings Viaduct on the former Langholm branch (closed 1967), taken during the evening of 12 April 2015 from a drone. See image [[42976]]
Kevin McCartney 12/04/2015

Once Dr Richard Beeching had unveiled his infamous report on The Reshaping of British Railways, 50 years ago today, the country's rail network would never again be the same. But - with hindsight - does he really deserve his reputation as an axeman or was he simply doing a job which had to be done?
(Permalink) Borders Rail David Spaven Dr Richard Beeching The Reshaping of British Railways Waverley Route

It is 50 years since Dr Richard Beeching's report on British Railways which led to hundreds of stations and 650 miles of railway line being closed in Scotland. The axing of the 98-mile Waverley Route from Edinburgh to Carlisle was the worst of all the Beeching cuts, according to author and railway expert David Spaven. The closure left the Scottish Borders as the only region of Britain without a train service and Hawick, 56 miles from Edinburgh and 42 miles from Carlisle, as the largest town farthest from a railway station.
(Permalink) Borders Rail David Spaven Dr Richard Beeching The Reshaping of British Railways Waverley Route


Kershopefoot: <I>Too fast for an Ilford Sportsman!</I> With window glass starting to rattle and surface ripples suddenly appearing on the signalman's mug of tea, the peace and tranquility at Kershopefo ...
Bruce McCartney //1967


St Boswells: With less than two years to go before the last scheduled passenger train over the through route, a departure for Berwick via Kelso waits in the bay at the south end of St Boswells station on 10 Septem ...
R Sillitto/A Renfrew Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 10/09/1962


Riddings Junction: 'Twas a cold and frosty morning.... A chilly-looking scene on the platform at Riddings Junction in November 1964 as one of Kingmoor's Black 5s, no 45481, thunders north through the station wi ...
Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 28/11/1964

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