Grants give hope to rail campaigners

Studies to examine opening St Andrews and Newburgh links

The campaign to restore a direct rail link between St Andrews and the east coast line has moved up a gear with news of Scottish Government funding.

A transport study will be conducted by the group seeking to re-establish a railway line to St Andrews.

A separate study will examine a rail halt at Newburgh.

As it announced the first grants from the new £2 million Local Rail Development Fund, the Scottish Government said the appraisals could lead to improved rail connection proposals.

St Andrews Rail Link was awarded £40,000, which it said was a “great leap forward”.

Newburgh Train Station Group said its £82,000 was “great news” for the town in addressing transport problems which had long held it back.

Grants of £97,000 and £170,000 were also made for appraisals of a park and ride for Oudenarde, at Bridge of Earn, and of traveller behaviour and parking at stations in the Forth Bridgehead area of Fife.

New rail links in Fife and Perthshire are a step closer as the Scottish Government announced funding for studies.

Campaigners fighting for a new line to St Andrews and stops at Newburgh and Oudenarde were the first to receive grants from a new £2 million rail fund.

St Andrews Rail Link (StARLink) said the award of £40,000 was a “leap forward”, while Newburgh Train Station Group said receiving £82,000 was great news for the town.

Some £97,000 has gone to transport partnership Tactran, which wants to establish a park and ride at the new village of Oudenarde by Bridge of Earn.

The grants will fund multi-modal transport appraisals.

A study of traveller behaviour, including parking at railway stations in the Forth Bridgehead area, is also to be conducted by Fife Council, and was awarded £170,000.

After years of campaigning for St Andrews to be linked to the east coast main line, Jane Ann Liston, convener of StARLink, said: “This is a great leap forward. It is a stamp of approval from the Scottish Government.

“As a prime national and international destination, being the home of golf and Scotland’s oldest university, the historic tourist destination of St Andrews has suffered for years from the onslaught of increasing traffic clogging up the town.

“The StARLink campaign believes that the option of direct rail travel from Edinburgh, including the airport interchange, and Dundee, to the town would significantly alleviate both the physical and environmental effects of too many cars in a small town with a medieval layout.”

Newburgh group convener Nigel Mullan said the “great news” was “a big help in addressing the transport issues long holding the town back.

“It also allows the community a seat at the table to continue shaping the case for change and how to improve the poor links it has with Fife and the rest of Scotland.

“Better and more streamlined transport connectivity will make a big difference to people’s lives in the modern economy of the 21st Century.”

North East Fife MP Stephen Gethins said he was glad to see government support for two projects in his constituency.

He said: “A rail halt in Newburgh is particularly vital to the local economy and in encouraging investment and visitors to the area, as well as making access to employment, training and education in the major Scottish urban centres far easier.”

Fife Council said its transport study would give a better understanding of traveller behaviour and how access to the rail service impacts on travel in the Forth Bridgehead, including parking demand, access for longer trips and parking over-flow problems.

Convener of its economy, tourism, strategic planning and transportation committee, Altany Craik, said: “This money will help us look at ways of encouraging more rail travel with a view to better connectivity across Fife.

“It will also help us gather evidence to support future transportation plans, reduce congestion on our roads and across our bridges.”

Announcing the cash at the site where St Andrews railway station once stood, Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, said: “Providing funding for these transport appraisals will allow the successful applicants to consider the transport issues and opportunities affecting their local communities.”

The projects are among 10 around Scotland to share £681,000 awarded from the Local Rail Development Fund.

A campaign to re-establish the Levenmouth rail link is further along the line, an appraisal having already been conducted.

For years, campaigners have fought for new (or perhaps more accurately the reinstatement of old) rail links in Perthshire and Fife. Finally, they have something to celebrate following the award of significant funding for major new “transport appraisals”.

Granted, it represents little more than a first, tentative, step – but there is little doubt the results could ultimately be transformational.