Extension to Levenmouth?

[och aye]

Just a fleeting mention in this article in The Herald about the Levenmouth railway saying that it would be possible to extend it further! Isn't pretty much impossible to do that unless you demolish a lot of homes that have been built on the former alignment in Leven or demolish the swimming pool and go along the Promenade? Either way I doubt it would be feasible/worth the money extending the line any further. Having said that, being able to get the train all the way to Anstruther to visit the Anstruther Fish Bar or The Wee Chippy would be amazing.

Scotland's next new rail line just got a little bit closer

Summer last year, beautiful sunny day, and I’m on a train with John Swinney and not just any train either. It’s the first train on the newly…

www.heraldscotland.com

Scotland's next new railway line just got a little bit closer​

When I was up on the new Fife line, I also spoke to the project manager, Joe Mulvenna, and he said the line beyond Levenmouth looks good and it would be perfectly possible to extend it further. I think, one day, it’ll probably happen.

 

[Railsigns]

It seems like every time a railway is reopened, the resulting wave of optimism brings suggestions of extending the line further (Larkhall to Strathaven, Tweedbank to Hawick or Carlisle, etc.) I've yet to see any of these happen in practice though.

 

[och aye]

It seems like every time a railway is reopened, the resulting wave of optimism brings suggestions of extending the line further (Larkhall to Strathaven, Tweedbank to Hawick or Carlisle, etc.) I've yet to see any of these happen in practice though.

A bit of a stretch, but could you consider the extension of the reopened line from Bathgate in 1986 to Airdrie in 2010 as one?

 

[Dr Hoo]

A bit of a stretch, but could you consider the extension of the reopened line from Bathgate in 1986 to Airdrie in 2010 as one?

And Drumgelloch.

 

[Railsigns]

A bit of a stretch, but could you consider the extension of the reopened line from Bathgate in 1986 to Airdrie in 2010 as one?

Yes, possibly. I wonder to what extent the public and the press were calling for reopening through to Airdrie when the Bathgate line reopened to passengers.

 

[A S Leib]

A bit of a stretch, but could you consider the extension of the reopened line from Bathgate in 1986 to Airdrie in 2010 as one?

Bicester Village to Bletchley as well as Bicester Village / Town to Haddenham & Thame Parkway, or is that better counted as two separate projects?

 

[The exile]

Yes, possibly. I wonder to what extent the public and the press were calling for reopening through to Airdrie when the Bathgate line reopened to passengers.

Fairly sure it was floated as a possibility.

 

[numtot12345]

Where would they extend the Leven line to? They could go down to Methil and Buckhaven, giving direct access to some of the most deprived communities in Scotland (saving them having to travel locally to Leven Rail Station). Alternatively extending out to the East Neuk would be more challenging for the obvious reasons.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Where would they extend the Leven line to? They could go down to Methil and Buckhaven, giving direct access to some of the most deprived communities in Scotland (saving them having to travel locally to Leven Rail Station).

If the Levenmouth line were to be further extended, the couple of miles to Methil and Buckhaven would indeed be logical. How much might that cost, however? My reading of the Mark Smith ('Herald' newspaper feature writer) piece is that the main focus of the story was more on extending the Borders Railway line beyond Galashiels (to Hawick, perhaps), as @Railsigns has now mooted?

 

[Altnabreac]

A station in Methil around the Fife Energy Park / Dock No 2 is the obvious extension. I know Fife Council were keen to explore it as an option a few years back but i don't know how much work was done at the time.

The trackbed is pretty much extant (sometimes with track still there) and mainly in railway or local authority ownership.
The main difficulty is the access into Bayview / FRIC on Harbour View where there was formerly a level crossing. The proximity of the houses on the north side of South Street make a road bridge at this location impossible, I think you'd probably have to divert road access over the Leven via the swimming pool and provide a footbridge as well.

With a new station, 2 or 3 footbridges, a mile of new track and a road diversion / bridge rebuild you're probably talking £50M+ so not cheap.

 

[Kingston Dan]

A station in Methil around the Fife Energy Park / Dock No 2 is the obvious extension. I know Fife Council were keen to explore it as an option a few years back but i don't know how much work was done at the time.

The trackbed is pretty much extant (sometimes with track still there) and mainly in railway or local authority ownership.
The main difficulty is the access into Bayview / FRIC on Harbour View where there was formerly a level crossing. The proximity of the houses on the north side of South Street make a road bridge at this location impossible, I think you'd probably have to divert road access over the Leven via the swimming pool and provide a footbridge as well.

With a new station, 2 or 3 footbridges, a mile of new track and a road diversion / bridge rebuild you're probably talking £50M+ so not cheap.

Well actually £50m or so for as bit of new railway and a station is pretty cheap in the scheme of things. It's small change to the Treasury and about 10% of the cost of improving the Black Cat roundabout on the A1.