Borders Railway - 10 years on

[godfreycomplex]

Not to mention diversions would require additional capacity or regular service cancellations. For comparison, do Avanti still retain any diversionary capability via Dumfries?

An unfortunate negative (although there are a few plans)

 

[snookertam]

What I was saying, obliquely, was that there won’t be votes won to the Scottish Parliament for building a line through England.

Why do you say this? It’s hardly likely to be a national issue.

 

[Bald Rick]

Why do you say this? It’s hardly likely to be a national issue.

Ok let me explain less conspirationally.

The Borders line was built in the early ‘10s for two prime reasons. 1) to win votes in the Scottish Parliament in the Borders area, and 2) to test various procedures in the Scottish Parliament. The business case, as is well recorded, was shaky at best (but better than most reopening proposals), but it was much more a political reopening, not an economic one.

Clearly the procedures don’t need testing now, and also clearly, there are no votes to be won in the Scottish Parliament from building the line through Cumbria. Also, the business case will be nothing short of hopeless.

So without the politics, and no economics, an extension into England has no chance.

And it would have to be a national issue, if it was to have any chance of gaining consent to build it. Which is another reason it won’t happen.

I must say I am at a complete loss as to why any money is being spent on even doing initial feasibility.

 

[GordonT]

Ok let me explain less conspirationally.

The Borders line was built in the early ‘10s for two prime reasons. 1) to win votes in the Scottish Parliament in the Borders area, and 2) to test various procedures in the Scottish Parliament. The business case, as is well recorded, was shaky at best (but better than most reopening proposals), but it was much more a political reopening, not an economic one.

Clearly the procedures don’t need testing now, and also clearly, there are no votes to be won in the Scottish Parliament from building the line through Cumbria. Also, the business case will be nothing short of hopeless.

So without the politics, and no economics, an extension into England has no chance.

And it would have to be a national issue, if it was to have any chance of gaining consent to build it. Which is another reason it won’t happen.

I must say I am at a complete loss as to why any money is being spent on even doing initial feasibility.

An excellent summary of the position. Every penny spent on fruitless feasibility studies on any scale of extension beyond Tweedbank is a penny lost to improvement schemes elsewhere which have a modicum of justification.

 

[pr1]

I thought that Hawick would be a sensible end of line. Looking at Google maps, it would seem reasonably straight forward to terminate on the north side of the river close to the Teviotdale leisure centre with little or no destruction required apart from the loss of a few parking spaces. Short walk across the bridge into the town centre it seems...

Re-openers would do well to start with this as their first, true, passionate aim, rather than pushing for "Carlisle or nothing".

As said above, by only aiming for a mega-project through hills and countryside without any significant population, campaigners are inviting failure. "Destination Hawick" is far more likely, and far more affordable!

 

[cats_five]

<snip>

And it would have to be a national issue,
<snip>

As in a British issue.

 

[Rail Ranger]

As I recall the Borders Railway reopening was authorised by Labour to keep the Lib Dems onside when they were in coalition with Labour in the Scottish Parliament. The Lib Dems being strong in the Borders.

 

[Kingston Dan]

As I recall the Borders Railway reopening was authorised by Labour to keep the Lib Dems onside when they were in coalition with Labour in the Scottish Parliament. The Lib Dems being strong in the Borders.

And then proceeded to lose all their seats...

 

[Hagbard Celine]

And then proceeded to lose all their seats...

Because contrary to the post above the lib dems, despite having the transport minister post in the coalition, did nothing for the Borders railway. They left it on the back burner but gave the go ahead to an urban motorway in Glasgow which had been rejected by a public enquiry.

When the SNP won in 2007 the lib dems proceeded to poison the well by voting for £500M to be spent on the Edinburgh trams, leaving the new administration trying to find alternative means to fund the Borders line and delaying the project by 6 years.