Scottish campaigners include freight opportunities

Lobby groups in the north and south of Scotland have emphasised how freight can play a new role in railway development. Campaigns in the North East and the Scottish Borders have both put their cases to the government and to stakeholders at large. The North East lobby group was at the Scottish Parliament last week, while the Borders group held its Annual General Meeting in its region’s largest community, Galashiels.

The Campaign for North East Rail seeks to establish a rail link between Aberdeen, Scotland’s third-largest city and the twin towns of Peterhead and Fraserburgh, which are both important locations for a variety of marine and offshore industries, including renewable energy. Their southern counterparts, the Campaign for Borders Rail, which seeks to build on earlier success, have welcomed the start of a multi-modal transport feasibility study, which they would like to see extend a railway through the Borders to the city of Carlisle in northwest England.

Although running largely independently, the Campaign for Borders Rail recognises a constraint on services. “The Borders Railway runs over three miles of the East Coast Main Line, between Portobello and Edinburgh,” said Marion Short, the chair of CBR. “At times of the day that line is full. We are working with other stakeholders to ensure that Borders services, and potential paths for passenger and freight traffic on a fully reinstated through route, are accommodated and that the feasibility study now underway recognises the need for greater capacity on the east side of Edinburgh.”

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