Story Behind our Campaign for the Local Rail Service
RAGES has long been pressing for the re-introduction of the local service from Edinburgh to Berwick with the possible re-opening of stations at East Linton and Reston.
This page is general information about our campaign to date. More specific information about the stations on the route of the local service can be seen at the link "Story for the Local Service Stations" to the left.
The latest news on our campaign can be found at the link "Latest Campaign News" also to the left.
In 1999 a study into East Lothian Rail was undertaken by the Council and is reported in The Rages Rag Issue 5. One of the study objectives was to carry out “A full assessment of the re-instatement of local services to Dunbar”. This was one of a number of options assessed and tested by the consultants, but was not considered viable to take forward at that time. In a table of “Suggested Rail Strategy”, it stated that the proposed East Linton site should be protected within local plans and the option to be reviewed during the medium and long term timescales.
In 2002, RAGES gathered over 1912 signatures for a petition to re-open Reston station. This was presented to the Petitions Committee at the Scottish Executive. Their recommendation after consultation with all the relevant agencies was that we should work with the above councils to produce a business case.
A study was undertaken in 2003 and published in May 2004 as seen in The Rages Rag Issue 22 and The Rages Rag Issue 24.
A Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance 1 (STAG 1) was undertaken and released in October 2005. It identified various points as worthy of further examination at the more detailed STAG 2 analysis stage. RAGES met the Minister for Transport on 13 March 2008 as reported in The Rages Rag Issue 37 which culminated in a visit by him to East Lothian and the Scottish Borders on 5 August 2008.
Full details of the visit can be found in The Rages Rag Issue 39.
Transport Scotland commissioned MVA Consultancy to undertake a study the objective of which will be to provide a complete, operationally robust, demand driven and economically sustainable train service proposal for the Edinburgh to Newcastle route having considered and appraised all of the stakeholder desires. It looked at possible new stations at East Linton and Reston. This information will be used to inform the specification for the ScotRail franchise renewal in 2014.
The study was published in September 2011 and full details can be seen in The Rages Rag Issue 51. Since the study was published, RAGES were fortunate to have a meeting with the Minister for Transport, Keith Brown, MSP, in November 2011. This had mixed results, but he has promised to visit East Linton and Reston to see for himself the areas that would be served. His main concern is that a subsidy of up to £2.5m would be required, but those present at the meeting noted that they were sceptical about the annual figures for East Linton and Reston suggested in the study. The report on the meeting can be seen in The Rages Rag Issue 52.
Since then the Minister visited East Linton, Reston and Eyemouth on 28 February 2012 where he was impressed by what he saw. A full report is in The Rages Rag Issue 53.
A brief to highlight points in the local study report to be revisited was prepared by SEStran after discussion at the local rail meeting and was submitted to Transport Scotland for their comment before onward transmission to MVA Consultancy.
The final brief was tabled at the July 2012 local rail meeting. Scottish Borders Council and East Lothian Councils have made available their share of the cost of the study and MVA Consultancy have started on the study. More can be seen in The Rages Rag Issue 54.
In September 2012, MVA Consultancy attended meetings at Dunpender and Reston and Auchencrow Community Councils to hear first-hand why the local communities needed a rail station. A report can be seen in The Rages Rag Issue 55.
In December 2013, the study was published
and recommended that the local service
with the re-opened stations should be taken forward to the next stage.
It had already been reported that the service is included as a priced
option in the recently published Invitation to Tender document for the
next ScotRail franchise due to start in April 2015.
In a covering letter from the three study commissioners to Keith Brown,
Minister for Transport, they "hope there will be an opportunity to meet
in due course to discuss the provision of a service to Dunbar and
Berwick-upon-Tweed together with the two new stations during the next
ScotRail franchise."
A more detailed look at the study can be seen in
issue 60 of our newsletter.
The full study can be seen at this link.
Following this Scottish Borders and East Lothian councils submitted a bid to the Government's Station Investment Fund for funding
for the "new" stations. In addition
the two councils dedicated funding for the two stations
at Reston and East Linton.
The contribution from East Lothian Council is
£1,560,000 and the contribution from Scottish Borders Council is
£1,280,000.
This provided approximately 40% of the estimated project costs.
Both Councils recognise that competition for resources from the
Scottish Stations Fund is likely to be intense.
A 40% contribution is very significant, particularly as resources
in both organisations are severely constrained both by the availability
of finance and by a range of other important infrastructure projects.
Despite these constraints both Councils, however, place a very
high priority on this project and it should be noted that there is a
willingness to enter into further discussions on funding if necessary to
understand what would be required to secure the investment in both
stations.
In November 2014, the Minister gave his approval for the local service.
In a letter to our chairman, Keith Brown MSP,
Minster for Transport, says that he has "agreed in the ScotRail
franchise contract to provide a two-hourly service between Edinburgh and
Berwick-upon Tweed that will call at Reston and East Linton, recognising
the potential benefits that these stations could bring."
The following press release was issued on 19 November 2014 by Transport Scotland.
"New train stations for East Linton and Reston are a step closer after
services for the stops were written into the next ScotRail franchise.
A two-hourly service between Edinburgh and Berwick with timing for stops
at East Linton and Reston is part of the new planned timetable, which
could see trains running through both stations as soon as December 2016."
Transport Minister Keith Brown revealed the latest development following
the announcement of Abellio as the new ScotRail operator.
Mr Brown said: "This is a huge step forward towards the realisation of
these services and shows a real commitment from the Scottish Government
and ScotRail.
"Scotland's railways are a driver for economic regeneration and can
bring jobs, investment and new study and social opportunities for
communities.
"Our Scottish Stations Fund is now awaiting further details from the
South East Scotland Regional Transport Partnership (SEStran) and East
Lothian and Scottish Borders Councils for the funding application which
will bring the new stations at East Linton and Reston to life."
RAGES Chairman Tom Thorburn also welcomed the news. He said: "This is
terrific news for our area and will be of huge benefit to a whole range
of people and businesses, namely those wishing to access jobs in
Edinburgh, students being able to commute for their tertiary education
at QMU, Edinburgh etc., the ability to take in the theatre and sporting
fixtures, and tourist access to our areas from other parts of the
country.
"It must be noted that we could not have achieved this great win for our
area without the help and support of our members, MSPs, Councillors,
SEStran and East Lothian and Scottish Borders Councils.
"The RAGES Committee are extremely grateful to Transport Minister Keith
Brown and Transport Scotland for agreeing to this new local rail
service, with re-opened stations at Reston and East Linton a major step
closer."
RAGES invited Abellio to discuss the new franchise with regard to our area which started on 1st April 2015. Abellio representatives attended a meeting of the committee on 11 March 2015.
The full report on the meeting can be found in
The Rages Rag Issue 64.
However, the main concern during the meeting was when it was announced
that the local service could not start until the December 2018
timetable, due to lack of stock.
Following this "delay" announcement in the possible start of the
local service, meetings took place in 2015 with Transport Scotland and
the Minister for Transport. These are reported in
The Rages Rag Issue 65.
In July 2015 RAGES met Network Rail and ScotRail to discuss the local service project and is reported in The Rages Rag Issue 65.
A meeting with the previous Minister of Transport
had taken place in March 2016 when the RAGES chairman, MSPs and
representatives from the two Councils and SEStran were present.
Network Rail had announced the costings of the two stations at East
Linton and Reston to be around £22m. This was a staggering increase over
the £7m originally suggested at the time of the publication of the
study. An increase was not unexpected as Network Rail had already
indicated several technical issues with the railway infrastructure.
After that meeting the attendees came away with the knowledge that there
was a significant gap between the Councils' combined budget of £3.5m
plus the same amount, i.e. 50%, from Government's Station Investment
Fund and Network Rail's current costs. The Minister at that time was
unwilling to allocate more funds to the project.
Despite this funding gap, the two councils still wished to see the two
stations re-open along with the local service.
On 14th June 2016 the promised meeting with the new Minister for Transport, Humza Yusaf MSP, took place when our chairman and vice chairman attended
along with MSPs Iain Gray and John Lamont and representatives from
SESTran, East Lothian and Scottish Borders Council.
The Minister made the announcement that the Scottish Government was now
able to commit to 50% funding of the latest construction costs of the
two stations. It is assumed that this means £11. Along with the already
committed funding of £3m from the two councils, this still leaves a gap
of £8m.
In early August 2016 East Lothian and Scottish
Borders Councils and SEStran wrote to the Minister for Transport, Humza
Yousaf, providing an alternative offer for his consideration and further
discussion.
They suggested that the Scottish Government should take
responsibility for the construction of the stations, including the risk
(optimism bias) element of Network Rail's costings.
To that end, the councils raised their respective contributions of
£3.44m for East Linton and £2.84m for Reston to cover the total
construction costs less the Government's offer of 50% and the risk
elements.
Later that month, both councils agreed to these additional fundings.
The RAGES Committee were delighted with Transport
Minister, Humza Yousaf’s announcement in November 2016 of
increased funding for East Linton and Reston Stations. This now leaves
these two stations with a shortfall in construction cost funding of £1.24m and
£1.18m respectively.
The Scottish Government has offered increased funding to enable
construction of the proposed Reston and East Linton stations to move
forward.
The offer made will increase the proposed Scottish Government
contribution to 60%; this is unprecedented in terms of the Scottish
Stations Fund and has never been made in any previous station.
The second option would see the stations’ construction form part of a
programme of works within the next Network Rail delivery period, which
broadly aims to improve capacity to the east of Edinburgh. In this
second option, the councils are not being required to increase the level
of funding above that which they have stated is their limit.
At the time,
Humza Yousaf, Minister for Transport a