St Andrews Rail Link

Last updated

The former viaduct at Guardbridge. Dismantled. For sale, Guardbridge - geograph.org.uk - 324999.jpg
The former viaduct at Guardbridge. Dismantled.

The St Andrews Rail Link (StARLink) Campaign was established in 1989 with the aim of reconnecting Scottish town of St Andrews to the railway. The historical St Andrews Railway, which had connected St Andrews to the mainline via Leuchars Junction was closed on 6 January 1969.

Unlike the earlier closure of the Anstruther & St Andrews Railway in 1965, [1] [2] the St Andrews Railway was not recommended for closure in the (1963) Beeching Report. [3] [4] [5] [6] The closure, ordered four years after Beeching's departure in 1965, was ordered by Richard Marsh, Minister for Transport in the 1964-1970 (Labour) government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and whilst some Beeching closures did take place after the departure of Beeching in 1965, the St Andrews closure was not an instance of such.

The original reinstatement plan espoused by StARLink was simply a reestablishment of the historical Leuchars - St Andrews line but since the publication in 2012 of a report by Tata Steel Rail Consultancy StARLink now advocates an entirely new 21st-century layout with a twin-cord high-speed rail link travelling west and southwards via Cupar and northwards via Leuchars. [7] StARLink has estimated that the railway could be reinstated for £76 million. [8] A 2008 survey by StARLink of St Andrews residents and commuters found that 78% of those respondents who did not use buses would use the railway instead; [9] the group had sent out 20,000 questionnaires in December 2007. [10]

This line has been identified by the Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 2 candidate for reopening. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Transport Authority</span> Parastatal railway and bus operator in Northern Ireland

The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North British Railway</span> British pre-grouping railway company (1844–1922)

The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longniddry railway station</span> Railway station in East Lothian, Scotland

Longniddry railway station is located at the southeast corner of the coastal village of Longniddry, East Lothian, Scotland. The station is on the East Coast Main Line, 13+1⁄4 miles (21.3 km) east of Edinburgh Waverley, and is served by stopping passenger trains on the North Berwick Line.

The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation of BR in 1948, and was renamed to ScotRail in the mid-1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drem railway station</span> Railway station in East Lothian, Scotland

Drem railway station serves the small village of Drem in East Lothian, 5 miles (8 km) from the seaside town of North Berwick in Scotland. It is located on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) 18 miles (29 km) east of Edinburgh Waverley. Passenger services are provided on the ScotRail North Berwick Line, and the junction where the North Berwick branch diverges from the ECML is a short distance to the east of the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larbert railway station</span> Railway station in Falkirk, Scotland

Larbert railway station is a railway station serving Larbert near Falkirk, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stourbridge Town branch line</span> Railway branch line in Stourbridge, UK.

The Stourbridge Town branch line is a 0.8-mile (1.3 km) railway branch line, in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is the shortest railway line in Britain. It is widely believed to be the shortest line in Europe to host a daily service, although this is incorrect; it is notably beaten by the branch line to Friedrichshafen Hafen, in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leuchars railway station</span> Railway station in Fife, Scotland

Leuchars railway station serves the towns of Leuchars and St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The station is the last northbound stop before Dundee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunmurry railway station</span>

Dunmurry railway station is located in the townland of Dunmurry in west Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Réseau des Bains de Mer</span>

The Réseau des Bains de Mer (RBM) was a group of five metre gauge railways centred on Noyelles-sur-Mer, with a total route length of some 68 kilometres (42 mi). It was a part of the Chemins de fer départementaux de la Somme. Three of the lines are still open as the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme heritage line, and are dealt with under that article. This article covers the other two lines, now closed. All the lines were in the Somme department.

Anstruther railway station served the village of Anstruther, Fife, in Scotland. Served by the Leven and East of Fife Railway it was opened in 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway</span> Railway in Monmouthshire, Wales

The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway (CMU&PR) was a standard gauge railway of 16 miles (26 km) which ran from Monmouth to Little Mill, near Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was intended to convey the mineral products of the Forest of Dean to the ironworks of South Wales, by connecting to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway at Little Mill Junction. The NAHR made the onward connection over its Taff Vale Extension line. The CMU&PR intended to acquire the Monmouth Railway, actually a horse-operated plateway, and convert it to locomotive operation.

The Stafford–Shrewsbury line is a former railway line in England, which ran between Stafford in Staffordshire and Shrewsbury in Shropshire, via Newport and Wellington, from 1849 to 1966. The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company (SUR&CC) constructed and ran one of the few railways in England ever built by a canal company. The line served Newport and Wellington stations. The SUR&CC were solely responsible for the section from Stafford to Wellington; but the building and operation of the 10.5 mile (17 km)-long Shrewsbury-to-Wellington section was shared with the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carno railway station</span> Former railway station in Carno, Wales

Carno is a closed railway station in Carno, on the Cambrian Line, that was part of the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway. The station was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching Cuts though there are proposals to re-open it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway</span>

The Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway was a standard gauge railway line which began as a single line branch in the early 1860s and rapidly became part of the Great Western Railway's (GWR) double track Wellington to Nantwich Railway, which had through trains to Crewe. It carried through freight and local passenger traffic until its closure in the 1960s. Market Drayton was renowned for the manufacture of gingerbread, hence the line acquired the nickname the "Gingerbread Line".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellington and Drayton Railway</span>

The Wellington and Drayton Railway was a standard gauge line in Central England which carried through freight and local passenger traffic until closure in the 1960s. It was part of the Great Western Railway's double track Wellington-Crewe line, linking the Midlands to the north and northwest.

The East Fife Central Railway was a mineral railway line in Fife, Scotland, that ran from near Leven to Lochty. It was built to develop extensive coal measures in the area. The line was completed by the North British Railway and it opened in 1898.

The St Andrews Railway was an independent railway company, founded in 1851 to build a railway branch line from the university town of St Andrews, in Fife, Scotland, to the nearby main line railway. It opened in 1852. When the Tay Rail Bridge opened in 1878 residential travel to Dundee was encouraged.

The Fife Coast Railway was a railway line running round the southern and eastern part of the county of Fife, in Scotland. It was built in stages by four railway companies:

The Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway was a railway company that built a line in the county of Fife in Scotland, connecting Buckhaven with the main line railway network at Thornton, and linking with collieries.

References

  1. ↑ Hajducki, A., Jodeluk, M., Simpson, A. (2009). The Anstruther & St Andrews Railway. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. ISBN   978 0 85361 673 3.
  2. ↑ Holland, J (2013). Dr Beeching's Axe: 50 Years on : Illustrated Memories of Britain's Lost Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 169. ISBN   978 1 4 4630 267 5.
  3. ↑ British Transport Commission (1963). The Reshaping of British Railways. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
  4. ↑ Hajducki, A., Jodeluk, M., Simpson, A. (2008).) The St Andrews Railway. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. ISBN   978 0 85361 687 0.
  5. ↑ Alexander, M. (2013). British Rail, not Dr Beeching, closed St Andrews branch line. Available: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/british-rail-not-dr-beeching-closed-st-andrews-branch-line-1.79294. Last accessed 24 September 2015
  6. ↑ Holland, J (2013). Dr Beeching's Axe: 50 Years on : Illustrated Memories of Britain's Lost Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 186. ISBN   978 1 4 4630 267 5.
  7. ↑ Rangelov, Vladimir (May 2012). "StaRLink St Andrews Rail Link High Level Report" (PDF). Tata Steel. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  8. ↑ "Optimism at St Andrews rail link feasibility study". BBC News. 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Support for St Andrews rail link". BBC News. 29 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Group wants support for rail link". BBC News. 10 December 2007. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  11. ↑ "The case for expanding the rail network" (PDF). Campaign for Better Transport. January 2019. p. 38. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.

56°21′32″N2°53′19″W / 56.359°N 2.8885°W / 56.359; -2.8885

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.