Scottish Borders railway feasibility study

The economy of the Scottish Borders has been in decline for some years. Transport infrastructure and in particular the lack of a commuter rail service to Edinburgh have been identified as constraints to development. Since 1969 the region has been without any access to the rail network. In 1999, the Scottish Executive commissioned a major study to assess the capital costs revenue and operating costs, environmental issues and socio-economic impacts of reinstating a rail link to the Scottish Borders. This paper describes the approach adopted by the study and its principal conclusions.