The UK’s Network Rail and Transport Scotland have opened Borders Railway, with trains running between Tweedbank and Edinburgh.
The service, which began on Sunday, is the first regular passenger train between Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders in approximately 47 years. The original Waverley Line connecting Edinburgh to Carlisle, was cancelled in 1969 during the Beeching cuts.
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Infrastructure secretary Keith Brown said: "Scotland’s railways are enjoying a period of success not seen since the time that the old Waverley line was built in the Victorian era, largely thanks to the Scottish Government’s record levels of investment, but also because the people of Scotland see the benefits of rail.
"The Borders Railway will be a real catalyst for growth in the Scottish Borders and Midlothian. It will open up new opportunities for work, leisure, study and investment and business for these areas, which will, in turn, benefit the wider Scottish economy."
According to Borders Railway, the £300m new line is the longest domestic railway in the UK in more than 100 years and is built on time and on budget.
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The 30-mile line from Edinburgh to Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders through Midlothian takes less than an hour.
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By GlobalDataNetwork Rail project director Hugh Wark said: ”It’s been a hugely complex project – 30 miles of railway delivered in under three years. It’s quite an achievement."
A number of locals near to the line were given golden tickets on the first day.
Queen Elizabeth II will officially open the Borders Railway on Wednesday, the day when she will become the UK’s longest serving monarch. On the day, the Queen and Prince Philip will arrive at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station to board the train drawn by the Union of South Africa steam locomotive and will travel the route, stopping off at Newtongrange in Midlothian before carrying on to the final stop on the new railway at the Scottish Borders town of Tweedbank.
Network Rail and the Scottish Government signed a project transfer agreement in 2012, for the construction of the Borders Railway.
Network Rail was responsible for the commissioning of railway line and seven new stations, in addition to the three existing stations between Edinburgh and Tweedbank.
The seven new stations are located in Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank.
Image: A train waiting at Tweedbank station on the Borders Railway. Photo: courtesy of Waverley Wanderer.
