Blackford Hill railway station was a railway station in the

Blackford Blackford might refer to: People with the surname * Charles Minor Blackford (1833–1903), American lawyer *Hosea Blackford, a fictional character in books by Harry Turtledove *Ian Blackford (born 1961), Scottish politician *Inger Mewburn (Inger B ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. It was located at the foot of

Blackford Hill Blackford Hill is a hill in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It is in the area of Blackford, between Morningside, and the Braid Hills. Together with the Hermitage of Braid, it comprises the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill ...

on the

Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway The Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway was a railway company that built an east–west railway (known as the Edinburgh Suburban Line or more familiarly the Sub) on the southern margin of Edinburgh, Scotland, primarily to facilitat ...

(ESSJR). It was opened on 1 December 1884. Blackford Hill station closed in 1962, when passenger rail services were withdrawn from the Edinburgh Suburban line although the line itself was retained for

rail freight Rail freight transport is the use of railways and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

use. The route continues to be used for freight services to this day, so freight trains avoid Edinburgh's main stations of Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket, and occasionally diverted passenger trains also pass along this line.

Future

A local campaigning group, the Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG), is running a campaign for the SSJR line to be re-opened to passenger services, and proposes that it should be operated either as a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service or as a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system to form an extension of the forthcoming

Edinburgh Tram Network Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is an line between Newhaven and Edinburgh Airport, with 23 stops. A modern tram network for Edinburgh was proposed by Edinburgh Council in 1999, wit ...

. Following a petition submitted to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

in 2007, the proposal was rejected in 2009 by transport planners due to anticipated cost.

References

External links

Disused railway stations in Edinburgh Former North British Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1884 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1917 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1919 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 {{Edinburgh-railstation-stub