The St Andrews Rail Link Campaign (StARLink Campaign) was established in 1989 with the aim of reconnecting Scottish town of
St Andrews
St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
to the railway.
History
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,
[Hajducki, A., Jodeluk, M., Simpson, A. (2009). The Anstruther & St Andrews Railway. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. .][Holland, J (2013). Dr Beeching's Axe: 50 Years on : Illustrated Memories of Britain's Lost Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 169. .] the
St Andrews Railway was not recommended for closure in the (1963)
Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. It is either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Sur ...
.
[British Transport Commission (1963). The Reshaping of British Railways. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.][Hajducki, A., Jodeluk, M., Simpson, A. (2008).) The St Andrews Railway. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. .][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][Holland, J (2013). Dr Beeching's Axe: 50 Years on : Illustrated Memories of Britain's Lost Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 186. .] 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
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...
, 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.
''StARLink'' has estimated that the railway could be reinstated for £76 million.
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; the group had sent out 20,000 questionnaires in December 2007.
This line has been identified by the
Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 2 candidate for reopening.
References
External links
St Andrews Rail Link Campaign official websiteSt Andrews Rail Link Campaign Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Rail Link
Proposed railway lines in Scotland
St Andrews