Council and MSP work in partnership to reintroduce rail services at Reston
Tuesday, May 20 2008
Scottish Borders Council Leader David Parker and Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP John Lamont have this week written a joint letter to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson reaffirming the Council's commitment to the reintroduction of rail services to Reston Station in Berwickshire.
Scottish Borders Council has supported the reintroduction of rail services to Reston for many years and, recently, has worked with East Lothian Council and SEStran to progress the case for Reston Station.
Speaking after a recent meeting involving SBC, John Lamont and RAGES (Rail Action Group, East of Scotland), Councillor Parker said: "Scottish Borders Council is completely committed to the reintroduction of rail services at Reston. We are writing this joint letter to urge the Minister to take all steps necessary to ensure that the Scottish Government supports this important railway development. With the support of the Scottish Government, rail services could return to Reston in a relatively short time and at a modest cost, when compared with other developments on the railways in Scotland at present. We are hoping that the Minister
will signal Scottish Government support."
John Lamont MSP said: "I am delighted to work with the Council to campaign for this much needed rail development for Berwickshire and the Borders. I am in full support of the campaign run by RAGES and I met the Transport Minister early on this year with RAGES to see rail services reintroduced at Reston. It is important to build a campaign to ensure that this long awaited rail development is brought to fruition in the quickest possible timescale and I hope that the Minister will give his full backing to what everyone in the Borders is trying to achieve."
Councillor Jim Fullarton, the Council’s Executive Member for Roads and Infrastructure, said: “The reintroduction of rail services at Reston would be a huge boost for Berwickshire and the whole of the Borders. I have been a long-standing supporter of this development and my department has been working tirelessly over a number of years to encourage the Government to reintroduce rail services. It is critical that we take this development on to the next stage and if East Lothian, SEStran and ourselves receive the much needed support from the Minister then I am confident that we can achieve a successful result which will have a massive impact for the whole of the Berwickshire area.”
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