Borders rail link 'could cut more than half-a-million road trips'

Date: 5/3/2013

The Borders rail project to reopen the Waverley route from Edinburgh to Tweedbank has the potential to cut car journey numbers by more than half-a-million each year, a new report has claimed.

According to the Scotsman, the study concluded that the initiative will also boost the attraction of commuting to Edinburgh by train, increasing the appeal of living in the Border and Midlothian areas.

Indeed, the analysis of the scheme's business case found that the value of benefits the new line will bring is an estimated 30 per cent more than the cost of the project.

"The opening of the railway is forecast to reduce the number of annual car trips along the route approximately by 530,000," the report said.

With fewer cars and less traffic on the roads, it also predicted that the route will help to reduce accident numbers while at the same time benefitting the 21 per cent of the Borders population who do not have a car.

Posted by Sarah Bailey

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