I can't see any business case for the line ever being expanded south of Hawick. the X95 already adequately IMO serves the distance of 44 miles in 1 hr 20 minutes and has always appeared empty between there and Langholm whenever I've gone down the A7.
Even when the WCML was blocked north of Carlisle in March 2018 and I had to travel back to Edinburgh using the X95 via Galashiels, there were only a few fellow passengers on it going all the way to Galashiels.
I would never say never however to a very simple extension to Hawick with a solitary stop at Newtown St Boswells and wouldn't even bother with a Melrose stop.
I would put that in the same category as Matlock-Bakewell.
Even when the WCML was blocked north of Carlisle in March 2018 and I had to travel back to Edinburgh using the X95 via Galashiels, there were only a few fellow passengers on it going all the way to Galashiels.
I would never say never however to a very simple extension to Hawick with a solitary stop at Newtown St Boswells and wouldn't even bother with a Melrose stop.
I would put that in the same category as Matlock-Bakewell.