Vision for return of train station to Haddington to be outlined

[och aye]

Surprise, surprise that all the election candidates support a study into reintroducing the railway! Given the amount of housing that is being built, especially in the west of the town, a P&R type of station doesn't sound like a bad idea perhaps in CP8. The A1 would be a costly issue to deal with though.

Vision for return of train station to Haddington to be outlined

CAMPAIGNERS calling for a railway station to return to Haddington will outline their hopes at a community meeting.

www.eastlothiancourier.com

CAMPAIGNERS calling for a railway station to return to Haddington will outline their hopes at a community meeting.


Passengers have not set foot on a train from the town since 1949, though a station was used for freight up until 1968.


Rail Action Group East of Scotland (RAGES) has a long-term ambition to see rail services return to the town.
Next month, representatives will attend the virtual meeting of Haddington and District Community Council to outline their hopes for a potential new station.
Stewart Leslie, from the group, said a station could be opened in the town or at an out-of-town site.
He stressed that any new station would be a long-term development and acknowledged there would always be “naysayers”.
However, he pointed to the success of other recent developments on Scotland’s railways, including the connecting of Bathgate to Airdrie and the reopening of Larkhall’s station.
The old Haddington to Longniddry line has since been replaced by a popular walking route and an industrial estate now sits where the former Haddington station was located, just off Hospital Road, so any return of rail tracks through Haddington would be a major and costly civil project.

The upcoming presentation was highlighted at the most recent meeting of the community council.
Morgwn Davies, a member of Haddington’s community council, stressed it might be the case that not everyone was in favour of seeing the station return.
He said: “I think a number of people enjoy having that railway walk and, if the suggestion is to put the railway line in there again, there would be opposition to it.
“Also, you cannot bring the railway station into the centre of the town anymore. It would have to be on the outskirts, which would take everything away from the centre of Haddington.”
Earlier this year, former East Lothian MP Martin Whitfield announced he was backing RAGES’ campaign for the station.
The Labour politician, who is aiming to succeed Iain Gray as the county’s MSP at the Holyrood elections in May, said: “Reinstating the Haddington branch line and constructing a new rail station would help solve many of the town’s current transport problems, as well as supporting economic growth.”

Meanwhile, Conservative candidate Craig Hoy, a ward councillor for Haddington, has previously said he would “push hard for a new railway station for Haddington, targeting UK Government infrastructure funding to deliver it” if elected.
SNP candidate Paul McLennan has said support for a new station at Haddington was “overwhelming”, adding: “I will engage with the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland to launch the first stage of the new station process, a formal feasibility study.”
And Euan Davidson, the Liberal Democrats’ candidate, said: “We urgently need a study into the various possible locations. However, it is vital that if the project goes ahead, trains are much more regular than what we see at some other locations throughout the county.”
The debate surrounding the return of trains to Haddington comes as East Linton is preparing to welcome back rail services. Its station closed four years earlier than Haddington’s but plans are now with East Lothian Council which will hopefully see a new station in the village open by the end of 2024.

 

[waverley47]

Haddington is impossible. Not impossible in the way that extending the borders line to Hawick would be, but genuinely impossible.

Any train would have to cross the ECML on the flat. Currently, all stoppers to Dunbar and north Berwick, along with the borders line services also have to cross this line on the flat. There isn't the pathing available for that to work, with a future increase to 7tph hourly and freight each way east from waverley, not including peak times or trips to craigentinny.

You'd need to grade separate the junction and remodel the eastern approaches first, and you're definitley not going to manage that until at least the inevitable four tracking comes late in cp6/early in cp7.

If North Berwick has been campaigning for a half hourly service on weekdays for a decade, you're not going to manage to send those trains down a different branch that hasn't been built yet before North Berwick gets their service doubled.

 

[Aictos]

Haddington is impossible. Not impossible in the way that extending the borders line to Hawick would be, but genuinely impossible.

Any train would have to cross the ECML on the flat. Currently, all stoppers to Dunbar and north Berwick, along with the borders line services also have to cross this line on the flat. There isn't the pathing available for that to work, with a future increase to 7tph hourly and freight each way east from waverley, not including peak times or trips to craigentinny.

You'd need to grade separate the junction and remodel the eastern approaches first, and you're definitley not going to manage that until at least the inevitable four tracking comes late in cp6/early in cp7.

If North Berwick has been campaigning for a half hourly service on weekdays for a decade, you're not going to manage to send those trains down a different branch that hasn't been built yet before North Berwick gets their service doubled.

I agree that if North Berwick has been trying for the best part of a decade for a increase in trains then I too can't see why Haddington would be given the green light especially as 1. The North Berwick services can be busy, 2.
Longniddry can be seen as the railhead for Haddington as it's not far by road according to Google Maps and 3. You have the issue of the A1 crossing the former branch line so this would need consideration too.

Personally I think that until either Drem gets grade separation so services from North Berwick no longer need to cross on the flat or North Berwick gets the increase of services that it's been asking for, I think Haddington will just have to take a back seat as I can't see it being more of a priority then the two projects I've mentioned in this paragraph.

 

[och aye]

Haddington is impossible. Not impossible in the way that extending the borders line to Hawick would be, but genuinely impossible.

Any train would have to cross the ECML on the flat. Currently, all stoppers to Dunbar and north Berwick, along with the borders line services also have to cross this line on the flat. There isn't the pathing available for that to work, with a future increase to 7tph hourly and freight each way east from waverley, not including peak times or trips to craigentinny.

You'd need to grade separate the junction and remodel the eastern approaches first, and you're definitley not going to manage that until at least the inevitable four tracking comes late in cp6/early in cp7.

If North Berwick has been campaigning for a half hourly service on weekdays for a decade, you're not going to manage to send those trains down a different branch that hasn't been built yet before North Berwick gets their service doubled.

Scrap the North Berwick branch and rebuild the Haddington line in its place?

 

[Aictos]

Scrap the North Berwick branch and rebuild the Haddington line in its place?

Or use any funding for a potential Haddington station to deliver improvements to the North Berwick services because Haddington isn't cut off from the UK rail network as Longniddry serves as the railhead.

I just think that Haddington falls under the nice to have but isn't really needed along with Uckfield to Lewes.

 

[DelW]

Scrap the North Berwick branch and rebuild the Haddington line in its place?

Warning: crayons ahead!

Rebuild the Haddington branch as far as the A1 bypass. From there, continue on a new alignment along the northern edge of the bypass, to a station beside the A6137. That would have room for P&R, and is only about 0.6 of a mile from the centre.

Beyond the station, continue east along the northern edge of the bypass, then bear left towards Athelstaneford, passing east of the Garleton Hills. Cross the ECML under a new bridge east of Drem Junction (crossing at right angles so easier than a flying junction bridge), and join into the North Berwick branch.

That would allow the existing Drem Junction to be closed, so the impact on the ECML would be no worse than now. North Berwick trains would run via Haddington in both directions. Drem would lose out (assuming that it's only served by North Berwick services), but could maybe be replaced by a P&R on the B1377 east of the village.

It obviously needs a new alignment from west of Haddington to north-east of Drem, but I suspect that's small beer cost-wise in comparison with making changes to the ECML.

All the above is based on Google maps, so may have missed all sorts of potential problems on the ground!