PRESSURE is growing on the UK Government to confirm its commitment to £5 million in funding to ensure a bid to extend the Borders Railway remains on track.
The funds would enable a £10m feasibility study to go-ahead after Scottish Government committed to its half-share.
The long-term aim is the extension of the line through Hawick and Newcastleton and onto Carlisle.
Since Labour came to power in the UK earlier this year it has been carrying out a capital investment review, with major transport projects put on hold as a result.
Now the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal have written to the government seeking "clarity" on the future of a feasibility study.
A recent report from the Borderlands Partnership, which is made up of the local authorities from across the south of Scotland, said that extending the Borders Railway would be the "best solution" to help solve the area’s notorious transport connection difficulties.
At the Borderlands Partnership meeting held on Wednesday, December 4, the leader of Scottish Borders Council, Councillor Euan Jardine, praised the work of the Campaign for Borders Rail and said the extension was a "priority" for the Borderlands.
He said: “It has come up at our executive meeting and it is a priority for us.
“The Campaign for Border Rail has been a key driver on this issue so we can continue to bring this issue up and get some clarity because I think that that’s what people want going forward.”
SBC recently agreed the three-year appointment, at the cost of £220,000, of a project manager to push ahead with the proposed railway line extension from Tweedbank to Carlisle.
The project manager will lead the delivery of the business case and feasibility work associated with the extension.
The original 98-mile (158km) Waverley Route between Edinburgh and Carlisle closed in 1969 as part of the Beeching cuts to the UK rail network.
A 30-mile (48km) section, between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank, reopened in September 2015, at a cost of £294m.
The Borderlands Partnership has been established to unlock the potential for sustainable and inclusive economic growth across the South of Scotland and North of England.
Representing up to £452m of fresh investment to the Borderlands area, the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal was formally signed in March 2021 by ministers of the UK and Scottish Governments, plus representatives of the five councils of the Borderlands Partnership.
