Joan McAlpine MSP has welcomed the news that the Scottish Government has agreed with her to include Langholm in a study to extend the Borders railway.
Keith Brown MSP, the Scottish Government Transport Minister, confirmed that Langholm would be included in the study, in response to a parliamentary question from the South Scotland MSP, who will contest Dumfriesshire for the SNP in next year’s Holyrood election.
She had previously written to him asking for Langholm to be included after the success of the Borders railway in the first few weeks of its opening.
Ms McAlpine said:
“I am absolutely delighted that the Transport Minister has agreed to include Langholm in the study for an extension of the incredibly successful Borders railway. The station here closed in the 1960s but the last train is still remembered every year in the Common Riding celebrations.
“While it’s early days and funding for an extension is a long way off, I felt it was important to have Langholm included in the conversation from the beginning. Langholm was a branch line of the original Borders railway to Carlisle. The town has a fantastic tourist offering and a railway station would offer a major economic boost.”
