St. Andrews Rail Link

March 26, 2008

I found an article written in the St. Andrews Citizen Newspaper about the growing support for the rail link to St. Andrews to be re-established. Up until 1969 St. Andrews was connected to the rail system but fell victim to the cull of branch lines by British Rail. Since then the only way for people to travel to, and from, St. Andrews by rail is through Leuchers Station, which is around 6 miles from St. Andrews. It seems that people have finally become tired of getting the bus between St. Andrews and Leuchers station due to the poor scheduling of the bus timetable.

When you consider how many people visit St. Andrews every year it seems crazy that there is no train station in the town. At a time when global warming and cutting carbon emissions seem to be in the news all the time, it’s strange that this issue hasn’t had more attention. For a group of people on a trip to St. Andrews who have flown into Glasgow or Edinburgh airport, travelling on to St. Andrews by train is simply not an option as they would have luggage and golf clubs to carry, plus hiring a mini-bus or car would be so much easier.

If you’ve ever been to St. Andrews in the summer months you’ve probably noticed how many cars there are and how difficult it can be to get a parking space. A direct rail link to St. Andrews would surely reduce the number of cars and allow people to bypass traffic jams when big tournaments are on.

Will there ever be a day when someone who has flown into Edinburgh airport can get a train direct to St. Andrews from within the terminal building? Maybe that’s too many steps at once for the politicians but let’s hope they start looking at re-establishing the train link soon.

St. Andrews Citizen Article

St. Andrews Rail Link Campaign