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BBC article on the Borders Railway:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-54030833 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-54030833)

Great to read this.   Campaign for Borders Rail were very involved in ACoRP before the scheme got the go-ahead and I met a few of their leading lights, one of whom was Bill Jamieson from Stow who, I'd guess, is the same Bill Jamieson quoted in the piece.  Lovely chap.  I remember initially the powers that be weren't going to reopen Stow so that was a additional big campaign.  So pleased at the great success of the line.  I wonder if it will ever be extended back to Hawick and Carlisle?

Indeed - it's huge.   Passenger trains returning do re-energise communities.  Let's celebrate this one and others, and work forward with other case - maybe to Hawick and Carlisle, but also other schemes nearer to home.

Couldnt agree more:

Good to see a really positive piece about this line.

It makes the point far better than any consultant's report could: Good rail connections transform communities in a way that new roads can't, because they are open to everyone regardless of age or health. Most importantly, young people are less likely to move away from places with good rail links. It's hard to put a price on that.

Absolutely right.

It's interesting that Bill Jamieson makes the point that having a rail link gives a place a certain indefinable something. I remember once having a debate with Christian Wolmar on that - He wanted me to nail that down into something tangible.

I guess the best way I could describe it is that it would enhance the heart and soul of places like Radstock and Shepton, both of whom have seen significant housing development in recent years, and give the newly arriving populations the confidence that they made the right choice in coming, making them more likely to invest their long-term futures there.

Yes indeed and I've heard and read that the promise of a future rail connection was an important factor in people's decisions to move to places such as Cranbrook (the one near Exeter) and Portishead. The good people of Portishead have had to be rather more patient than those of Cranbrook, although the new station there was somewhat delayed.  Come to think of it, the same was true of Newcourt on the Avocet line.


Edit: A quick look at Newcourt station from it's opening in 2015 shows passenger numbers start at about 60 thousand and rising to about 130 thousand last year.