AN EXTENSION ofthe Borders Railway south from Tweed bank through Hawick and onto Carlisle as a hub for HS2 services could facilitate three-hour journeys between London and Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Borderlands, according to Jim Steer, director ofthe High Speed Rail Group.
Writing in the Campaign for Borders Rail's (CBR) latest newsletter, Mr Steer says with HS2, Carlisle to London journey times reduced to a little more than two hours, and the Borders Railway fully reinstated, journey times from the Borders towns to London as well as to other major cities in England could be dramatically shortened.
Confidence
Mr Steer adds having a usable alternative route north of Carlisle to reach the freight terminals in Scotland's central belt would be a real boost to market confidence in the railfreight sector.
A rolling programme of electrification is expected to include the Borders Railway as part of Scotland's Decarbonisation Action Plan.