A PETITION to reopen the Edinburgh South Suburban line as a way to increase mobility and city centre links for Edinburgh residents has attracted more than 5000 signatures in its first six weeks.
Petition organiser ‘Ed SouthSub’ says reopening would provide a route which would avoid the city centre for some journeys, as the route encompasses several shopping, education, healthcare and residential destinations. Its stations were closed to passengers in 1962, however, the double-track line is used for empty stock moves and occasional freight trains. The ‘sub’ also passes through six parliamentary constituencies.
Ed SouthSub believes the route would be ideal for the use of tram-trains as used in Sheffield, and Karlsruhe in Germany, and avoid the need to travel through the busiest part of the city on cross-city journeys.
The reason behind the petition is that the City of Edinburgh Council in its draft City Mobility Plan 2030 has ruled out reopening stations on the former Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway. The petition also calls for a full feasibility study and business case to be prepared for reopening stations, but also to identify routes for connections to either the Scotrail and/ or the Edinburgh Trams network, thereby maximising the impact of the Net Zero Carbon 2030 objectives.