Rail project down south hoping to copy Borders "boom"

by EWAN LAMB

A decision by bosses of a planned £6 billion rail route linking the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge to reference the "success" of the Borders Railway as illustrating the huge potential of their scheme has evoked criticism in some quarters.

The East West Railway Company [EWR], set up and funded by England's Department for Transport (DfT) issued a news release last week which used the 35-mile Edinburgh to Galashiels route as a case study, comparing the Borders project with the proposed 38-mile of tracks which would reinstate train travel in the Oxford/Cambridge area.

The EWR story included contributions from Councillor Euan Jardine, leader of Scottish Borders Council, who was quoted as saying: "The project has massively exceeded expectations, providing a boom to overcome initial opposition to the railway.”

And Mr Jardine went on to claim the town of Galashiels 'used to be a struggling, run-down high street before the railway’s arrival, but is now a rejuvenated town centre'.

Earlier in March a House of Commons Transport Committee session examining East West Rail heard how Borders Railway has been “extraordinarily popular”, had generated “lots of economic development” and that “tourism has increased massively” as a result of the railway.

And Beth West, Chie Executive of EWR, said: “Borders Railway is an outstanding example of how a railway can be transformational for local economies and communities, helping places flourish and become more dynamic and desirable to visit. Successful case studies like Borders Rail provide an encouraging and inspiring blueprint for East West Rail to deliver a huge, positive legacy for residents, business and economies across the route.”

However, not all of the voices quoted by the Bedford Independent newspaper thought the comparison with the Borders Railway should have been flagged up. According to the paper's article written by local journalist Erica Roffe: "The MP for Bedford and Kempston, Mohammad Yasin (Labour) said he welcomes investment in public transport infrastructure.

“But it is a false comparison to argue that just because one rail project has been a success, that another one will be,” he said.

“Each project is unique. Plans are one thing, implementation quite another and I think there is a very long way to go before EWR can talk about success.”

Both Mr Yasin and Bedford's Conservative mayor Tom Wootton suggested that EWR should focus on communicating with residents in Bedford, rather than focusing their attention on projects at the other end of the country, according to the Independent.

Some of the statistics contained in two Scottish Borders Council reports produced last year hardly point to a "boom" in the fortunes of the Galashiels retail sector since the trains started running almost nine years ago in 2015 with a marked drop in so-called footfall, and 19 per cent of town centre shop units lying empty.

The council's 2022 retail survey showed the 19% vacancy rate represented an increase of two per cent since the summer 2021 audit. A total of 46 town centre units out of a total of 239 were unoccupied.

According to the survey: "The vacancy rate in the town centre has fluctuated over previous years notably from a high of 19% in winter 2016 to 15% in winter 2017. The opening of the Galashiels Transport Interchange, Border Railway and The Great Tapestry of Scotland should benefit the performance of the town centre over time, once these developments bed in. The performance of the town centre will continue to be monitored closely, particularly the vacant units along Channel Street and the north end of the High Street, and via the Town Centre Core Activity Area Pilot Study."

The picture was equally downbeat when it came to the town's footfall figures, again assembled by the council.

Footfall relates to the number of people entering a surveyed area over a given time, in this case in the course of a week.

The report for 2022 explains: "Galashiels has not recovered from the significant 33% decrease in footfall, as a result of the pandemic restrictions in 2020. There was no change to the footfall figures in 2021 and a further decrease of five per cent in footfall in 2022. Although, the town has the second highest footfall overall, which correlates with having a larger population, Galashiels town centre footfall is less than half its 2007 count."

Back in 2007 the average weekly footfall for Galashiels was 9,650, a figure which had fallen to 7,080 in 2019. The totals for 2021 and 2022 were 4,760 and 4,500 respectively.