The St Andrews Rail Link (StARLink) Campaign was established in 1989 with the aim of reconnecting Scottish town of

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

to the railway. The historical St Andrews Railway, which had connected St Andrews to the mainline via Leuchars Junction was closed on 6 January 1969. Unlike the earlier closure of the Anstruther & St Andrews Railway in 1965,Hajducki, A., Jodeluk, M., Simpson, A. (2009). The Anstruther & St Andrews Railway. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. .Holland, J (2013). Dr Beeching's Axe: 50 Years on : Illustrated Memories of Britain's Lost Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 169. . the St Andrews Railway was not recommended for closure in the (1963)

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

.British Transport Commission (1963). The Reshaping of British Railways. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Hajducki, A., Jodeluk, M., Simpson, A. (2008).) The St Andrews Railway. Usk, Monmouthshire: Oakwood Press. .Alexander, M. (2013). British Rail, not Dr Beeching, closed St Andrews branch line. Available: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/british-rail-not-dr-beeching-closed-st-andrews-branch-line-1.79294. Last accessed 24 September 2015Holland, J (2013). Dr Beeching's Axe: 50 Years on : Illustrated Memories of Britain's Lost Railways. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 186. . The closure, ordered four years after Beeching's departure in 1965, was ordered by Richard Marsh,

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

in the 1964-1970 (Labour) government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, and whilst some Beeching closures did take place after the departure of Beeching in 1965, the St Andrews closure was not an instance of such. The original reinstatement plan espoused by ''StARLink'' was simply a reestablishment of the historical Leuchars - St Andrews line but since the publication in 2012 of a report by Tata Steel Rail Consultancy ''StARLink'' now advocates an entirely new 21st-century layout with a twin-cord high-speed rail link travelling west and southwards via Cupar and northwards via Leuchars. ''StARLink'' has estimated that the railway could be reinstated for £76 million. A 2008 survey by StARLink of St Andrews residents and commuters found that 78% of those respondents who did not use buses would use the railway instead; the group had sent out 20,000 questionnaires in December 2007. This line has been identified by the Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.

References

External links

St Andrews Rail Link Campaign official websiteSt Andrews Rail Link Campaign Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Rail Link Proposed railway lines in Scotland St Andrews