The Border Union Railway was a railway line which connected places in the south of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

in England. It was authorised on 21 July 1859 and advertised as the Waverley Route by the promoters - the North British Railway.Awdry (1990) It connected the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway at with .

History

The first section of the route was opened between Carlisle and Scotch Dyke on 12 October 1861, to Newcastleton on 1 March 1862, Riccarton Junction on 2 June 1862 and throughout on 24 June 1862. The railway was built as a double-track main line throughout.

Connections to other lines

* Edinburgh and Hawick Railway at *

Border Counties Railway The Border Counties Railway was a railway line connecting in Northumberland, with on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire. Its promoter had hopes of exploiting mineral resources in the area, and it was taken up by the North British Railway, ...

at * Caledonian Railway Main Line at Gretna *

Maryport and Carlisle Railway The Maryport & Carlisle Railway (M&CR) was an English railway company formed in 1836 which built and operated a small but eventually highly profitable railway to connect Maryport and Carlisle in Cumbria, England. There were many small collierie ...

, Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, Midland Railway Settle and Carlisle Line and Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at

Carlisle Citadel Carlisle Citadel or The Citadel is a group of buildings on the site of a former early modern fortress on English Street in Carlisle, Cumbria. It comprises two towers, both of which are Grade I listed buildings: the Nisi Prius Courthouse and th ...

Current operations

The line was closed to all traffic by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British ...

on 5 January 1969. The line was dismantled in 1971. The

Waverley Route Heritage Association Waverley Route Heritage Association is a heritage railway group involved with the history, heritage and preservation of the Waverley Route, based/centred on Whitrope, south of Hawick, Scotland. Current projects include the restoration of the ...

have preserved a part of the former route at

Whitrope Whitrope is a densely forested, but sparsely populated area, high in the Southern Upland hills in the south central Scottish Borders in the former county of Roxburghshire. Situated some 12 miles south from Hawick on the B6399 road, the Scotti ...

and are working on reopening the section from its base at

itself down into Riccarton Junction as a heritage railway.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * {{Historical Scottish railway companies Closed railway lines in Scotland Closed railway lines in North West England Transport in the Scottish Borders Rail transport in Cumbria Transport in Dumfries and Galloway Railway companies established in 1859 Railway lines opened in 1862 Railway companies disestablished in 1922 1859 establishments in England British companies established in 1859 British companies disestablished in 1922