The campaign to re-open the railway station at Newtonhill is being sidelined by the Scottish Government, though not ruled out in the long-term.
The Transport Minister in a letter to North East MSP Alison McInnes was tantalisingly vague about Newtonhill.
In his letter the minister refers to plans to increase the number of services stopping at existing stations in the area. This will be done by extending the Inverness-Aberdeen services south to Montrose. He writes that this would benefit Portlethen, Stonehaven, Laurencekirk and, most interestingly, “additional new stations”.
Transport Minister Keith Brown refers to the Nestrans regional transport strategy, and echoes the response Alison McInnes received from Rab Dickson, the transport strategy manager for Nestrans. Mr Dickson had suggested that there is a possibility for additional train stations to the south of the city, but “this is not a priority” with there being are no immediate plans to build a station at Newtonhill.
Indeed the minister closes by saying the re-opening of stations such as Newtonhill will only be considered if they meet two qualifying criteria. The first is a positive Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) appraisal. The second is that there will be high levels of demand.
Local councillor Ian Mollison said: “We always knew this would be a long haul. Kintore railway station is due to open by 2019, apparently. After that we have to campaign hard for Newtonhill. By that time some of the houses in Chapelton of Elsick will be occupied. This new town will bolster the case for re-opening the station. However l fear this will be a long campaign.”
Hello Ian,
I was wondering if there is any update since February on the possible re-opening. I live opposite the railway line and the trains often stop outside our house in St. Michaels way and I see the railway are erecting a fence along the line.
We would welcome the re-opening especially in the light of increased traffic once the Elsick estate opens and the possible relocation of my works office to Dyce from Aberdeen.
Yours Sincerely
Neil
I posted on Facebook the other day about this. I am fully behind the station being re-opened but I fear it will be a long haul. As you say, in our favour is the development at Chapelton across the A90. The possibility of many more passengers should help with the case.
Kintore station is next to re-open, in 2019, and hopefully we can campaign strongly thereafter.
The transport body Nestrans wants Inverness-bound trains to start from Stonehaven or maybe Laurencekirk. Trains from the south can already go through to Inverurie. This could give a commuter service. An Aberdeen South and an Aberdeen North station are also in the proposals along with Newtonhill.
But this will cost! To be political, I have my doubts about the SNP Scottish Government looking favourably on this. The previous Lib Dem / Labour Scottish government had plans for Crossrail but they were dropped in 2007 when we lost the elections to the SNP. To be fair though our current SNP constituency MSP is supportive.
Investment in the railways has proved successful. For example Laurencekirk has double the number of expected rail passengers.
But sadly, no quick result in sight.