Better links with England explored by Scottish National Party in transport project review

The Borders railway could be extended to link it with Carlisle in England under a new study ordered by the Scottish National Party tobe carried out by Jacobs UK.

The Transport Scotland study will look at transport provision across all modes in the south of Scotland and will inform the forthcoming refresh of the Scottish Government's strategic transport projects review that will look at future transport proposals for the whole of Scotland. Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf said his party had committed to examining the case for extending the Borders railway, along with improvements to the A1, A7 and A68.

He said: "The study will consider how we can improve accessibility in the Borders. We want to build on the existing Borders railway by considering whether it should be extended to Carlisle. The study will also look at how we improve access from the Borders to key markets in to Edinburgh and Newcastle."