An Aberdeenshire councillor believes there is a “serious” case for reintroducing a rail link to the north-east’s biggest town.
Peterhead member Stephen Smith said the “tremendous success” of the new Borders Railway showed the Buchan town was a candidate for a branch line.
Councillor Smith commented following the revelation a major new housing development in Peterhead will have space allocated for a train station.
He said the decision to leave room for a station in the homes scheme on the former Buchan and Formartine line was a “vote of confidence”.
Last night Mr Smith, who is vice-chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure committee, said: “It’s clear that the case has been made not only for improvements to the A90 to Peterhead but also to look very seriously at extending the rail link from Dyce to Ellon and, ultimately, on to Peterhead.”
He added that the success of the revamped Laurencekirk station showed a rail link serving the north-east “is not only necessary but also likely to experience huge passenger numbers”.
Members of north-east transport partnership Nestrans will meet next week to consider progress on the route study, which is investigating the road and rail options.
Following a meeting of the Nestrans board earlier this year, the proposals were presented to local committees in Aberdeenshire as well as policy committees at Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City councils.
Now in a fresh report to the board, transport manager Rab Dickson says: “In essence, the area committees welcomed the progress and emphasised the importance of the report, and generally supported a ‘hybrid’ mix of measures, wishing to avoid an ‘either-or’ situation with road versus rail packages.”
As a result the Nestrans officers are working on the second phase of the study which will provide a more detailed financial assessment of the options.
Earlier this year the Press and Journal revealed that the transport upgrade packages for the Aberdeen to Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh routes under consideration by Nestrans were worth £300million.
They include spending £113million dualling the A90 between Ellon and the Toll of Birness, and investing up to £260million to bring back a “heavy rail service” between Dyce and Ellon.
