The Campaign to Reopen Beattock Railway Station

That the Parliament notes the work of the Beattock Station Action Group, which was formally created in 2012 with the aim to lobby for the reopening of the Beattock Railway Station on the West Coast main line in Dumfries and Galloway; recognises that, in 1972, Beattock train station was closed as part of the UK Government’s Beeching Report of 1963, which led to the it carrying out the UK’s largest cut of railway stations, and that this closure has led to a 48-mile stretch of railway line with no station between Lockerbie and Carstairs, which is the longest stretch of rail in the UK with no station; acknowledges that people from communities in and around Beattock, including the historic town of Moffat, now have to travel up to 20 miles by road to reach their nearest railway station in Lockerbie; understands that, across the UK, the demand for rail services continues to grow, with the number of passenger journeys in Scotland in 2020 alone reaching 175,000,000, and that the case for rail is strengthened by the need to meet the challenges presented by the climate emergency; further notes that this part of Scotland is renowned for its travel and tourism businesses, with access to the famous 212 miles of coast-to-coast Southern Upland Way, as well as having access to many national cycle routes, and that the reopening of Beattock Station would undoubtedly boost green tourism in the area; welcomes that the reopening of the Beattock Station was identified in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2), particularly as the station and much if its required infrastructure already exists, but calls on the Scottish Government to provide a timescale as to when the STPR2 recommendations will be taken forward.