(extract from Wikipedia)
The Duns Branch and the Berwickshire Railway together formed a railway line from Reston, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, to St Boswells, a distance of 29.5 miles. The line was developed in two stages:
- the first stage was from Reston, on the Edinburgh to Berwick main line, to Duns, a distance of 8.5 miles; it was opened by the North British Railway in 1849
- the second stage was developed separately by the Berwickshire Railway Company, with assistance from the North British Railway. Most of the line was opened in 1863, but completion of the Leaderfoot Viaduct delayed opening of the final section until 1865
Leaderfoot viaduct
The North British Railway had conceived the line as a strategic trunk route across southern Scotland, but the line was never heavily used. Following heavy rain in the area in August 1948, the line was breached west of Earlston, and passenger services ceased permanently. Duns reverted to being a branch line terminus from Reston until that too was closed to passengers in 1951. Marchmont railway station served the estate of Marchmont from 1863 to 1951.
Further information on the Berwickshire Railway is available here and here
| The Scottish Borders Council is investigating a Shared Access Path across the eastern Borders following the disused railway track where possible Further details HERE |
National Railway Network (1875)
This 1875 railway map of Scotland shows the location of the Berwickshire Railway within the national network (zoom in for detail)
It also shows the railway line from Edinburgh to Galashiels, now the new Borders Railway (to Tweedbank). An extension from Tweedbank to Carlisle via Hawick is under consideration
