Beattock Station Action Group was invited to a virtual meeting convened by Emma Harper MSP on 23rd March. This meeting was convened and chaired by Scott Mc Ivanney , Emma Harper ‘ PA . There should have been a mixture of politicians, civil servants and campaign groups present, but due to circumstances beyond our control,

( it was the day P&O  announced mass redundancies ) no politicians were present , and no civil servants , eg Swestrans and Transport Scotland. However, we did have a positive meeting with the campaign groups from Thornhill and Eastriggs, and it was good to finally meet like minded individuals from our part of Scotland. We are all in broad agreement on topics like the future of the STAG reports, for instance, will they have to be updated ?

Jenny Gilruth, the Transport Minister feels that, while we are looking at the long term we should present a united pressure group for the South of Scotland , in order to keep an emphasis on this region. At the same time Jenny Gilruth has committed to Transport Scotland having presence at these meetings.

It was agreed  to have a joint pre – meeting with the other campaign groups and Swestrans and we made a provisional date of 20th April 2022. Scott Mc Ivanney proposed a meeting with Transport Scotland , probably in June, after the local elections have taken place agreed.

Beattock Station Action Group is delighted to announce that a new Steering Group, chaired by Emma Harper MSP, will convene on 23rd March 2022 .The group’s remit will be to progress the re-opening of Beattock, Thornhill and Eastriggs stations and will compromise delegates from Transport Scotland, Swestrans and local ward councillors and MSPs from the local area and Scotrail hopefully and campaign groups including delegates from BSAG. The principle item on the agenda would be to agree the premise of re-opening any or all of these stations.Thereafter we would envisage the Steering Group meeting ( virtually ) on a regular basis, to progress specific aspects of decisions taken ( with the backing of the Transport Minister ) .This came about after Ron Mc Lean Stephen Thompson and Kartherine Clemmens had a positive meeting with Paul Mc Lennan MSP, who has progressed the re-openings of East Linton and Reston stations. We feel that this is is a very positive move , and while we still have a long way to go, the Campaign is back on track !

The Beattock Station Action Group would like as many people in the area to give their views on the STPR 2 report which was published on Thursday 20th January and this would be much appreciated , our concern is the lack of railway projects in the Dumfries and Galloway area.

Just because our project isn’t mentioned in the document itself , it does not mean it won’t go ahead !

The deadline for responding to the consultation is midnight on Friday the 15th of April 2022, you can get the link on our facebook page.

The Beattock Station Action Group are very happy to sponsor and support the relaunch of ” Walk Moffat ” this weekend and wish them a successful weekend and welcoming new visitors to the area to discover our wonderful countryside,we thank the many people that have worked so hard to make this weekend happen. In a few years we hope you can step off the train at Beattock when the railway station reopens being two miles from Beattock. You can follow us on Facebook or on the web-site.

We are still waiting for the outcome of the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2

( STPR 2 ) this will be published at the end of October , the public will have the opportunity to put their points and views towards the STPR 2 as we hope you will . Transport Scotland still has the Scottish Transport Appraisel ( STAG ) which was handed to them on theNovemrber 2019 . They won’t make any decision until conclusion of the STPR 2 which is frustrating ! A letter was sent out to the Scottish Transport

Minister on the 06/08/21 inviting him to meet the group and visit the station site , also a letter to the Scottish Green Party of which we are awaiting replies.

Ron and Katherine had two very postive interviews today ( Tuesday 27th July ) We spoke to Donald Turvill of the” Moffat News ” He has already received our press report of the information evening on the 21st . Then we had a ” Whats App ” chat with Joseph Gray of Westsound radio which will be on air tomorrow 28th throughout the day.

The campagin Group calling for the reopening of Beattock Station has met up South Scotland MSP to discuss progress to date and the next steps.The MSP and  Stephen Thomspon, Ward Councillor for Annandale and Eskdale, attended Beattock Station Action Group information evening in the Proudfoot indoor Sports and Social Club in Moffat.and were extremely supportive of the group’s work. Ron Mc Lean, the group’s new chairman, gave a short history of the campaign group since its formation in 2012,highlighting the work of our late chairman Martin Brown, in pushing through the hoops and hurdles they had overcome over the years, Ron Mc Lean said Beattock Station would complement , not compete with , Lockerbie for train stops. Coln Smyth said while rail services still have to come back to normal after the pandemic, public transport is the key to reducing carbon emmission and helping the goverment to tackle climate change policies.The group is now awaiting the outcome of Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 which is due at the end of August 21 and Transport Scotland making a decision by the end of the year or the start of 2022 with the station reopening between 2024 and 2029. We would like thank you all for coming along to the information evening.

Beattock station action group is holding an information evening tomorrow Wednesday 21st July at 7.00pm in the the Proudfoot, Mansfeild Place, Moffat. we like to welcome you all to this evening to update on the the progess of the reopening of the station and to meet the committee and chance to ask questions.

Beattock Station Action Group is holding an Information evening in the Proudfoot indoor Social Club, Mansefield Place, Moffat on Wednesday 21st July at 7.00pm. We would like to welcome you all to this evening to update you of the progess of reopening of Beattock station and meet the committee and a chance to ask questions.