The group campaigning for the reopening of Beattock Station has welcomed the announcement by the Scottish Transport Minister, Keith Brown, that the franchise to run Scotland’s railways for the next ten years will be awarded to Abellio. The Minister visited Beattock only two weeks ago, just prior to making his decision.

Abellio is a company backed by the Dutch State Railways, who have a commitment to community rail partnerships and integrated public transport across Europe. It was the first of the Scotrail franchise bidders to meet with the Beattock campaign group. Very early in the bidding process, Abellio sent a high-level delegation to meet at Beattock to listen to the group’s reasons for re-opening Beattock Station, which has  been closed since 1972.

Chairman of the Beattock Station Action Group, Martin Brown,  said “We are delighted to hear that Abellio has won the franchise to operate Scotland’s railways. All the bidders accepted our invitation to meet us but Abellio was by far the most enthusiastic in supporting our campaign and agreed to work with us should they be the preferred bidder.

“Whilst there can be no guarantees that Abellio Scotrail will run a service from Beattock in the short term, its track record in supporting rural public transport initiatives across Europe has given a major boost to our campaign. We look forward to working with the company.

“Once Beattock Station is reopened, then the local population will have the opportunity to commute to jobs in Glasgow or Edinburgh in just 45 minutes and tourists will be able to flock to this historic part of Scotland.”

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Martin Brown Chairman 01683 300451