Survey seeks support for reinstatement of railway stop last used over …
An Easter Ross community council is mounting a case for the return of a village train stop that has been inactive for over 60 years.
Members of Edderton Community Council (ECC) are seeking public support for the reinstatement of a railway stop in the village, amid claims that it is "very poorly served" by public transport services at present.
The group, who have launched a survey[2] to gauge public opinion, hopes that enough support can be gained to strengthen their case for the instalment of a request stop service on the Far North Line.
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The former village railway station, which is now privately owned, was first opened 160 years ago as part of the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway line to Wick.
Among its highlights was its use during the Second World War, when it received a visit from King Haakon of Norway and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Olav while an operational part of the Norwegian Brigade performed a defensive role in the North of Scotland.
The station and its stop were closed to both passengers and goods traffic on June 13, 1960, but the route north, now known as the Far North Line, still passes through the village.
Chairman Gordon Allison believes it is now time to put Edderton back on the Far North Line map.
"The economic case is, I think, very strong," said Mr Allison. "Edderton currently has a thoroughly underutilised, yet well-connected, piece of international transport infrastructure that has been running right through the heart of our village since 1864. Yet, it is very poorly served by public service transport. It has no bus service at all at weekends.
"It is not possible to do a daily commute to any nearby towns and it is impractical to consider public transport to attend medical appointments or after school activities. We just want to join the dots.
"We have new affordable housing planned for the village and the prospect of rapid economic growth if the Inverness and Cromarty Green Freeport meets even a portion of its expectations. With a bit of drive and determination, if we can restore useful public transport services to Edderton, we will allow this fantastic village to thrive as a very desirable commuter location.
"If we can restore rail links, Edderton will blossom as a tourism destination with our award winning distillery, beautiful countryside, and all the economic benefits that will bring."
ECC say that information gathered from the survey, which can be accessed here[3], will be fed back to the Sutherland Community Partnership's transport consultation.
Mr Allison added: "It is fair to say that it has been a long slow process so far establishing the groundwork, and it has not been without its fair share of knock-backs and dead ends. But our ambition isn’t to seek expenditure like Whitechapel Station in London, coming in at £831m – around £721m over budget. All Edderton needs is a short platform with a request stop service so we can fill more seats on the trains that are running anyway.
"Our recent survey seeks to firm up on our understanding and quantify the justification for the stop. We are also working in collaboration with the Far North Line Community Rail Partnership and the Sutherland Transport Partnership to address issues associated with rural transport, climate change, and sustainable tourism which the findings of our survey will also inform."