Greens Back Levenmouth Railway Campaigners in Fife
Scottish Greens today met activists from the Levenmouth Railway Campaign to discuss the Green’s manifesto commitment to re-open the Leven to Thornton railway line. The Scottish Greens are so far the only party who have made a specific manifesto commitment to re-open the 5- mile stretch, with no mention appearing in the SNP manifesto this week.
Levenmouth is the largest urban area (pop 37,600) in Scotland that is not directly served by rail, despite the presence of a high standard mothballed line between Thornton (on the main east coast line) and Leven. Last year, the Greens revealed that Network Rail could re-open the line again for freight within 12 months if a train operator requested it. Now the Greens want the Scottish Government to take the step of re-opening the line to both rail and passenger trains once again.
Mark Ruskell, Scottish Greens Environment spokesperson, and MSP Candidate for Mid Scotland and Fife said:
“The lack of a manifesto commitment from the SNP to re-open the line is a huge disappointment to those who have been campaigning for decades to get the railway serving communities again. The route is essential for connecting Levenmouth to the rest of Fife and beyond, enabling local people to access a wider jobs market, bringing in tourists and new business opportunities while taking freight off our congested roads and back onto rail. Years of warm words from other parties are not good enough, we need action and that’s exactly what I will drive if elected back to Holyrood. The infrastructure is there and the commitment is there from Network Rail to maintain it, what we need is the political will to take the next step, upgrade and re-open the line with modern stations that will finally put Levenmouth back on the rail map of Scotland.”
Sarah Beattie-Smith, Scottish Greens spokesperson on Infrastructure, Investment and Transport said:
"Good public transport links are essential for our communities to thrive. That's why the Scottish Green Party is committed to reopening old lines like Levenmouth where there's clear public need and why we want to see the railways back in public hands. A bigger group of Green MSPs will work to ensure that every community across Scotland has affordable, accessible and reliable public transport.”