Forty Years After
09/01/04
Since 4th
January 1969 when the rail connection was severed by
British Rail’s cull of branch lines, St Andrews has
been at a disadvantage when it comes to being easily
accessed by tourists, students and commuters. All too
often the alternatives to the car are just not
attractive enough. The result of this dependency upon
the motor-car can be easily seen in the main streets,
which is more than can be said for the historic
architecture, all too often obscured by boots and
bonnets. Yet the powers that be seem to think that
this major tourist destination can be fobbed off with
a ‘virtual branch line’. You may well not have
realised that this has come into effect but it has,
in the shape of telling rail passengers when the
buses run to St Andrews and offering them the chance
to purchase a combined rail and bus ticket, although
this is no cheaper than buying the tickets separately
as before. The Scottish Government assures us that
this will cut journey times, which shows just how
unacquainted they are with the realities of the
situation; any traveller could tell them that the
buses and trains are already going as fast as they
can and the only possibility for cutting journey
times is to shorten the period between bus and train
at Leuchars, yet no extra buses are being provided,
the buses are not a dedicated connecting service and
neither is the timetable being amended to fit in
better. Passengers will still find themselves waiting
in the cold at Leuchars for a bus. This is an insult
to St Andrews which deserves to be properly connected
to the rail network as before. Forty years in the
wilderness for such a major visitor destination and
income generator is long enough; if a rail connection
is good enough for Bathgate, Alloa and Laurencekirk
it is long overdue for St Andrews.