Haddington Line
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Legend
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The Haddington Line was a 4.8-mile (7.7 km) long railway line which branched from the East Coast Main Line at Longniddry and terminated at Haddington. This line was operative from 1846 until 1968.
Brief Information
The Haddington Line was opened on Monday, 22 June 1846, by the North British Railway. It was built to serve the town of Haddington. Passengers boarded the train at Haddington station (55°57′22″N 2°47′31″W / 55.9562°N 2.7920°W) and alighted at Longniddry (55°58′35″N 2°53′18″W / 55.9763°N 2.8884°W) to board trains to Edinburgh. The branch carried passengers until December 1949, and was used by freight until March 1968. The railway sleepers and rails were lifted and the land occupied by the branch line purchased by East Lothian Council in 1978.[1] The old route of the branch line is at present used by walkers, cyclists, and horse riders. A section of the route inside the town between Gateside Road and Alderston Road is paved and used as a footpath.
Historical background
Haddington is the county town of East Lothian, the seat of East Lothian Council, and the county's sheriff court. In the early 19th century Edinburgh's railway lines began to expand under various private rail companies. The East Coast Main Line linking Edinburgh and London, via Newcastle-upon-Tyne and York, was constructed in stages, and (because of the town's importance) was originally intended to pass through Haddington itself. The northern section of this route was being constructed by the North British Railway Company, who opted to build their line instead via Drem, to the north of Haddington. This was because the railway company estimated that the additional cost of building the main line to London through Haddington would have cost £116,000, at a time when the rail company’s entire budget was only £80,000.[2] For compensation to the town, the rail company therefore agreed to provide a branch line to Haddington. The line was built with embankments, sidings, and bridges to allow for a double track; though curiously only a single track was eventually laid. The line was closed after a century of use at a period when cuts were being made to lesser-used railway lines all over Britain. Remaining evidence of the railway line includes the original station building, Haddington station's platform, the station embankments on West Road / Somnerfield Court, and a series of stone bridges between Longniddry and Haddington. At least part of the old station platform at Coatyburn Sidings also remains. The most obvious remains of the branch is the physically cleared and levelled ground on which the railway line was constructed.
Future scope
There is a campaign to reopen Haddington’s railway service led by the group RAGES (Rail Action Group East of Scotland). Most of the 4.8 mile stretch of the Haddington Line is unoccupied; however at the eastern terminus in Haddington there are industrial units occupying the station's old location. This means that either the industrial units must be moved or a new location for the branch's terminus be found. There are additional problems regarding where the A1 dual-carriageway crosses over the old branch line; for here the branch line is obliterated by a modern road. A further problem for reopening the line lies with congestion on the East Coast Main Line at peak hours, as well as at Edinburgh Waverley station, where the old east-bound platforms are now (with the exception of North Berwick's platform) occupied by a modern building within the Victorian station. One possible way of averting these problems would be for carriages from Haddington to join trains from North Berwick (at Longniddry) - made possible by North Berwick having electrically powered carriages. It remains to be seen whether the campaign by RAGES will win the support of Transport Scotland or the Scottish Government.
References
Bibliography
- Hajducki, Andrew M. (1994). The Haddington, Macmerry and Gifford Branch Lines. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-456-3.