THE return of rail travel via East Linton is closer to reality after services for the stop were ‘written in’ to the next ScotRail franchise.

A two-hourly service between Edinburgh and Berwick, with timing for stops at East Linton and Reston in the Scottish Borders, is part of the new planned timetable, which could see trains running through both new stations as soon as December 2016.

Transport Minister Keith Brown MSP revealed the latest development following the announcement of Abellio as the new ScotRail operator, describing it as a “huge step” towards bringing back stations to East Linton and Reston.

The news was welcomed by county MSP Iain Gray, who said: “This announcement is very welcome and important news. It follows years of campaigning for the station at East Linton to be re-opened, an objective I have always supported and which I hope can now become a reality by the end of 2016.

“I want to pay particular tribute to the campaigners at RAGES (Rail Action Group, East of Scotland) and East Lothian Council for their dedication to progressing this issue.” South of Scotland MSP Paul Wheelhouse was also delighted, saying: “This is the surest sign yet that the re-opening of East Linton and Reston stations is a step closer to reality and I am delighted for all those who have campaigned hard on this issue for so long.

“The key final piece of the jigsaw is for agreement on the capital funding for the stations. The Scottish Government has effectively signalled it is prepared to fund the services for the period of the franchise and, if successful, beyond that. We now need the two councils to recognise this as a gilt-edged opportunity for both communities and step up and guarantee necessary capital funding contribution to allow the Minister to give the green light to construction of the stations. “ While Councillor Michael Veitch, East Lothian Council’s transport spokesman, commented: “I very much welcome this significant commitment from the Minister, which follows a huge amount of hard work on the part of everyone involved in the campaign, including the submission of a robust business case which was commissioned by the council and our partners.

“We have also recently submitted a funding bid for the re-opening of East Linton and Reston stations which I very much hope will be successful. We are now looking forward to working with ScotRail and Transport Scotland to progress the long-awaited restoration of these services.” The news follows the recent setting up of the new East Lothian Community Rail Partnership (ELCRP) to campaign to improve the rail industry in the county.

The group was officially launched on Tuesday at Queen Margaret University.

Its flagship project is to re-open the station at East Linton and it has been working extensively with RAGES in the campaign.