Railway campaign group say "Ellon isn't far enough"
Campaign for North East Rail have launched #ConnectPeterhead as they seek the public view, with an expansion of the railway north of Aberdeen under consideration.
The Campaign for North East Rail group have launched #ConnectPeterhead as they look to convince the Scottish Government to extend the railway to the Blue Toon.
Their efforts, which have received cross party support, have been given a boost recently, after the working agreement between the Scottish Greens and SNP promised a feasibility study into a railway extension.
The agreement would look at re-instating the line between Dyce and Ellon and looking at the possibility of extending that to Peterhead and Fraserburgh.
The group are keen to get the views from members of the public in the region on what they want, and what they'd use.
A statement from CNER said:
"In 2016 a study was published regarding reconnecting Ellon to the Rail network, once again neglecting the largest town in Aberdeenshire.
"This study demonstrated that a line to Ellon would require significant subsidy and would have limited patronage and freight uptake and thus formed a weak business case.
"CNER have shown, and will continue to demonstrate, that the Business case to Peterhead is far stronger than Ellon alone. Peterhead has a population over double that of Ellon. Including the potential patronage and freight from Fraserburgh, the business case for Peterhead is beyond reproach, and far outstrips the potential for an Ellon only line."
The group believe that any railway from Ellon to Peterhead could utilise the former Boddam branch, which would prevent disrupting the Buchan and Formartine line, was has become a popular walking and cycling route.
Their statement said:
"The option of utilising the former Boddam branch to reach Peterhead has never been studied, this is a much more direct and feasible route than what has been looked at before.
"From a cost perspective the argument is clear. CNER believe the line to Peterhead would cost around £400m. The 2016 Ellon study showed a price tag of over £300m. That’s a £100m difference for twice the railway distance and at least an additional twenty thousand North East citizens."
They are asking the public to fill out their survey to help show the extend of the demand for trains to run all the way to Peterhead,