Place East Linton Grid reference NT590771 Original company North British Railway | Area East Lothian Pre-grouping North British Railway Platforms in use 2 | |
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Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway 22 June 1846 (1846-06-22) Station opened as Linton | ||
East Linton railway station served the town of East Linton in Scotland between 1846 and 1964. It was on the main line of the North British Railway.
Contents
History
The main line of the North British Railway, between Edinburgh (North Bridge) and Berwick-upon-Tweed, was authorised either on 4 July 1844 or on 19 July 1844, and opened to the public on 22 June 1846. One of the original stations was Linton, which was flanked by Drem towards Edinburgh and Dunbar towards Berwick. The initial service was of five trains each way on weekdays, and two on Sundays.
The main line ran roughly east–west through Linton. East Fortune station, between Drem and Linton, opened c. 1849. Linton station was renamed East Linton in December 1864.
Facilities
In 1904 the station was able to handle all classes of traffic (goods, passengers, parcels, wheeled vehicles, livestock, etc.) and there was a goods crane capable of lifting 3 long tons (3,048 kg).
Maps of the period show that East Linton station had platforms on both sides of the double-track main line which were linked by a footbridge; the station building was on the southern (westbound) platform; the goods yard with its crane was on the south side of the main line on the western side of the station. The maps also show long sidings each side of the line to the west of the station, a goods shed and weighing machine in the goods yard, a signal box opposite the goods shed and several signals.
Decline and closure
Unlike Drem and Dunbar, both East Linton and East Fortune were listed for closure in the first Beeching report, and duly closed on 4 May 1964.
The future
Proposals to reopen the station, along with the former station at Reston, have received the backing of John Lamont MSP, who has taken the case to the Scottish Parliament. A study published in 2013 proposed that East Linton and Reston stations be reopened. Since Abellio ScotRail took over the franchise in April 2015, they have now committed to reopening East Linton and Reston Stations as part of the local Berwick service by December 2016 but due to the shortage of rolling stock this will now commence in December 2018.