Place Reston Grid reference NT877619 22 June 1846 (1846-06-22) Station opened Platforms in use 3 | Area Scottish Borders Pre-grouping North British Railway Original company North British Railway | |
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway | ||
Reston railway station served the village of Reston in Scotland between 1846 and 1964. It was on the main line of the North British Railway and for most of its life was the junction for the branch to Duns.
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 Reston, which was flanked by Grantshouse towards Edinburgh and Ayton towards Berwick. The initial service was of five trains each way on weekdays, and two on Sundays.
The station became a junction with the opening of the branch to Duns on 13 August 1849; this line was later extended by the Berwickshire Railway, reaching Earlston on 16 November 1863 and St. Boswells on 2 October 1865. The main line ran roughly east–west through Reston, but turned to the south-east in the eastbound direction. The line to Duns and St. Boswells began at a junction facing Berwick-upon-Tweed and ran southwards towards the first station at Chirnside.
Facilities
In 1904 the station (then listed as Reston for Coldingham and St. Abbs) was able to handle all classes of traffic (goods, passengers, parcels, wheeled vehicles, livestock, etc.) and there was a goods crane capable of lifting 1.5 long tons (1,524 kg). Between Reston and Chirnside (on the Duns line) there were sidings known as Auchencrow Siding (just south of the road overbridge at grid reference NT860599) and Billiemains Sidings (just north of the road underbridge at NT858593), each on the western side of the line and able to handle goods only.
Maps of the period show that Reston station had platforms on both sides of the double-track main line which were linked by a footbridge; the station building was on the northern (eastbound) platform; the platform for the single-track Duns line was on the north side of that line; the goods yard with its crane was on the north side of the main line on the western side of the station; and that the junction was to the east of the station. The maps also show sidings close to the junction, a weighing machine in the goods yard, a turntable in the angle between the two routes, a signal box near the junction and several signals.
Decline and closure
The St. Boswells line was cut back to Duns following flood damage on 12 August 1948. The Duns branch closed to passengers on 10 September 1951, and to freight on 16 July 1965. Reston and Grantshouse stations were listed for closure in the first Beeching report, and duly closed on 4 May 1964; Ayton had closed on 5 February 1962.
The remaining infrastructure at Reston consists of two engineer's sidings, one on each side, and two crossovers 47 miles 14 chains (75.9 km) from Edinburgh Waverley.
The future
Proposals to reopen the station 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.