Desoute the suspension of three key electrification projects and problems with others, there is still a lot to shout about when it comes to rail-based transport systems. On September 6, the biggest domestic project in railway terms in more than a century - the Borders Railway - began public services, followed three days later by a royal opening. The reconstruction and reopening of 30 miles of the line from Newcraighall to Tweedbank, which closed in January 1969, is down to one of the greatest pieces of railway campaigning in history, not to mention overcoming a number of tough engineering challenges. It is the longest conventional line to open in Scotland since the West Highland extension to Mallaig in 1901, and it may not have happened had it not been for the survey undertaken in 1992 by Simon Longland, who used a motorbike to assess the line and prove rebuilding was possible.
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