As the Levenmouth rail line reopens to public services, Transform public affairs advisor James Mackenzie reflects on the history of the rail link and the success of the community campaign.
A win for the community
Today, the first passengers since 1969 will take the train east from Kirkcaldy to Leven. It’s only an 18 minute journey, but it’s taken decades to get to this point.
Success has many parents – including Transform Scotland amongst others, and politicians from all parties – but the credit overwhelmingly belongs to the community activists who worked doggedly over the years to make the case.
Why was Levenmouth disconnected? A brief history
For over a century the rail network had served the Levenmouth area, including Buckhaven and Methil, and it had survived the notorious Beeching Axe of the 1960s.
Yet, the age of car-centred planning was in full swing and the cuts continued until Levenmouth was left as Scotland’s largest populated area without a connection to the rail network.
“Levenmouth was left as Scotland’s largest populated area without a connection to the rail network”
Levenmouth has long been one of the most deprived areas of Fife, having lost both the coal industry and then Methil Docks, which had depended on coal.
The beginnings of a 30-year campaign
In 1991 a community campaign to restore the rail link launched, backed by the Scottish Association for Public Transport, founded in the 1960s response to to the Beeching proposals.
The economic argument was unarguable. It would be easier for businesses operating in Levenmouth to find the right staff, and it would also put western Edinburgh within range of what’s regarded as a decent commute.
The idea was not just to bring back a passenger route, important as that would be economically, socially and environmentally, but to use the line for freight. Given that the closed line went past Diageo’s Cameronbridge distillery (the largest in Scotland) and close to their bottling plant, the absence of a rail link meant both sites were entirely dependent on road haulage, as was Levenmouth itself. A station at Cameron Bridge was therefore also high on the wish list.
“The benefits of the line would outweigh the costs by 150%”
Overall, the economics were robust: the benefits of line would outweigh the costs by 150%, and the link would also have a small but important role to play in the decarbonisation of Scotland’s persistently high-emission transport network.
Building momentum
Over the years, political and community support for reinstatement grew, with future First Minister Henry McLeish pushing the idea in the mid-90s, future Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick taking the lead in the ‘00s, and then, in 2015, Transform Scotland was taken on to support the Levenmouth Rail Campaign’s efforts.
This work led to a motion of support in Parliament, backed by all five parties, and in 2016 Labour and the Greens explicitly committed to reinstating the line in their manifestos.
By 2021, the SNP were on board too, and barely a month after they were re-elected on a manifesto to do so, Graeme Dey, then Transport Minister, committed to reopening a rail link to Levenmouth.
A campaigning success – but more to do
Almost three years on from that announcement and the trains are finally running. A historic mistake has finally been undone, and the stalwarts of the Levenmouth Rail Campaign deserve their celebrations.
“A historic mistake has finally been undone”
But the process has been far too slow, and too many other communities, from Renfrew to Hawick to St Andrews to Peterhead, are still without their historic rail links. Ministers must not make them wait as long.
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