Developing a stage one evaluation for Transport Scotland

Borders Railway Year 1 Evaluation

At 30 miles (48 kilometres), the Borders Railway (which opened in 2015) is the UK's longest domestic railway constructed in over 100 years. We were commissioned by Transport Scotland (TS) to develop a stage one evaluation of this £300-million project. The primary objective? To provide a high-level assessment of how on-track the project was in reaching its investment objectives. We completed a primary data collection exercise including a survey of users of the Borders Railway and a telephone survey of non and infrequent users of the Borders Railway based within the Scottish Borders and Midlothian.

The final report offered a detailed picture of how travel patterns have changed since the re-opening of the railway including modal shift and trip generation. It also examined impacts on residential and employment choice as well as the number and type of visitor trips, and the response of bus operators. The report was well received by the client and wider stakeholder group, with Stantec and TS subsequently presenting a joint paper on the project at the Scottish Transport Applications and Research Conference.

Through our involvement in the preceding Borders Baseline Study, our team had an in-depth knowledge of the area and the key transport issues. This allowed for an efficient and robust analysis and ensured that the surveys and subsequent evaluation captured the key impacts of the railway in relation to its objectives.