Rail bosses in bid to buy up disused tracks

HOPES have been raised that two stretches of disused train track put up for sale have now been secured for the future development of Edinburgh's rail network.

A section of disused railway land at Abbeyhill and a former brewery railway siding at Haymarket Station were put on the market by the property arm of the now defunct British Rail last year, sparking fears that developers would snap up the land.

But today it emerged that publicly-owned track operator Network Rail was interested in buying the land with the support of Transport Scotland.

Patrick Hutton, secretary of the Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG), said: "This is great news and I do hope the sale is completed because it is vital that we protect key transport assets like this.

"The Haymarket land needs to be secured for future options of increasing capacity at the station. But the Abbeyhill land is also essential for future provision for any reopening of the South Sub but also the reopening of the Borders Waverley route."