Formartine Buchan Way or Formartine Buchan Railway?

During the last week or so there have been reports in the local press which indicate that  moves are afoot within Aberdeenshire Council to request that North East Scotland Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) should carry out a feasibility study to consider reinstating the railway line along the Formartine Buchan Way.The chief aim of this proposal would be to reduce traffic congestion between Aberdeen, Ellon, Fraserburgh and Peterhead, councillors point to the success of the Borders-Edinburgh (rail) Link as setting a precedent for such a scheme. Whilst deploring the closure of the Line as a result of Dr Beeching's axe, and acknowledging the enormous environmental impact of the daily volume of traffic heading to and from  Aberdeen each day, Grey Granite considers that the possible benefits  of reinstating  a railway are limited, not least on account of various obstacles and the astronomical financial and environmental costs involved.

The Line follows an indirect route to Aberdeen, chosen to partly to serve the whims of the various landowners who either opposed the coming of the railway or welcomed it in the mid 19th century. 

.

Many bridges carrying roads over the Line have been removed completely so that the Line is intersected by the road, elsewhere as at Brucklay, above, and entering Peterhead replacement bridges are too low for trains to pass through them.

Section leading through housing developments towards the centre of Peterhead where the site of the former station   is occupied by Peterhead Academy

Here in Fraserburgh a section of the original railway line is now under a new road. In both Peterhead and Fraserburgh it is likely that a reinstated railway would have to terminate some distance from the town centre. Would people then make sufficient use of it to justify the enormous expense involved in reconstruction of stations and bridges, realigning roads and track laying? Would this be appropriate for handling freight moving in and out of the ports?

Having been destroyed by fire before being demolished all that remains of Fraserburgh Station is the engine shed seen below.The station yard and sidings have all been built over.

Logierieve, one of the many station buildings which has been turned into  a private house. Many houses and even factories and industrial units such as these at Mintlaw Station (below) have been built very close to the Line. This may be unacceptable if the railway were reinstated.

At the same time as the proposed reinstatement feasibility study was being discussed in the local press, 'Scotland on Sunday' (3.2.13, Wildlife Trust Want Hedge Fund to hit Eco Targets) reported that the Scottish Wildlife Trust campaigning for the establishment of a national network of hedgerows to enable biodiversity and climate change targets to be met. Such a network would in effect be  a wildlife corridor enabling species to move from one area of suitable habitat to another. The value of the Line in doing this cannot be overstated. In the treeless tracts of countryside under intensive agriculture  crossed by the Line, it forms a precious habitat for many birds in particular. Throughout the autumn and winter months flocks of finches and tits, amongst other species, forage on the seeds along the line. Badgers and smaller mammals, including hedgehogs whose numbers are declining rapidly,  find sanctuary along the  embankments. With reduced, although sadly not entirely absent, spraying with herbicides the line supports a diverse flora which in turn supports insects including butterflies and moths.

The Formartine Buchan Way is a well established and much used long distance path and cycle way, providing safe and easy access to the heart of the Aberdeenshire countryside. The closure of the railway line to passenger and then goods traffic almost half a century ago is frequently vilified as being shortsighted. Grey Granite's contention is that to now  reinstate the railway line, with all the associated financial and environmental costs,  would be equally shortsighted.