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. 

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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. 

A brief history of time

The Formartine and Buchan Way  was established as  a recreational footpath and cycle way in 1987 and follows the route of the old railway line from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh and Peterhead. It now provides a 'wildlife corridor' and as such is of particular interest to Grey Granite.

Grey Granite first travelled the route in her carry cot in July 1951, the first of her annual rail journeys from England to Buchan for holidays in Rosehearty which continued until Dr Beeching's axe fell in 1965. She has always regarded the line with great affection and now that she has opportunity to follow her own inclinations has resolved to walk the length of the line accompanied by Rufus, her Border Terrier. It is their intention to complete the walk in short stages during the 150th anniversary year of the opening of the first section of the line. This blog will record these expeditions and the  wildlife encountered during the walks with notes on places of interest along the route.

Approval to build a railway line from Dyce to Peterhead with a branch at Mintlaw to Fraserburgh was granted to The Formartine and Buchan Railway Company on the 23rd July 1858 when  the Formartine and Buchan Railway Act was passed. The 29 mile stretch joining Dyce and Mintlaw (Old Deer) was opened 3 years later on 18th July 1861 with the remaining 13 miles to Peterhead following a year later on  3rd July 1862. The 15 mile Fraserburgh branch took a further 3 years before opening on  24th April 1865.

The line was operated by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company (GNSR) which was incorporated into the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923 before becoming part of the nationalised railway system (British Rail) on 1st January 1948.


Lord Beeching's cuts of the early 1960's condemned the line to closure with the last regular passenger trains running to Peterhead in May 1965 and to Fraserburgh in October 1965. Freight trains used the line to Peterhead until September 1970, and to Fraserburgh until October 1979.