Media centre

Wednesday 24 May 2023

Reston station marks first year of service

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Primary school children plant time capsule to mark milestone

Reston, in the Scottish Borders, is celebrating the first anniversary of the return of rail passenger services.

On May 23, 2022, passengers were able to board trains in the village for the first time in 58 years following a £20m Scottish Government investment in the new Reston station.

To celebrate one year of passenger services, pupils from Reston Primary school were invited to plant a time capsule at the station.

Items placed in the time capsule include letters that the children wrote about themselves, the school badge, memorabilia from the Queens Platinum Jubilee and photographs of themselves from the station opening event itself.

Primary four and seven pupils from the school were joined by Kerry Simmonds, Chairperson for Reston Community Council and Barrie Forrest and Tom Thorburn from the Rail Action Group East of Scotland to officially bury the time capsule.

The capsule is set to be reopened in May 2047 to mark the 25th anniversary of Reston station going into service.

Jill Horsburgh, headteacher of Reston Primary School said: “The children were so excited to be invited back to the station to plant the time capsule after having the pleasure of being there for the opening last year.

“The pupils thought long and hard about what they wanted to go into the time capsule and made sure it was fitting for their May 2022 memories.

“The return of Reston station to the village has been fantastic and I am certain that it will enhance the social, leisure, education and employment opportunities for our young people and everyone else in the village in the future.”

Lisa McKenna, Network Rail’s project manager for the Reston station development said: “This was an exciting project to be part of and it was great to build a station for a village that will really benefit from the improved transport links to Edinburgh, Newcastle and beyond.

“It’s so lovely to hear that a legacy is also being created by pupils from Reston Primary School in the form of a time capsule to mark the first anniversary of the return of the station to the village.”

Reston sits on the East Coast Mainline, with platforms which cater for up to 10-carriage trains. It is fully accessible with step-free access from ground level onto platform 1 and across the railway via a footbridge with lifts.

It is served by eight trains per weekday in each direction mainly operating between Edinburgh and Newcastle. Seven services are offered by TransPennine Express with the others being offered by London North Eastern Railways (LNER).

It serves the village and wider Berwickshire area and enables easy access to Edinburgh, Newcastle and onwards across the national rail network. As well as improving transport connectivity, it is designed to transform the economic outlook of the area it serves.