Sunday 2 June was a good day for residents of the Levenmouth area as, after 55 years, they got their railway back. The first public train services between Leven and Edinburgh were celebrated by a street fair and funfair on the promenade. The day before, a special train ran from Levenmouth to Edinburgh and back for Golden Ticket holders who were members of the community with a close connection to the railway, including members of the Levenmouth Rail Campaign (LMRC).
The railway was officially opened on Wednesday 29 May when 300 invited guests were welcomed at Edinburgh Waverley station by Network Rail Scotland managing director Liam Sumpter. Following this, a specially branded train took guests to ceremonies at the lines’ two new stations, Leven and Cameron Bridge, where the guests of honour were Scottish First Minister John Swinney; Scottish transport secretary, Fiona Hyslop; Fife Council leader, David Ross; ScotRail managing director Joanne Macguire.
In his speech, First Minister Sweeney emphasised how the new railway would provide economic, educational and social opportunities and attract inward investment. He also paid tribute to the tenacious members of the LMRC for their successful campaign. LMRC Chair Dr Allen Armstrong was proud that the disadvantaged Levenmouth area had been able to mount an intensive community-led campaign which was supported by the council and had cross-party support in the Scottish Parliament. He also thanked rail experts from the Scottish Retired Railway Officers Association (Scotland) who had an important role in advising the campaign and helping it to present its case in a coherent manner.

Although this opening ceremony had been planned for some time, having politicians making speeches at such a high-profile event could have been considered a breach of the pre-election purdah period, hence this opening ceremony had to be approved by the Cabinet Office. It was for this reason that Network Rail issued no press releases about the Levenmouth re-opening.
The Leven service opened with an hourly frequency of trains to Edinburgh via Kirkaldy due to a shortage of diesel multiple units (DMU). The provision of a half hourly service would require an additional six DMUs which are not likely to be available until 2025 from, for example, the completion of the East Kilbride electrification. Once these units become available a half-hourly service will be introduced with one train running between Leven and Edinburgh via Dunfermline to create additional journey opportunities.
Re-opening the branch
The re-opening of the 10km Levenmouth line was the fifth Scottish rail re-opening in the last 20 years. Previous re-openings were the Larkhall branch (5km) in 2005; Stirling to Alloa (21km) in 2008; Airdrie to Bathgate (22km) in 2010; and the Borders Railway (49km) in 2015. In contrast to previous projects, the Levenmouth branch was never formally closed although it last carried freight traffic 20 years ago. Hence the line was still owned by Network Rail and parliamentary powers were not required to reopen it. Construction of earthworks to current standards did however require the purchase of some parcels of land.
In August 2019, the Scottish Government announced the go-ahead for design work to support the reopening of the branch. A further announcement in January 2022 confirmed that £117 million was to be invested in the Levenmouth railway and that it will open in spring 2024.
The 9.7km-long Levenmouth branch has few straight sections as it follows the Rivers Ore and Leven for almost all its length, so its line speed is generally 45mph. It has no major earthworks although it has some steep slopes which required regrading or reprofiling. River protection work was also required. The branch’s five river bridges were generally in good condition but needed grit-blasting to bare metal, recoating with a special paint system, and the installation of new timber decks.
The railway was built as a double track railway but had single track when it closed to passenger services. To ensure timetable resilience, the reopened railway is double track except for a 1.5km single line section from Thornton North Junction where it joins the main line.
As part of the Scottish Government’s plan to decarbonise its railway, the Levenmouth branch will eventually be electrified. To minimise the disruption and cost of the branch’s future electrification, mast foundations were installed as part of the reopening project. As this was done in accordance with a detailed electrification design, there will be no infrastructure clashes or signal sighting issues when the line is electrified.

The line has two new stations at Cameron Bridge and Leven. Cameron Bridge is 3km from Leven and has two 196-metre platforms and a 125-space car park. As it is situated on the main road to Fife’s East Neuk it could be a well-used railhead. Hence there is space for a further 300 cars. The terminating station at Leven is a single seven-metre-wide island platform. Its two platforms are 205-metres long. The station has a pavilion with customer facilities and a welfare facility for ScotRail staff. It has a 134-space car park and is adjacent to the town’s bus station.
Work to re-open the Levenmouth branch started with devegetation work late in 2020 followed by site investigation work in 2021. Work started to remove the old disused track and other redundant infrastructure in July 2022. Track laying was done in stages and was completed in August 2023.
The reopening project was managed by Network Rail with the main suppliers being: AmcoGiffen, Atkins, BAM, Siemens, SPL Powerlines, Story, QTS, and Rail Systems Alliance Scotland (RSAS).
Active travel
Whilst the line was mothballed, it was crossed by various paths. For understandable reasons, Network Rail did not wish to create level crossings on the line. Hence, various paths across the line had to be closed where the significant cost of a footbridge could not be justified. At the thinly-populated area at the start of the branch, there was some protest at the closure of a path which was neither a right of way nor an adopted Fife Core path. Hence the cost of a footbridge could not be justified.
However, three new substantial footbridges are to be provided in the populated area between Cameron Bridge and Leven to maintain existing active travel routes and provide new routes to railway stations. These are being provided by the Levenmouth Connectivity Project which is funded by the Scottish Government’s Places for Everyone programme, as well as funds that Fife Council received from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund. Although these bridges were not part of the reopening project, Network Rail worked closely with this connectivity project to minimise its cost and submitted planning applications for the three footbridges. With low land by the River Leven and disused coal mines in the area, these planning applications required flood and mining risk assessments.
Around 8,000 people live within 2km of the Cameron Bridge. This includes the settlement of Methilhill which is 200 metres from the station, though separated from it by the River Leven. It is to be connected to the station by a 140-metre-long active travel bridge over the river with one 70-metre and 2 x 21-metres spans. As the steelwork fabricator recently went into administration it was not possible to complete this bridge in time for the re-opening. It is hoped that it will be completed by the end of the year. In the meantime, residents face a longer walk using existing footpaths.

A Fife core path crosses the railway at Duniface, 600 metres east of Cameron Bridge. Here a 144-metre active travel bridge with 6 x 24-metre spans was craned into position in May. The bridge was not quite complete at the time of the opening.
Another previously well used core path used to cross the railway at Mountfleurie, 1.3km from Leven. In October, Fife Council announced that it was to provide a 108-metre active travel footbridge of 2×14-metre and 4×20-metre spans over the railway and Fife Heritage Railway at an expected cost of £5.8 million. Unfortunately, land issues have delayed the construction of this bridge which is not expected to open until 2025. In the meantime, local residents using this path to commute to work face an additional 40-minute walk per day.
More than a railway
The LMRC branded its campaign as “more than just a railway” as it believed that a re-opened railway would be the catalyst to regenerate the largest settlement in Scotland without a railway. Many of the 46,000 people in its catchment area have a quite low standard of living with the closure of mines, docks, and other industries. A Scottish index of multiple deprivation (SIMD) report showed that 44% of the Levenmouth population were in the bottom 20% of the SIMD ranking.
When, in August 2019, Michael Matheson, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, announced that the case had been made for the Levenmouth rail link, he said that “giving Leven a direct rail link to the capital, will lead to an enhanced local economy, bringing better access to employment and education and the potential for new investment.” The LMRC’s argument that a new railway would regenerate the area had thus been accepted by the Scottish Government.

Although Leven is only 37 miles from Edinburgh by road, this journey takes almost two hours by bus which denies residents without cars access to jobs and education in the city. This is no longer the case as, by train, the journey time is 71 mins. The train’s journey time to the nearby town of Kirkcaldy is 18 minutes which is 10 minutes quicker than by bus. The new railway thus offers transformational opportunities especially as new local bus services have been introduced to connect with the railway.
The new rail service is also likely to be well used by those from Fife’s East Neuk. With actual journeys from the Borders railway terminus at Tweedbank being over seven times the predicted number, this showed that drivers will travel further to a railhead than previously thought. Other Scottish railway re-openings have also generated significantly more traffic than expected, as well as attracting significant investment.
In 2022, the former managing director of Scotland’s Railway, Alex Hynes addressed the LMRC’s 100th meeting. He noted that, at a recent presentation, the project team didn’t mention rail, sleepers, or ballast. Instead, they emphasised how this project will improve the life chances of people in Levenmouth by creating economic growth, improving health and wellbeing as well as social cohesion. He also stressed that Network Rail hasn’t been given over £100 million of Scottish taxpayers’ money for this project because they like railways. It’s because they like what railways do.
With the focus on growing the economy after the general election, it is to be hoped that the new government understands how improved railway connectivity between population centres will generate economic activity as it certainly will do for Levenmouth.
Rail Engineer has reported on the Levenmouth re-opening project in Issue 197 (Jul-Aug 2022), Issue 200 (Jan-Feb 2023) and Issue 205 (Nov-Dec 2023) and would like to thank Network Rail’s Joe Mulvenna, Kirsty Ryder, and Owen Campbell for their help with these features.
Image credit: David Shirres