The new Reston station saw its first train when the 05:29 TransPennine Express service from Edinburgh to Newcastle arrived at 06:16 on 23 May. This was almost 60 years since the original station closed in 1964.
Contractors BAM Nuttall started building the station in March 2021. It has two 270-metre-long, 4-metre-wide platforms on an embankment over an underpass and culvert. It required 251 precast slabs and 108 piles of which 60 were for the footbridge. This is a novel ribbon footbridge which was conceived by Arup, the station designer, and Knight Architects. It incorporates lift shafts on either side with the 17-metre-high north shaft serving three levels, the interchange (ground level), the north platform, and the bridge crossing.
Project engineer Jonathan Long advised that the work had to be done within the constraints of short rules of route possessions which required the footbridge to be erected in 12 lifts. There was one 54-hour disruptive for overhead line work which involved replacing five sets of single-track cantilever structures with portals and using this opportunity for overhead wires renewals. There was also a requirement to move one signal.
Reston is a small village of about 200 houses in the Scottish Borders, 47 miles from Edinburgh and 10 miles north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, close to several settlements including the coastal town of Eyemouth. The 70-space car park has been built in the expectation that the station will be a well-used railhead and so there is passive provision for a further 40 spaces. TransPennine Trains advised that they had advance bookings for 1,000 tickets from Reston.
The station is served by eight trains a day operated by TransPennine Express, except for a LNER service that provides a 07:27 service to London and an evening arrival from London at 21:41.
Scottish Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth advised Rail Engineer that the £20 million investment provided by the Scottish Government for the new station would open up the area and that there are plans to improve bus links to maximise the benefit that the station will provide to the local community.
Various ceremonies marked the day, including Jenny Gilruth’s visit when she was met by a piper and 49 pupils from Reston Primary School who had been given train tickets by TransPennine Express for a day out in Edinburgh to mark the occasion.
Image credit: David Shirres
