Monday the 23rd of May 2022 will see the re-opening of Reston Station in the Scottish Borders for the first time in over 50 years.
Excitement is in the air as the opening of the new Reston Station is less than a week away, with bookings seeing more than 17,000 reservations made for future travel on the Newcastle to Edinburgh TransPennine Express (TPE) stopping service which is already in operation.
The opening of the station will mark a connection for communities in Scotland and Northumberland and as part of the celebrations, TPE will see a special introductory fare starting at £2.70 for travel from the 23rd of May to the 22nd of August 2022.
Matthew Golton, Managing Director at TransPennine Express, said:
“We are honoured that our 6.16am service from Edinburgh will be the first service to stop at Reston Station in more than 50 years and we're delighted that this service, introduced in December, has boosted connectivity across communities in the Scottish Borders and Northumberland.
“It's fantastic to see that hundreds of customers have already bought advanced tickets to travel from Reston Station and we can't wait to welcome them on-board so they can experience travelling on our modern Nova trains.
“To mark this landmark re-opening of Reston Station, we've introduced special introductory fares that are available to buy through the TPE website. We hope customers take advantage of these fantastic offers and enjoy travelling on these services.”
The new services will run in both directions seven times each day between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed (calling at Dunbar and as of Monday the 23rd of May, Reston) and five times each day between Edinburgh and Newcastle (calling at Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnmouth, Morpeth and as of Monday the 23rd of May, Reston, with limited calls at Cramlington).
Passenger numbers using these services have seen a growth of 50% over the past four months as customers enjoy the new connectivity. The latest figures also reveal that customers are heading back to rail travel with passenger numbers now hitting 79% of pre-pandemic levels.
To take advantage of TPE's special introductory offer, please visit: www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/reston
East Linton is also to have a new railway station on the East Coast Main Line and for Transpennine Express to serve East Linton.
Perhaps they will change their minds at prospect of one third of their trains not running because of actions of rail unions.