ScotRail Borders Railway

This item appears on page 4 of the March 2016 issue.

Departing every half hour for the 30-mile trip from Edinburgh to Tweedbank along Scotland’s southeastern border with England, the Borders Railway, operated by ScotRail (phone +44 0 344 811 01 41, www.scotrail.co.uk), started service in September 2015.
The new route runs through the Scottish Borders area, with stops at Galashiels, Stow, Gore­bridge, Newtongrange, Eskbank and Shawfair. With hop-on/hop-off privileges, a same-day round-trip ticket from Edinburgh to Tweedbank costs £16 (near $25) and a one-way ticket, £10. Purchase tickets at a station or ahead of time online.
Sites of interest within 15 to 30 minutes’ walk of the stations include the medieval Rosslyn Chapel near Eskbank and, near Tweedbank, Abbotsford House (Sir Walter Scott’s house) and the 12th-century Melrose Abbey.