Hello, today I'm going on a train trip I'm going to get on the train here
at Newcraighall and I'm going to go all the way down the Borders Railway to Tweedbank,
and when I get there I'm going to do some exploring fancy joining me, welcome to RogVLOG
the Borders Railway goes from Edinburgh Waverley down to tweed bank but I'm getting on
at the second stop which is here at Newcraighall,
the next stop is Shawfair,
today's ride is a Class 170, and these go by the nickname of "TurboStar", there are
quite a few stops early in the journey, but very few people getting on the train,
things are still very quiet even though the pandemic is supposedly fading away,
I love the Scotrail moquette, these are quite old trains but the seats are actually
a lot more comfortable than some of the more modern trains,
legroom is quite tight but adequate, and there's a small pull-down table probably just about big
enough for a laptop, or a cup of coffee, oh I should have brought a cup of coffee,
look at all these flower baskets at Gorebridge station,
after Gorebridge there's a long period with no stops so I sat back and enjoyed the stunning views
of the Borders countryside, the second to last stop on the Borders Railways here at Galashiels,
and this is where I'll be getting back on the train later for the return trip,
and five minutes later we arrived at our final destination,
Tweedbank, where this train terminates
back in the 1960s, the UK was riddled with railways, main lines going from top to bottom
and loads of branch lines connecting villages and towns in a network
of crisscross railway lines across the country, in the 1960s the Government decided to close down
a load of these branch lines, the infamous Dr Beeching took his axe to many branch lines,
fortunately, in 2015 the Borders Railway from Edinburgh Waverley
down to Tweedbank was reopened and that's where I am today,
now I'm here in Tweedbank, the plan is to walk back from Tweedbank to Galashiels, which is the
next station along the route, and just see what I can discover as I walk between the two stations,
well, that's pretty that's the River Tweed,
well I found this quite nice path that actually goes parallel to the River Tweed
actually, I found out later this isn't the River Tweed, it's a tributary it's called Gala Water,
well, it really is a rather pleasant afternoon for a stroll along the riverside,
I really like these quaint old-fashioned cottages,
there's talk of them actually extending the Borders Railway down to Carlisle, which is
in fairness where it originally was before Dr Beeching chopped it back in the 60s,
and I'm all for it, it opens up the Borders, which means that people have to use their cars
less and, of course, people like me living in Edinburgh we can get out for the day
on the train instead of taking the car so more, please,
well, here I am in Galashiels after that lovely walk along the river
and I'm absolutely gasping for a coffee so I'm gonna go and see if I can find a coffee shop,
there's actually not a lot open here today
looks like I'm gonna have to go into Wetherspoons for a coffee,
a 99p black americano, cheers,
not bad at all
most refreshing time now to head back to Galashiels railway station
and catch the train back to Newcraighall,
today was my first time using ScotRail's new electronic tickets app,
I wish I'd had one of these when I used to be a regular commuter,
well, that's a bit of luck for the return journey, some of these Class 170s have a first-class
section, but of course, there's no first-class service on at the Borders Railway, so you can sit
in here and you don't have to pay the first-class fare, I mean you don't get anything extra like
coffee or food or anything, but a slightly bigger seat and only one times two across, the thing is
most people think they can't sit here so they don't, so as you can see it's empty
same ScotRail moquette, just a bigger seat with more comfortable armrests,
in addition to a slightly bigger seat you also have a slightly bigger table,
and that's a bit more legroom than you get in the standard class section,
well I have to say that was a very enjoyable little outing down to Tweedbank, and Galashiels
on the Borders Railway, some of the views from the train were fantastic, so it takes about 40 minutes
to get down there, and the walk between Tweedbank and Galashiels, along that riverside pat,h about
40 minutes, so thanks for joining me today on RogVLOG, hope you enjoyed that little excursion,
so until the next time remember there's always something to see so get out there and find it.