The Open golf tournament should not return to St Andrews until the town is reconnected to the national rail network.
That’s according to veteran rail campaigners angered by the travel chaos that ensued this summer when the Fife town hosted the world’s oldest golf tournament.
And with the competition not predicted to return until 2030, the group are refreshing their push for a St Andrews station for the next golf showcase.
Jane Ann Liston is the convener of the St Andrews Rail Link Campaign (or StARLink).
The group has been campaigning for a railway link to the town since 1989.
She said this year’s Open “inconvenienced a lot of people”.
“I think this is what often gets forgotten: life goes on in St Andrews despite The Open Championship.
“It’s gotten to a point where there is too much of an infringement on what people can do.”
She said: “These problems were exemplified during The Open but, day to day, you frequently get hold-ups on the road to St Andrews which go all the way back to Cupar.”
Jane Ann’s solution?
“Until that is sorted out, I think we should not have (The Open) back again.
“(The) railway is one obvious way of making a step-change.”
So where is the St Andrews railway campaign now?
The bid for a St Andrews train line is in the midst of a Scottish Transport Appraisal (Stag).
Fife campaigners had taken heart from a new line opening in Levenmouth and progress on other station bids, such as in Newburgh.
The ongoing Stag appraisal examines all the options that could fix the town’s transport issues.
Among these potential solutions is a railway link to St Andrews.
But are campaigners any closer to this goal than they were back in the 1980s?
Members of StARLink have accused Transport Scotland of taking too long to respond to their latest submission.
“It’s quite frustrating,” Jane Ann went on, “because everything has sort of slowed down.
“I started this campaign in 1989. It’s taken far too long.”
“The difficulty is that Transport Scotland appears to have gone to sleep,” Jane Ann added.
The song Daydream Believer by The Monkees was playing during our interview.
Jane Ann said that her message to Transport Scotland was right there in the lyrics: “Sleepy Jean? Sleepy Transport Scotland – wake up.”
Why isn’t there a railway link yet?
Dr Clive Sneddon is the former chairman of North East Fife District Council. He is a long-term campaigner for a rail link to St Andrews.
Dr Sneddon said there has been a “wilful blindness to the infrastructure needs of this area.”
He added: “We’re talking about campaigns for improvement which go back decades.
“And nobody has lifted a finger.”
Dr Sneddon admitted he has become cynical about the possibility of a railway line.
“There is material to justify my cynicism,” he added.
“There are too many bureaucratic obstacles being put in the way of delivery.
“The pattern of the past in which things were opposed and then did not happen is in danger of being repeated.”
The pair agreed there is a problematic mindset within some groups which implies that St Andrews “doesn’t deserve” a railway.
“Everyone in St Andrews is well-off,” Dr Sneddon recalls being told, “and all the ladies wear tiaras.”
Do students want the railway link?
St Andrews, recently named Scotland’s top university and second in the UK, draws in thousands of international students each academic year.
Juan Pablo Rodriguez is president of the St Andrews Student Association.
He believes that a railway link to the university town would enhance student life.
“I would love to have a train here. It would simplify things for students and locals alike.
“It would make connections easier with Edinburgh and Glasgow easier and faster, especially for students coming from an airport.
“They would find it very handy to just jump in one train and go all the way to St Andrews.”
Golfers and celebrities also descend upon the town several times a year for golf championships, most recently the Dunhill Links Championship.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson responded to the campaigner’s concerns, stating: “We empathise with the campaigners’ position and acknowledge that there have been some delays.
“We have committed to StARlink to respond to their Stag appraisal by October 18.”
Conversation