1. Impact of Borders Railway
Maximising the
Impact of Borders Railway
Sam Smith
Danny - Aim of presentation:
Danny – to give an overview of the launch of the Borders Railway Blueprint, the work to pull it together, the opportunities it has created and the challenges
Sam – to cover delivery of the Blueprint & the achievements to date
All – discussions on the lessons learned

2. Blueprint Leaders Group
Setting the Scene
Blueprint Leaders Group
The Vision:
Ambition
National & International Significance
Impact
Balance
Consensus
Danny - Background to the Blueprint -
In August 2014 the First Minister announced a “Feasibility Study” with financial backing of up to £10million to maximise the economic benefits of the Borders Railway
This led to the establishment of a Leadership Group – chaired by Scottish Enterprise, with SBC, MLC, CEC, SG, TS and VS
This brought a national focus to the Borders Railway project, and the development of a ‘national plan’ to ensure benefits were maximised
Borders Railway ‘Blueprint’ launched by FM on 17 November at Abbotsford – developed within 2 months
The Vision -
Ambition: that proposed investments were ambitious and challenged the partners to ‘raise the bar’ in maximising the economic impact of the railway
National and international significance: that investments were capable of attracting international interest
Impact: that the investments could deliver net additional economic impact at the Scottish level
Balance: that the proposals in the Blueprint reflected the Borders Railway route from Edinburgh to Tweedbank across 3 council areas and a ‘2 way flow’ of opportunities
Consensus: the investments were agreed by the participating partners

3. The Partners Commitment:
“We will work together to realise our ambition - great places for working, investing, living, learning & visiting.”
The Scottish Government
Scottish Enterprise
Transport Scotland
VisitScotland
ScotRail Alliance
Scottish Borders Council
Midlothian Council
City of Edinburgh Council
Danny – The Commitment – to create a New Development Corridor for Scotland:
700,000 population
20% Population growth in next 20 years
26,000 Registered Businesses
Additional 37,000 jobs by 2030
41% of workforce educated to degree level (2014)
UK Assisted Area status until 2020
Whole area - £23 Billion contribution to the Scottish Economy
Making the region More Connected - Not just the obvious transport connections but also connecting businesses to new markets and new talent; connecting entrepreneurs to new opportunities; businesses to space for growth; linking people to jobs; and the countryside to the city, and visitors to new destinations.

4. What Are We Delivering? Economic regeneration along the line
Three themes – Great Locations for Working & Investing, Great Communities for Living & Learning, Great Destinations to Visit
£10 million pledged from the Scottish Government – match funded by partners and private sector
Resulting in £29 million investment commitment to date
National agency and local authority coordinated support
Danny – What Are We Delivering?
As per slide

5. Borders Railway – Edinburgh to Tweedbank
Sam- Borders Railway in Figures – the basis for the economic opportunity:
Opened September 2015
£350 Million investment
10 Station Stops
7 New interchange stations
30 miles of Track
Service every 30 minutes
Edinburgh to Tweedbank in less than an hour
Connecting housing and commercial development sites & new business and investment opportunities
Making the region More Connected - Not just the obvious transport connections but also connecting businesses to new markets and new talent; connecting entrepreneurs to new opportunities; businesses to space for growth; linking people to jobs; and the countryside to the city, and visitors to new destinations.

6. Working and Investing
Inward Investment Prospectus:
Joint city region inward investment response
Business Incubator Network Feasibility Study
Central Borders Innovation Park
Hotel Market Assessment
ScotRail Borders Railway Development Executive
Sam
Inward investment Marketing Campaign in partnership with Inward investment unit at Edinburgh City Council and SDI.
Borders Innovation Park at Tweedbank, linked to £15m investment in new business space via the Edinburgh City Deal.
Hotel Market Assessment study by Hotel Solutions to identify sites for hotel investment opportunities

7. Living and Learning Integrated transport at station hubs
Borders Railway Corridor Development Masterplans
Tweedbank Customer Hub
‘Track 2 Train’ Newtongrange Station building regeneration
‘Gorebridge Connected’ Town Centre and Station building regeneration
Extension Scoping Study
Sam
Local Authority led Masterplans: Tweedbank, Galashiels, Newtongrange, Stobhill/ Gorebridge - delivering significant new business & commercial, retail, hotel and housing space.
Station building brought back into use: Newtongrange & Gorebridge confirmed, and Stow in the pipeline.
Borders Transport Corridors Study

8. Destinations to Visit
Marketing Programme – visitscotland.com/bordersrailway
Tourism Destination Audit/ Market Assessment
Tourism Business Development Programme - MBTAG Destination Project
Steam Train Experience Pilot
‘Beautiful Borders Visitor’ Experience Pilot
Hop on – Hop off Bus Pilots
Great Tapestry of Scotland Visitor Centre, Galashiels
Sam
VisitScotland led Visitor Marketing Campaign – investing £0.5M in UK and International Destination Marketing.
Support Midlothian & Borders Tourism Action Group (MBTAG) – industry led destination development project supporting investment in new tourism products and services.
Great Tapestry of Scotland Visitor Centre at Galashiels.

9. The Financial Deal
£10 million pledged from the Scottish Government – match funded by partners and private sector
Over £9.6 million already spent or committed, resulting in £29 million investment
Sam – The Financial Deal
As per slide

10. Early Results
16% rise in visitor spend in the Borders, 6.8% in Midlothian
8% increase in tourism employment in the Borders, 4.1% in Midlothian
74% increase in external applications to Borders College
New investments in restaurants, breweries, and local businesses
200 new jobs and £100 million economic impact from global IT firm CGI
Sam – some published results include (as per slide)
Also results of the Year 1 & Year 2 Evaluation research which highlights provided evidence of the railway having an impact on people decision to move to the area, visit the area, to access new employment and education opportunities, including
TOURISM IMPACT - 39% of users were traveling on a tourist day trip or overnight stay. 34% of these were traveling to the Scottish Borders or Midlothian. More than 65% of tourist users stated that the rail line was a factor in their decision to make their trip.
RESIDENTIAL CHOICES & CHOICE OF WORKPLACE - more than 50% of users who had moved house and over 80% of those who moved employment since the reopening of the line stated that the railway had been a factor in their decision.
Commuting is the most common journey purpose, but there was also a large volume of leisure users and a considerable number of trips for education.
Approximately 50,000 (36%) of the estimated annual single trips recorded via the sample were ‘new trips’.
“Borders – the new Scottish Destination?” - Travel Editor Guardian 2016

11. Early Lessons Learned/ + Key Messages
The power of partnership: local and national level commitment
Joint investment and delivery critical
Plan for delivery of wider economic impacts pre-construction
Transport projects deliver more than just transport benefits
Sam – Early Lessons Learned
As Per Slide

12. Thank you