THE thousands of houses due to be built in West Fife strengthen the case for a re-opened rail link to Glasgow – and new stations on the route. 

That’s the view of MP Douglas Chapman who hopes the existing track from the town to Alloa and beyond will carry passengers again. 

And with more than 12,000 houses to be built in Dunfermline and West Fife over the next 20 years, he said preparations must start now.  

Mr Chapman said: “Dunfermline and West Fife is an expanding area, which means we have to be ahead of the game when it comes to infrastructure and travel. 

“The existing Longannet line could be used as a means to get passengers from Dunfermline to Glasgow.”

The existing tracks head south from Dunfermline and split west near Elgin Industrial Estate to go through Cairneyhill, Newmills, Culross, Longannet, Kincardine and onto Alloa. 

Trains could then connect with the established rail route from Alloa to Stirling and Glasgow, and also give an alternative route through Fife connecting Scotland’s biggest cities. 

Mr Chapman said: “With so many new homes being built to the west of Dunfermline it is likely new stations may be required along the line to meet the need of potential new passengers.

“We need to keep West Fife moving. I understand that around a fifth of passengers going between Inverkeithing and Haymarket are en route to Glasgow. 

“A revitalised West Fife line would open up a more direct route for those passengers and take some pressure off the existing Edinburgh to Glasgow line.”

A new Dunfermline West rail halt is included in SEStran’s Regional Transport Strategy (RTS), a list of improvements they want to see to encourage more people to use public transport.

Funding for rail improvements would have to come from Network Rail, the Scottish Government and Fife Council. 

In 2015, a spokesman for SEStran, which is a partnership of eight councils on both sides of the Forth, said: “If and when a further appraisal of a Stirling-Alloa-Edinburgh passenger rail service is undertaken, the station configuration will have to be considered in more detail.”

At the same time, the then transport spokesman, Councillor Pat Callaghan, said a new halt “has to happen” to serve the residents who will move into the area. 

With plans for the homes now much more advanced – they’re starting on site in Wellwood, where 1,100 homes have the green light, while proposals for 2,100 homes at Broomhall and 1,400 at Halbeath are progressing – he said that need was more evident than ever. 

He said: “If you’re going to expand the area then of course you have to expand the transport facilities, education, leisure and other services too.” 

That possibility is back on the table with Fife Council part funding a £50,000 transport study in the wake of the Longannet Power Station closure. 

Councillor Lesley Laird, the depute leader of Fife Council, said: “The future use of the Longannet site will clearly have an impact on road and rail so the pre-STAG (Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance) report is looking at all those elements, the options and challenges. 

“We want people to have good connectivity in Fife, for it to join up with other areas and enable them to get to the places they need to go to. 

“If we can do that in the west of Fife and at Levenmouth, that would be a huge economic boost for Fife as a whole.

“The journey to bring in rail improvements, however, is incredibly complicated and needs to be clear and transparent.  

“Nothing ever happens as quickly as you would like.” 

Jim Grieve, SEStran’s head of programmes, added: “A lot will depend on what happens at Longannet and we’re aware there’s a study ongoing. 

“But in terms of land use planning, the building of houses has to take place alongside public transport development. You can’t do it in isolation.”