Levenmouth rail link petition off to Hollyrood
Campaigners will present the document to the transport minister today.
Levenmouth rail link campaigners will hand over a 12,500-signature petition to the transport minister today.
They will meet with Humza Yousaf at Hollyrood to discuss reinstating five miles of track between Leven and Thornton.
The line used to be in operation, but closed to passengers in 1969.
"The missing link in all of this and the reason it continues to decline is the fact it has no proper transport access"
Secretary of the campaign, Allen Armstrong believes the area remains isolated because there is no rail route linking it to the east coast line.
He said: "Levenmouth is an area of 38,000 people and another 10,000 catchment.
"The area has seen better times- it's one of the highest concentrations of deprivation in Fife- and there's also significant industrial investment in the area from Diageo and the public sector.
"The missing link in all of this and the reason it continues to decline is the fact it has no proper transport access.
"The roads are not great, but the issue is in public transport access.
"At the moment, we have to rely on bus services, they're not bad, but basically it's a two hour journey to Edinburgh or Dundee where jobs may be available".
He added: "We're an hour's drive from Edinburgh but there's about two out of five people here with no access to a car.
"If you want to commute to work, it's simply not realistic to spend two hours one way on a bus to where the jobs may be."
Asked the ideal outcome of today, Allen said: "We hope that this public pressure will yield a result in that they will get it unlocked and moving again.
"Realistic investment will take place in the next control period- this is the planning phase for the railway- which starts in 2019".