ONGOING Borders Railway cancellations have triggered an MSP to call for improvements - and fast.

Rachel Hamilton, MSP has urged Scotrail not to neglect the Borders Railway during development work across its central belt lines.

The MSP met with ScotRail communications director Sue Evans and its operations director David Simpson last week in Kelso to discuss the issues with the train service, particularly regular cancellations at peak times.

The meeting also came in light of The Scottish Government’s latest programme for government which failed to include the Borders Railway in its promised electrification scheme for Scottish railway lines.

Ms Hamilton, who is the MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, told us: “I had a productive meeting with ScotRail but it was clear that we are a long way off from a fully functioning and punctual Borders line.

“Replacing old rolling stock is crucial to ensuring punctuality, but there’s a delay in the delivery of these refurbished and reconditioned units on the Borders line, which had been promised to ease the misery of commuters.

“There are still problems which continue to plague the Borders Railway, and these were meant to be solved by clearing the backlog of driver training.

“I have been reassured that a fresh intake of newly trained drivers will ease the driver shortage, but this won’t happen until the New Year.

“I, like many commuters, have yet to see a noticeable improvement on the line, and I hope that through parliamentary work, I shall be able to get to the bottom of what improvements are actually in the pipeline."

It emerged during the Kelso meeting that ScotRail continues to refurbish 40-year-old carriages which Hamilton believes needs to come to an end and new rolling stock should be purchased.

Ms Hamilton is continuing to raise the issues during parliamentary questions.