Group wants support for rail link

Campaigners have sent out 20,000 questionnaires to gauge demand

A campaign group aiming to bring a rail link to St Andrews has sent out 20,000 questionnaires to gauge demand.

The Starlink group, which has been fighting for a railway station since 1989, said it hoped the responses would strengthen the case.

They are being sent to households and students in the town and also being handed out at Leuchars railway station.

The group has said it would take only five miles of track to link the city to the existing Dundee to Edinburgh line.

Not convenient

St Andrews is considered Scotland's only university city not to have a railway station.

It closed along with the Leven loop in 1969.

Commuter Jane Ann Liston is examining what responses people have been giving to the questionnaires.

She said: "The word convenience is coming up quite a bit. They do not find it convenient to get a train to Leuchars and then a bus or a taxi to St Andrews.

"They are also saying the train would be quicker."

Campaigners have said that the Open Championship in St Andrews contributes £72m to the Scottish economy.

They believe part of that money could be used to create a rail link.