Secondary data analysis

This section draws on a range of secondary data sources to provide an objective, quantitative assessment of how travel behaviour, accessibility, network performance and wider socio-economic conditions have changed following the opening of Reston Railway Station.

Secondary data has been used to:

• Assess changes in rail demand and network usage
• Quantify improvements in accessibility and journey times
• Examine trends in traffic levels and wider travel behaviour
• Review service performance and reliability
• Consider wider socio-economic indicators and contextual trends

Where possible, secondary data has been compared against baseline (pre-opening) conditions and forecast assumptions, as well as against comparator areas through the counterfactual analysis. This helps to distinguish scheme-specific impacts from wider external influences such as post-pandemic travel patterns and macroeconomic change.

Rail Patronage & Performance Data

Introduction

In order to aid the scheme’s evaluation, an assessment was undertaken to measure the patronage and performance data associated with Reston Railway Station.

Methodology

Rail patronage data for Reston was downloaded from the Rail Data Marketplace (RDM), a government-funded platform hosted by the Rail Delivery Group consisting of various publishers within the rail industry that have uploaded rail-related data.

Within the RDM, the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) uploads an annual Origin Destination Matrix (ODM) that provides a detailed list of all journeys made between all mainline stations (i.e. not underground or light rail stations) in Great Britain over the course of a financial year. The ODM provided by the ORR is sourced from the MOIRA 2.2 base revenue and journeys matrix, which itself is primarily derived from LENNON (Latest Earnings Networked Nationally Over Night), the railway’s national ticketing and revenue system for all Train Operating Companies (TOCs) operating within Great Britain, as well as some local ticketing data.

Additional patronage data was provided directly by the two rail operators serving the station (LNER and TransPennine Express). This was provided for financial year 2026 for LNER, but over a calendar year for TransPennine Express. TransPennine Express’ figures were based on industry sales data, with the proportion of journeys associated with TransPennine calculated based on this. For the purposes of comparison, LNER’s patronage data for FY 26 will be considered to be over the same period as TransPennine Express’ data over the calendar year.

Rail performance data was sourced directly from the ORR’s data portal, specifically the statistics related to performance at stations. ORR punctuality data covers both Time to three (the percentage of trains arriving at stations within three minutes of scheduled arrival) and cancellations (the percentage of trains that were scheduled but failed to call at the station). This data contains three subcategories, including Time to three and cancellations by stations, stations and operators, and region and route (the latter of which is not discussed). This data additionally covers the first five periods of FY 26, unlike the rail patronage data at the time of writing.

Data & Analysis

ORR Data – Patronage

Figure 67 below shows the average daily entries and exits for Reston Railway Station from the station’s opening (during FY 23) to the latest available dataset from the ORR at the time of writing (FY 25). Overall, passenger numbers for the site have been increasing since the station’s opening, from an average of 36 passengers per day in FY 23 (42 over the period the station was open) to 82 passengers per day in FY 25.

However, these figures are significantly below what was forecast within the Final Business Case (FBC) for Reston Railway Station. The forecast years within the FBC modelled usage within 2022 and 2027, so are not directly comparable with realised passenger numbers. Nonetheless, the FBC gave a forecast of 144 daily passengers within 2022 which is higher than any year that Reston Railway Station has been in operation, as of FY 25. This represents a difference between the 2022 projected usage and the latest ORR usage statistics (FY 25) of 62 daily passengers.

The highest passenger flows from Reston are shown below in Figure 68. Overall, Edinburgh (Waverley) is by far the highest passenger flow from Reston. In 2022, 74% of all journeys were to Edinburgh, but by 2024 this had reduced to 56% (due to increased rail travel to other destinations). Nonetheless, only one station by 2024 accounted for more than 10% of journeys to/from Reston Railway Station excluding Edinburgh, which was Dunbar (22%). All other stations accounted for less than 10% of journeys to/from Reston.

Operator Data – Patronage

In terms of patronage breakdown by operator (utilising data supplied directly by the operators), TransPennine Express accounts for the majority of journeys to and from Reston, which is expected considering LNER only operate a solitary service in each direction per day. A total of 34,733 journeys were made to and from Reston in 2025 calendar year, of which 29,130 used TransPennine Express (83.9%) and 5,602 used LNER (16.1%). This represents a small increase from the patronage data in FY 25, which was 29,896.

However, there was an imbalance between outbound and inbound journeys to Reston included within the data supplied by TransPennine Express. For example, 17,157 outbound journeys from Reston were recorded, with only 11,973 inbound journeys recorded. Whilst the exact reasons behind this uneven split are unknown, one potential reason is an exploitation of split ticketing in one direction, as the data provided had not been corrected for any potential split ticketing. Split ticketing represents a quirk within the rail system, where a consumer purchases multiple rail tickets for a single journey from their start to end point, instead of using a single through ticket. Consequently, this can artificially inflate patronage data at a given railway station, by double counting passenger numbers if the split occurs at that station.

For LNER, the five most popular flows from Reston included Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, London King’s Cross and Leeds. Of these, only Edinburgh and Newcastle averaged more than one passenger per day in either direction.

For TransPennine Express, the five most popular flows from Reston included Edinburgh, Dunbar, East Linton, Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Newcastle. All five of the most popular flows averaged more than one passenger per day, with Edinburgh averaging 41 passengers per day. Dunbar came in significantly lower than Edinburgh at 16 passengers per day, but higher than the remaining three most popular flows, which averaged between four to six passengers per day. Notably, whilst the data supplied by TransPennine Express suggests that East Linton is the third largest flow from Reston, this is not reflected within the ORR data. The reasons behind this variation are unclear.

Punctuality Data – ORR

Figure 69 and Figure 70 below shows the punctuality data at Reston Railway Station from FY 24 to FY 26, for LNER and TransPennine Express respectively.

For LNER, the data suggests that overall punctuality has increased year-on-year, from 33.9% in FY 24, 47.2% in FY 25 and 53.6% in FY 26. However, these figures are notably below the average Time to three for LNER across their network, which was 72.1% in FY 24, 72.8% in FY 25 and 74.2% for FY 26. The ORR’s data has a number of periods that recorded a number of station stops but had a Time to three and cancellation percentage of zero. For example, during FY 24, eight of 13 periods had a Time to three and cancellation percentage of zero, despite the remaining five periods having a Time to three percentage somewhere between 72.5% and 100%. Therefore, the punctuality of LNER trains was recalculated to remove any periods that had a Time to three percentage of zero, which was 88.1% during FY 24, 87.7% during FY 25 and 89.3% during FY 26.

The punctuality of TransPennine Express services at Reston has increased slightly overall between FY 24 and FY 26, from 76.9% to 80.3%, with a minor decrease of 0.1% between FY 24 and FY 25 (to 76.8% in FY 25). These figures however are all considerably higher than the average Time to three for TransPennine Express across their network, which was 67.8% in FY 24, 67.5% in FY 25 and 68.1% in FY 26.

Rail Revenue

Introduction

Rail revenues for the two operators serving Reston Railway Station (TransPennine Express and LNER) were estimated to support the evaluation and ex-post value for money calculations. Rail revenue data is not typically shared as it is considered commercially sensitive data. However, in this instance LNER provided revenue data that was used to benchmark the estimated revenues.

Methodology

Estimated rail revenues at Reston Railway Station were calculated using the patronage data supplied by the relevant rail operators and average rail fares. BRFares was used to find the least and most expensive advance tickets; an average advance fare was then calculated with a further 30% deducted (to reflect the typical ratio of greater, cheaper advance tickets being available on any given flow).

Off-peak and Anytime ticket categories were also available on BRFares, which were used to estimate fares from passengers who chose to travel flexibly (utilising more expensive, non-fixed tickets); this was based on a return fare, which was divided by half to cover an individual single journey. Passenger flows were then multiplied by a combination of the flexible single fare and the calculated advance fare.

Each flow was categorised by ticket price from Reston Railway Station. Long flows represented journeys where 50% of the return fare exceeded £50, typically representing longer flows into England such as London or Manchester. Short-distance flows were those where 50% of a return fare was £4 or less, for example, Berwick-upon-Tweed. All remaining journeys were classified as medium-distance flows, representing the majority of trips to destinations in Scotland and northern England.

Advance fares on long distance flows were weighted higher (at 4:1 advance to flexible), evenly for medium flows, and lower on short flows (at 1:4 advance to flexible), to reflect a greater overall share of advance fares on longer flows and flexible tickets on shorter flows. Advance fares are not purchasable between Reston and Berwick-upon-Tweed; in this case, only the flexible ticket was considered when calculating revenue. Applying this ratio was also necessary to account for the rollout of LNER’s Single Leg Pricing in June 2023, which was later expanded upon by their ‘Simpler Fares’ trial. As a result, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak fares were removed on certain flows, including for all stations between Edinburgh Waverley and Newcastle towards London.

Finally, to account for any additional reductions in revenues, for example from Railcard discounts, child fares, season tickets and GroupSave tickets, an additional 20% was taken off the final calculated revenue. To account for uncertainty around used assumptions, a +/-10% revenue estimate was produced to account for any further fluctuations in revenue.

The resulting overall revenue estimate was within 4% of actual revenue totals provided by LNER for Reston Railway Station.

Data & Analysis

Table 30 below shows the estimated revenues for TransPennine Express at Reston Railway Station. Total estimated revenues for TransPennine Express ranged between £239,206 at the lowest estimate and £292,363 at the highest estimate. The greatest revenue flow for TransPennine Express was to Edinburgh (Waverley), ranging from £127,797 to £156,197. Dunbar was the second greatest revenue flow for TransPennine Express, ranging from £31,327 to £38,288. Three flows had a lowest revenue estimate at a minimum of £10,000 (Newcastle, King’s Cross London and East Linton), with the remainder having a lowest revenue estimate below this amount.

Table 30: Estimated revenue range for TransPennine Express

Station Flow	Lowest Revenue Estimate	Highest Revenue Estimate	Sum of Annual Patronage
Edinburgh	£127,797	£156,197	15,074
Dunbar	£31,327	£38,288	5,952
Newcastle	£16,544	£20,220	214
King's Cross London	£15,971	£19,520	1,455
East Linton	£11,608	£14,187	2,014
Glasgow BR	£9,839	£12,025	785
York	£7,773	£9,500	373
Berwick-upon-Tweed	£5,316	£6,497	1,943
Darlington	£2,691	£3,289	156
Morpeth	£2,187	£2,673	310
Others	£12,758	£15,593	854
Total	£239,206	£292,363	29,130

Table 31 below shows the estimated revenues for LNER at Reston Railway Station. Total estimated revenues for LNER ranged between £74,216 at the lowest estimate and £90,708 at the highest estimate. The greatest revenue flow for LNER was to Edinburgh (Waverley), with a range between £23,452 and £28,664. King’s Cross London had the second greatest revenue flow for LNER, estimated at between £14,208 and £17,365. All other flows had the lowest revenue estimate of less than £10,000.

Table 31: Estimated revenue range for LNER

Station Flow	Lowest Revenue Estimate	Highest Revenue Estimate	Sum of Annual Patronage
Edinburgh	£23,452	£28,664	2,664
King's Cross London	£14,208	£17,365	250
Newcastle	£9,655	£11,800	1,156
York	£5,981	£7,311	293
Leeds	£5,108	£6,243	188
Peterborough	£1,609	£1,966	140
Darlington	£1,450	£1,772	114
Durham	£1,306	£1,596	175
Dunbar	£1,043	£1,275	83
Aberdeen	£881	£1,076	29
Others	£64,692	£79,068	570
Total	£74,216	£90,708	5,602

Total rail passenger revenues for Reston Railway Station are therefore estimated to be between £313,422 and £383,071.

The resulting numbers have been used to estimate ex-post Value for Money of the scheme.

Accessibility & Journey Time Analysis

Introduction

The accessibility section aimed to offer a comparison between two different accessibility scenarios; one before the opening of Reston Railway Station, and one after. This analysis was undertaken to observe the change in the number of households which benefitted from the opening of the station. A 3km catchment area was used for the station site, which was analysed using an accessibility analysis software (Podaris).

Methodology

Podaris was used to understand two different accessibility scenarios for Reston, namely pre-station and post-station accessibility. The accessibility analysis utilised isochrone outputs from Podaris, which are GIS-based shapes that can show spatially how accessible a given point is. For the pre-station analysis, the point selected was based on the two nearest existing railway stations to the site (Dunbar and Berwick-upon-Tweed) to measure accessibility from these stations to Reston. For the post-station analysis, this point was the site of Reston Railway Station. In both scenarios, to measure public transport accessibility of Reston from Edinburgh, an additional point was placed at Edinburgh Waverley.

The overall method that was adopted to measure accessibility was as follows:

• Generate journey time isochrones in Podaris (by walk, cycle, bus and public transport from Edinburgh) for a pre-station and repeated for a post-station scenario, giving a total of eight different categories
• Overlay the journey time isochrone outputs with the census area boundary outputs over a 3km boundary around the site of Reston Railway Station
• Calculate the number of households which are situated within the 3km boundary, based on the isochrone layers which overlap the census area boundary outputs
• Produce tables for each of the eight categories across both scenarios
• Produce accessibility maps which visually show journey time catchments across all eight categories within the 3km catchment boundary

Table 32 below presents the data that was utilised to inform this analysis.

Table 32: Data sets used to inform the rail accessibility analysis

Datasets used	Description
Road Network	Existing road network; Podaris utilises Open Street Maps as standard
Bus / Public Transport Timetable Information	Sourced from Basemap DataCutter and imported into Podaris Pre-station: 2023 Q4 data was used Post-station: Latest available data (2026 Q1) was used
Destinations	Pre-station: Dunbar and Berwick-upon-Tweed; Edinburgh Waverley Post-station: Reston; Edinburgh Waverley
Origins	In-built origin grid within Podaris
Reston 3km Catchment	Census area output boundaries and associated household numbers within 3km catchment boundary

Table 33 below presents the parameters that were utilised to inform this analysis.

Table 33: Parameters used to inform the rail accessibility analysis

Parameters	Description
Network	All calculations utilised Open Street Map network, built into Podaris (giving reflected walking/cycling times)
Walk Speed	4.8kph (effective allowance of 1hr travel time)
Cycle Speed	16kph (effective allowance of 1hr travel time)
Bus 'Arrival Time'	Tuesday, at: 08:00, 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00 (to ensure that limited bus services are captured within the research).
Allowance of 1hr travel time given.
Bus Transfer Limit	3 (i.e. allow to interchange 3 times)
Walk to/from and between bus stops	Max allowance is a total of 1,200m for walking to cover distance to/from the first and last bus stops, plus any required walking interchange
Wait Times	Timetable

Data & Analysis

Pre-Opening

Walk

Prior to the opening of Reston Railway Station, no households within a 3km boundary of the site were able to reach an existing railway station within 1 hour (assuming a walking speed of 4.8kph).

Cycle

Table 34 presents the number of households prior to the opening of Reston Railway Station able to reach an existing railway station by cycling. Assuming a cycling speed of 16kph, no households are within a 3km boundary of an existing railway station. However, two households were within a 54-60 minute cycle of an existing railway station.

Table 34: Households within cycle journey time catchment of existing railway station

Travel time upper band (minutes)	Distance	Households
0-6	~1.6	0
7-11	~2.9	0
12-18	~4.8	0
19-24	~6.4	0
25-30	~8.0	0
31-36	~9.6	0
37-42	~11.2	0
42-48	~12.8	0
49-54	~14.4	0
55-60	~16.0	2
Grand Total	2

Figure 71 demonstrates the current rail accessibility by cycling for census output areas within a 3km catchment of the railway station in Reston. The darker shades on this map indicate longer cycle times to reach an existing railway station. Lighter shades indicate a shorter cycle time to reach an existing railway station.

Bus

Table 35 presents the number of households prior to the opening of Reston Railway Station able to reach an existing railway station by bus. This is assuming a transfer limit of three, with a maximum walking access distance of 1.2km from the journey origin to the journey destination. There are no households within the 3km boundary of the present Reston Railway Station site within a 30 minute travel time by bus of an existing railway station. However, there are 117 households within a 60 minute travel time by bus of an existing railway station.

Table 35: Households within bus journey time catchment of existing railway station

Travel time upper band (minutes)	Households
0-6	0
7-12	0
13-18	0
19-24	0
25-30	0
31-36	0
37-42	0
43-48	59
49-54	42
55-60	16
Total	117

Figure 72 demonstrates the current rail accessibility by bus for census output areas within a 3km catchment of the railway station in Reston. The darker shades on this map indicate longer travel times by bus to reach an existing railway station. Lighter shades indicate a shorter travel time by bus to reach an existing railway station.

Public Transport (from Edinburgh)

Prior to the opening of Reston Railway Station, no households within a 3km boundary of the site were able to reach Edinburgh within one hour by public transport (assuming centre point of Waverley Steps near Edinburgh Waverley railway station).

Post-Opening

Walk

Table 36 presents the number of households post-opening of Reston Railway Station able to reach the site by walking. Assuming a walking speed of 4.8kph, 153 households are within a 38 minute walk of Reston railway station, assuming a 3km walk, with a further 56 within a 4.8km walk (60 minutes).

Table 36: Households within walk journey time catchment of Reston Railway Station

Travel time upper band (minutes)	Distance	Households
0-6	0.5	30
7-12	1.0	44
13-18	1.4	22
19-24	1.9	25
25-30	2.4	10
31-38	3.0	22
39-42	3.4	4
43-48	3.8	17
49-54	4.3	9
55-60	4.8	26
Total	209

Figure 73 demonstrates the current rail accessibility by walking for census output areas within a 3km catchment of the railway station in Reston. The darker shades on this map indicate longer travel times by walking to reach Reston Railway Station. Lighter shades indicate a shorter travel time by walking to reach Reston railway station.

Cycle

Table 37 presents the number of households able to reach Reston Railway Station by cycling, within a 3km catchment boundary. Assuming a cycling speed of 16kph, 146 households are able to reach the station within a 3km cycle, with an additional 114 households able to reach the station within up to 60 minutes cycle time.

Table 37: Households within cycle journey time catchment of Reston Railway Station

Travel time upper band (minutes)	Distance	Households
0-6	1.6	86
7-11	2.9	60
12-18	4.8	54
19-24	6.4	24
25-30	8.0	7
31-36	9.6	19
37-42	11.2	0
43-48	12.8	9
49-54	14.4	0
55-60	16.0	0
Total	260

Figure 74 demonstrates the current rail accessibility by cycling for census output areas within a 3km catchment of the railway station in Reston. The darker shades on this map indicate longer travel times by cycling to reach Reston Railway Station. Lighter shades indicate a shorter travel time by cycling to reach Reston Railway Station.

Bus

Table 38 presents the number of households able to reach Reston Railway Station by bus, within a 3km catchment boundary. Assuming a transfer limit of three (with a maximum walking access distance of 1.2km from the journey origin to the journey destination), 109 households are able to reach the state within a 30 minute journey time by bus, with an additional 6 if maximum journey time is increased to 60 minutes.

Table 38: Households within bus journey time catchment of Reston Railway Station

Travel time upper band (minutes)	Households
0-6	7
7-12	66
13-18	28
19-24	5
25-30	2
31-36	0
37-42	0
43-48	1
49-54	5
55-60	0
Total	115

Figure 75 demonstrates the current rail accessibility by using the bus for census output areas within a 3km catchment of the railway station in Reston. The darker shades on this map indicate longer travel times by bus to reach Reston Railway Station. Lighter shades indicate a shorter travel time by bus to reach Reston Railway Station.

Public Transport (from Edinburgh)

Table 39 presents the number of households able to reach Reston Railway Station from Edinburgh by public transport. Assuming a centre point in Edinburgh at the top of the Waverley Steps near Edinburgh Waverley railway station, no households can reach Reston Railway Station from this point within 30 minutes; however, extending the journey time to 60 minutes increases the number of households able to do so to 96.

Table 39: Households within public transport journey time catchment of Reston Railway Station from Edinburgh

Travel time upper band (minutes)	Households
0-6	0
7-12	0
13-18	0
19-24	0
25-30	0
31-36	0
37-42	0
43-48	9
49-54	48
55-60	40
Total	96

Figure 76 demonstrates the current accessibility by using public transport for census output areas within a 3km catchment of the railway station in Reston. The darker shades on this map indicate longer travel times by public transport to reach Reston Railway Station from Edinburgh. Lighter shades indicate a shorter travel time by public transport to reach Reston Railway Station from Edinburgh.

Rail Accessibility Summary

Three modes were considered within this analysis: walking, cycling and bus, with public transport to Edinburgh additionally included. Within the 3km catchment circle, prior to the station’s opening, no households by walking and two households by cycling were able to reach an existing railway station within 60 minutes (in this case, Berwick-Upon-Tweed). By bus, 117 households were able to reach an existing railway station, although journey times were towards the upper reaches of the 60-minute threshold. No households were able to reach Edinburgh by public transport within 60 minutes.

Following station opening, 209 households by walking (an increase of 209), 260 by cycling (an increase of 258) and 115 by bus (a decrease of two) were able to reach Reston railway station within a 60 minute journey. Additionally, 96 households were able to reach Edinburgh by public transport within 60 minutes (an increase of 96). Therefore, rail accessibility in Reston has improved significantly post-opening of the railway station, improving local, regional and national links to the area.

Socio‑economic Indicators

Introduction

Analysis of socio-economic data was undertaken to establish if the scheme has contributed to improvements in local economy and reductions in levels of deprivation within the station catchment area.

Changes in a range of socio-economic indicators have been reviewed for Reston across multiple spatial scales, from the smallest units (census output areas), through Data Zone level, to the largest scale (Local Authority level). This analysis has been undertaken consistently for both Reston and its counterfactual comparison location, Ancrum, both of which are located within the Scottish Borders Local Authority.

Methodology

The socio-economic indicators used within this analysis aimed to cover any changes in economic conditions and the labour market from the periods before and after opening of Reston railway station. The datasets that have been used are listed below, with the range of data available:

• Gross Value Added (GVA) – 2019 to 2023
• Department for Work and Pensions (November 2019 to November 2025)
  • Housing Benefit Claimants
  • Households on Universal Credit
• Labour Market Statistics
  • Economic Activity (October 2024 to September 2025)
  • Economic Inactivity (October 2024 to September 2025)
  • Employment by Occupation (October 2024 to September 2025)
  • Qualifications (January 2024 to December 2024)
  • Earnings by Place of Residence (2025)
  • Out of Work Benefits (January 2013 to January 2026)

Data & Analysis

Gross Value Added

Gross Value Added (GVA) is a measure that represents the value of goods and services produced in either an area, industry or sector of an economy. GVA is calculated by subtracting the value of intermediate consumption from the value of outputs, or in other words the value of goods and services produced minus the costs associated in the production of these goods and services.

GVA is a key component of GDP and is particularly useful when assessing economic performance of smaller, regional geographic units. GVA from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is measured at the Scottish data zone level in Scotland, for which the output for Reston is referred to as Reston and Coldingham Moor Area, which is shown in Figure 77. The equivalent output for the counterfactual location Ancrum is shown in Figure 78.

There is a high degree of uncertainty with these measures and ONS/NOMIS advise that caution is taken when making comparisons between data at granular level. This is because data at the lowest levels are more volatile than for larger aggregated geographies.

Table 40 below presents the changes in total GVA (pounds million) for Reston and counterfactual location Ancrum between 2019 and 2023. The data shows that GVA for the Reston and Coldingham Moor Area reduced by 2% whereas for Ancrum and Lanton Area, GVA increased by 48% between 2019 and 2023. Population growth in both areas has remained stable with less than 1% change.

Table 40: GVA for Reston and Ancrum

Total GVA, pounds million	2019	2023	% Change 2019-2023
Reston and Coldingham Moor Area	11.403	11.136	-2%
Ancrum and Lanton Area	15.755	23.343	48%

The comparison suggests that over the period considered, the introduction of the new railway station in Reston has not resulted in an observable increase in local GVA. Overall, while the comparison does not indicate a relative improvement in GVA performance for Reston over the period, the results should be interpreted with caution. Differences may reflect wider economic conditions, localised factors, and the early stage in the scheme’s lifecycle, rather than the absence of any impact from the new railway station. As both of these are predominantly rural Scottish Borders communities, the GVA of these areas may be tied to farming. Unpredictable swings in commodity prices (like livestock and crop values) can heavily skew local economic metrics which may be occurring here. A sharp increase in GVA within Ancrum may also be as a result of delayed COVID-19 post-pandemic recovery locally.

Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provide statistics relating to a number of different benefits, with access to these datasets available through the Stat-Xplore platform. However, much of the benefits data is only available at larger output areas (local authority or national level), with only two relevant statistics being available at the local level (census output area) which were Housing Benefit Claimants and Households on Universal Credit. The geographic locations of the census output areas are shown below in Figure 79 and Figure 80 for Reston and Ancrum respectively.

Housing Benefit Claimants

Housing benefit is a benefit designed to help claimants pay rent (whether in full or part) if they are on a low income and can be claimed by people who are unemployed or working. Table 41 and Table 42 show the number of housing benefit claimants for Reston and Ancrum respectively. Note that the ‘Total’ row may not sum the census output areas due to disclosure control applied by the DWP to ensure confidentiality.

Across both Reston and Ancrum, the number of individuals claiming housing benefits decreased significantly between November 2019 and November 2025, by 64% for Ancrum and 72% for Reston.

Table 41: Housing benefit claimants for Reston from November 2019 to November 2025

Reston	201911 (Nov-19)	202011 (Nov-20)	202111 (Nov-21)	202211 (Nov-22)	202311 (Nov-23)	202411 (Nov-24)	202511 (Nov-25)
S00173721	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S00173724	5	5	5	6	6	N/A	N/A
S00173725	8	13	10	11	7	5	5
S00173726	7	7	7	7	5	6	N/A
S00173730	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	25	26	19	20	17	14	7

Table 42: Housing benefit claimants for Ancrum from November 2019 to November 2025 (bold indicates census output areas within settlement of Ancrum)

Ancrum	201911 (Nov-19)	202011 (Nov-20)	202111 (Nov-21)	202211 (Nov-22)	202311 (Nov-23)	202411 (Nov-24)	202511 (Nov-25)
S00174471	7	7	5	7	7	7	5
S00174473	5	5	6	5	5	N/A	N/A
S00174474	12	8	9	12	5	10	N/A
S00174475	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S00174460	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S00174463	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S00174476	6	6	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
S00174484	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	28	30	25	25	19	23	10

Households on Universal Credit

Households on Universal Credit is defined as the number of households which have an assessment period that spans the count date, which is the second Thursday of the month. In order for a household to counted in these statistics, there must be an assessment that passes this count date. Table 43 and Table 44 show the number of households claiming Universal Credit in Reston and Ancrum respectively. Note that, similar to the housing benefit claimant statistics, the ‘Total’ row may not sum the census output areas due to disclosure control applied by the DWP to ensure confidentiality.

Across both Reston and Ancrum, the number of households claiming Universal Credit increased; from 11 to 45 for Reston (representing a 76% increase) and from 10 to 45 for Ancrum (representing a 78% increase). The observed decline in the number of individuals claiming housing benefits, alongside a marked increase in households claiming Universal Credit is likely to reflect the ongoing transition from legacy benefits to Universal Credit rather than a fundamental change in underlying levels of deprivation. These changes are consistent across both Reston and Ancrum and therefore cannot be attributed to the scheme.

Table 43: Number of households claiming Universal Credit in Reston

Reston	201911 (Nov-19)	202011 (Nov-20)	202111 (Nov-21)	202211 (Nov-22)	202311 (Nov-23)	202411 (Nov-24)	202511 (Nov-25)
S00173721	N/A	6	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5
S00173724	N/A	5	5	6	7	5	13
S00173725	7	6	7	N/A	6	8	8
S00173726	6	N/A	5	7	7	6	13
S00173730	N/A	5	N/A	N/A	5	9	8
Total	11	26	16	21	20	23	45

Table 44: Number of households claiming Universal Credit in Ancrum

Ancrum	201911 (Nov-19)	202011 (Nov-20)	202111 (Nov-21)	202211 (Nov-22)	202311 (Nov-23)	202411 (Nov-24)	202511 (Nov-25)
S00174471	N/A	N/A	N/A	6	5	6	9
S00174473	N/A	N/A	6	N/A	6	5	7
S00174474	N/A	6	7	6	6	5	9
S00174475	N/A	6	6	N/A	5	8	6
S00174460	N/A	5	N/A	N/A	8	6	5
S00174463	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	6	6
S00174476	N/A	6	N/A	5	5	8	N/A
S00174484	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	10	23	20	22	32	41	45

Labour and Market Statistics

The labour and market statistics cover the Scottish Borders Local Authority (representing both Reston and Ancrum), with data not being available at the census output area level or the DataZone level. Due to the nature of this scheme, changes at a local authority level are not expected as a result of the reopening of Reston Railway Station.

Economic Activity

Table 45 shows the economic activity for the Scottish Borders. For the Scottish Borders, 78.3% of people were considered economically active, which is higher than the Scotland average (77.3%) but lower than Great Britain (79.0%).

Table 45: Economic Activity for Scottish Borders (October 2024 to September 2025)

Gender	Economic activity	Scottish Borders (Numbers)	Scottish Borders (%)	Scotland (%)	Great Britain (%)
All people	Economically active†	55,000	78.3	77.3	79
All people	In employment†	53,700	76.5	74.4	75.6
All people	Employees†	44,200	64.1	66.3	65.8
All people	Self-employed†	9,300	12.4	7.7	9.5
All people	Unemployed§	#	#	3.7	4.3
Males	Economically active†	30,100	81.1	80.6	82.4
Males	In employment†	28,900	77.9	77.1	78.6
Males	Employees†	23,800	66	67	66.1
Males	Self-employed†	4,900	11.9	9.7	12.2
Males	Unemployed§	#	#	4.2	4.5
Females	Economically active†	25,000	75.3	74.1	75.7
Females	In employment†	24,800	74.8	71.7	72.5
Females	Employees†	20,400	61.9	65.6	65.4
Females	Self-employed†	4,400	12.9	5.9	6.8
Females	Unemployed§	!	!	3.2	4.1

# Sample size too small for reliable estimate; § - numbers and % are for those aged 16 and over. % is a proportion of economically active; † - numbers are for those aged 16 and over, % are for those aged 16-64; ! - Estimate is not available since sample size is disclosive

Economic Inactivity

Economic inactivity measures people who have not worked within the previous four weeks and/or are unable to start work within the next two weeks. This could include people who are caring for their family or people who have retired. Table 46 shows the number of those residing in Scottish Borders who are classified as economically inactive. Overall, Scottish Borders has a lower number of economically inactive residents (14,500) compared to Scotland, but a higher total than Great Britain.

Table 46: Economically Inactive Residents

Type	Scottish Borders (level)	Scottish Borders (%)	Scotland (%)	Great Britain (%)
Total	14,500	21.7	22.7	21
Student	3,700	25.8	23.4	26.5
Looking After Family/Home	2,300	15.8	15.6	18.2
Temporary Sick	#	#	2.6	2.2
Long-Term Sick	3,000	20.8	33.8	27.8
Discouraged	!	!	#	0.3
Retired	2,900	20.3	15.5	13
Other	#	#	8.8	11.9
Wants A Job	3,900	26.8	18.1	20.5
Does Not Want A Job	10,600	73.2	81.9	79.5

# Sample size too small for reliable estimate; ! Estimate is not available since sample size is disclosive

Qualifications

Qualifications data was most recently available from January 2024 to December 2024 and is presented below within Table 47. RQF1 is equivalent to a National 4 qualification in Scotland, and a GCSE grade 1, 2 or 3 in England. RQF4 is equivalent to a HNC at both levels. Overall, Scottish Borders is slightly lower than Scotland for those with an RQF4 qualification and above, but higher than Scotland for RQF1 & 2.

Table 47: Qualifications (January 2024 to December 2024)

Qualification	Scottish Borders (level)	Scottish Borders (%)	Scotland (%)	Great Britain (%)
RQF4 and Above	33,900	49.8	53.7	47.2
RQF3 and Above	47,300	69.4	71.9	67.6
RQF2 and Above	59,700	87.6	87.1	86.5
RQF1 and Above	60,800	89.2	88.2	88.9
Other Qualifications	3,100	4.6	3.5	4.3
No Qualifications	4,300	6.3	8.2	6.8

Earnings by Place of Residence

The median earnings in pounds for employees within the Scottish Borders, who are on adults rates of pay and whose pay is not affected by absence, is shown below in Table 48. The Scottish Borders Local Authority has a lower gross weekly pay than Scotland (£775.6) and Great Britain (£766.6), at £707.7.

Table 48: Earnings by Place of Residence (2025)

Pay	Type	Scottish Borders (Pounds)	Scotland (Pounds)	Great Britain Pounds)
Gross Weekly Pay	Full-Time Workers	707.7	775.6	766.6
Gross Weekly Pay	Male Full-Time Workers	732.9	812.8	818.7
Gross Weekly Pay	Female Full-Time Workers	679.6	726.1	710.8
Hourly Pay - Excluding Overtime	Full-Time Workers	17.66	20.23	19.74
Hourly Pay - Excluding Overtime	Male Full-Time Workers	16.62	20.5	20.39
Hourly Pay - Excluding Overtime	Female Full-Time Workers	19.03	19.76	18.94

Out of Work Benefits

The Claimant Count is a dataset that measures the number of people who are claiming benefits primarily for unemployment. This is measured through a composite of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and those claiming Universal Credit who are required to find work in order to qualify for their benefits. Figure 81 and Table 49 show the percentage of claimants for the Scottish Borders Local Authority, which is similar to national trends but at a slightly lower level.

Table 49: Claimant Count Aged 16+ (February 2026)

Scottish Borders (level)	Scottish Borders (%)	Scotland (%)	Great Britain (%)
Aged 16+	1,965	2.9	3.1	4
Aged 16 to 17	15	0.6	0.6	0.2
Aged 18 to 24	375	5.2	4.4	5.7
Aged 18 to 21	225	5.2	4.8	6.2
Aged 25 to 49	1,055	3.6	3.6	4.4
Aged 50+	515	1.9	2	2.9

Overall, the available socio-economic evidence does not provide a clear or consistent indication that the opening of the station in 2022 has had a sizeable positive impact on the local economy or materially reduced levels of deprivation within the catchment area. While some indicators show changes over the study period, these trends are generally comparable with those observed in the counterfactual area and are likely influenced by wider economic conditions, structural changes (e.g. welfare system reforms), and localised factors unrelated to the scheme. Additionally, the relatively short period since the station’s opening means that any longer-term impacts may not yet be fully reflected in the data.

Planning & Land‑Use Indicators

Introduction

Residential and commercial planning data has been used to evaluate the economic impact of the new Railway station at Reston. The rail station has the potential to provide greater connectivity to employment and services for the area of Reston which has the potential to attract greater development opportunities from a residential and commercial perspective. Planning applications throughout station development and delivery have been analysed to understand what degree of growth has been encountered locally.

Methodology

Planning data has been analysed representing the full project lifecycle from concept through to delivery. In the absence of data from Scottish Borders Council, data from the public domain has been relied upon for this analysis. This includes planning applications published on the Scottish Borders Council planning portal and developments detailed within the Scottish Borders Council Delivery Programme (2024).

Residential Development

Five sizeable residential development sites are planned in close proximity to Reston Railway Station. These are detailed within Table 50 below.

Table 50: Residential Developments

Development	Reference	Description	Status
Redevelopment of Braeheads Farm, Reston (TD14 5LD)	25/01364/FUL	The plan is to construct 45 dwelling houses with associated access, landscaping and infrastructure.	The site is currently an allocated housing site under the local development plan.
Auction Mart (Site to south of Main Street, near Reston Railway Station)	08/01531/FUL / LDP Site MREST001	Proposed erection of 111 dwelling houses on site to south of Main Street, near Reston Railway Station.	There has been no update to the planning portal since 20 Feb 2015. 2021 report stated that it was approved, subject to resolution of various outstanding issues/upon conclusion of legal agreement.
Reston Long Term 2	LDP Site AREST004	Proposed 38 dwellings	A planning brief has been produced for the site. The site is included within the SHIP (2025/2030). No further update.
West Reston	LDP Site BR5	Proposed 20 dwellings	The site is included within the SHIP / (2025-2030). No further update.
Rear of Primary School	LDP Site BR6	Proposed 16 dwellings	Recent completion of 5 units along the northern boundary of the site (17/01555/FUL). The site is included within the SHIP (2025-2030). No further update on the remainder of the site.

It is proposed that an overall Masterplan for Reston will be undertaken, incorporating the housing and mixed-use allocations. This is not yet in the public domain or has been made available by Scottish Borders Council.

Business Development

Very little business/commercial development is proposed in close proximity to Reston Railway Station. Table 51 presents the only commercial development that can be found within the Scottish Borders planning portal which was submitted in 2026.

Table 51: Business Developments

Development	Reference	Description	Status
Warehouse A J B Spence And Son Bridgend Reston Eyemouth Scottish Borders TD14 5JU	26/00384/FUL	Erection of a storage warehouse for business - Spence A J B & Son Ltd.	Registered

Whilst planning for residential and business development cannot be directly attributed as a result of the station opening, planned economic growth within close proximity to Reston Railway Station is apparent (particularly from a residential perspective). The station provides improved connectivity and makes Reston more favourable for relocating or setting up businesses.

Supplementary Modal Data

Traffic Data

Available traffic data in the vicinity of Reston Railway Station is limited to the A1 corridor between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. Figure 82 shows that traffic levels, based on counts recorded between Reston and Berwick-upon-Tweed, show a consistent upward trend over recent years and had already exceeded 2019 baseline levels by 2022.

By 2025, traffic volumes increased further, with the AM peak showing an uplift of up to 20% compared to 2019 levels. In contrast, the PM peak experienced more moderate growth, with traffic volumes rising by approximately 5–10%.

Highway Journey Times Data

Highway journey time data is important in the context of comparison with the public transport. Data was obtained from TomTom database and covered two bi-directional routes Reston to Edinburgh and Reston to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Both routes use A1, and their endpoints are in the vicinity of the rail stations:

• Edinburgh – Waterloo Place
• Berwick-upon-Tweed – Marygate
• Reston – Main St./Forrest Rd. roundabout.

Data was obtained for the following:

• Time periods: AM peak (8-9), Inter-peak (12-13), PM peak (17-18),
• Month, years: October 2019, 2022, and 2025,
• Days: Tuesday-Thursday, Monday-Friday, weekends

Figures 83, 84 and 85 show that the results for all time periods confirm that journey time remained on similar level. Most significant change occurred between Reston and Edinburgh, where journey time increased slightly by up to 5 minutes between 2019 and 2025.

Road Collision Data

A review of recorded collision data in Reston indicates that the introduction of the new rail station has not resulted in any observable increase in road traffic collisions or incidents involving non‑motorised users, including pedestrians and cyclists, in the vicinity of the station, which could be attributed to its opening. There is an increase on the A1, which as shown in the Traffic Data section, sees significant increases in traffic. However, this is based on a very small number of collisions.

Public Transport Data

Google data has been used to assess public transport journey times from Reston to key destinations including Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The FBC for the station observed that long bus journey times from East Berwickshire to Edinburgh are compounded by a low frequency of journeys and short operating day. At baseline stage, this prevented residents from using public transport to commute for employment or education or partake in evening leisure activities in Edinburgh.

At baseline stage, it was forecast that the introduction of Reston Railway Station would lead to significant journey time enhancements. Prior to the station opening, the typical off-peak bus journey time between Reston and Berwick-upon-Tweed rail station was 32 minutes, illustrating the long travel times incurred when accessing the rail network through existing stations at that time.

Typical off-peak travel time from Reston to Edinburgh by bus was 103 minutes, and at peak times 111 minutes by bus at the time of writing the FBC.

At FBC stage this analysis was further validated by the ‘Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) Initial Appraisal: Case for Change Edinburgh and South East Scotland Region’, published in February 2020, which examined journey times across the region and found similar evidence of long journey times. At around 100 minutes, journey times from East Berwickshire to Edinburgh by public transport are significantly longer than other parts of the South East Scotland region when compared to typical travel to work journey times by public transport of less than 45 minutes in Edinburgh, Fife, West Lothian and Midlothian. All residents in Edinburgh were able to access employment within 45 minutes by bus and rail, compared to 62% in Scottish Borders.

Figure 88 presents the current bus and rail journey times to Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed as of March 2026. These results have been captured over a period of five working days from 16/03/2026 to 20/03/2026. This demonstrates a substantial disparity between bus and rail journey times. For journeys from Reston to Edinburgh, rail travel takes approximately 48 minutes compared to over 2 hours by bus. Similarly, for short distance journeys to Berwick-upon-Tweed, rail takes 23 minutes compared to 43 minutes by bus. This demonstrates that significant journey time savings have been achieved for residents seeking to travel from Reston to key destinations by public transport by improving access to the rail network.

Active Travel Data

At this stage of the evaluation, limited evidence is available to support an assessment of active travel trends within the study area. No walking, wheeling or cycling count data has been identified in close proximity to Reston Railway Station, restricting the ability to undertake a robust before-and-after comparison.

Attempts to supplement this through external sources were also unsuccessful, with Cycling Scotland unable to provide relevant datasets for the scheme area.

As a result, no meaningful conclusions can be drawn at this stage regarding changes in active travel behaviour associated with the station’s reopening; other than data collected as part of the primary surveys regarding station access modes and preferred modes for commuting and leisure travel. This represents a data gap at this stage of evaluation.