Annual Lecture 2023

STAPT welcomes Neale Elder, mobile operations manager at Network Rail and a member of the Dundee Civic Trust, to present the Annual Lecture for 2023

When the railways began to appear in north-east Fife in the 1840s, the national system was already in a state of rapid expansion. Although isolated by the great sea firths on either side, it would not be long before the strategic importance of the new main line between Burntisland and Tayport was realised.

Neale will talk about the development of the system from its origins as the Edinburgh & Northern Railway, with the critical involvement of Thomas Bouch who developed the revolutionary train ferries long before his reputation was ruined by the Tay Bridge Disaster. He will then look at the appearance of the branch lines serving St Andrews, Newport and the East Neuk, followed by the consolidation of the main line as part of the East Coast route to Aberdeen, before the contraction of the 1950s and 1960s. The talk will end with a look at the events of the last 30 years since the breakup of British Rail, considering what the future may now hold.

The Annual Lecture will be held on Wednesday, 22nd November at 7pm in the St Andrews Bowling Club (1 Pipeland Road, St Andrews). Wine and non-alcoholic refreshments will be provided.