Written by Ross Chalmers
THE CITY of Edinburgh Council is locked in negotiations with Network Rail over the purchase of the former Meadowbank-Powderhall railway line, with the SNP Government pledged to support the project.
Campaigners are pushing for the council to buy part of the line, which runs from Lochend Park in Leith to St Mark’s Park in the north of the city, and convert it into a flagship new walking and cycling path.
The line has been described as the “missing link” between East Edinburgh and the North Edinburgh Path Network – a complex network of almost 12 miles of paths around Newhaven, Granton and Inverleith.
Although there have for years been concerted efforts to purchase the route and begin the conversion, the process has stalled around the “number and condition of the structures along the route”, despite the line sitting vacant.
This is according to a Freedom of Information request submitted by campaigner Andy Arthur last week, and a statement from Network Rail, confirming that negotiations with the council are ongoing.
Complicating the sale is a long-term lease understood to be held by a German cargo company on part of the line, despite a willingness from Network Rail to sell.
DB Cargo used to run trains on the line to deliver waste to the old Powderhall Waste Transfer Station for the council, but it exhausted its commercial usefulness with the closure of the transfer station in 2016.
Ten years after the line’s closure, the SNP made support for the conversion a manifesto pledge during this year’s Holyrood election, and political momentum has gathered behind the project.
The issue came up at a meeting of the full City of Edinburgh Council last month, when Greens Councillor Chas Booth tabled a cross-party motion with Lib Dem, Jack Caldwell to bring the issue back up the agenda.
The council will now write to The Scottish Government after the council approved a motion to ask them to come up with the cash to fund part of the project and assist in negotiations.
Councillor Caldwell said: “A green corridor between Powderhall and Abbeyhill is essential both for our communities and improving walking, wheeling, and cycling connections across North East Edinburgh – a missing link in the network.
“The near-decade of delays has been frustrating, especially compared to how easily the rest of the North Edinburgh Path Network was transferred to the Council and opened to the public in the 1980s.
“On the Council, the Lib Dems have consistently pushed for safety improvements and biodiversity protection on the current path network, so that’s something I’d be keen to see embedded into any new plans from the start here.
“But there has been real grassroots and cross-party support to get this moving so I’m hopeful SNP, Labour, Green, Lib Dems, and Conservatives can continue to work constructively and pursue this for the city.”
The cost listed at the council for the project, based on a Jacobs feasibility study from 2023, is £4.7m. Although it is thought that the full amount could be significantly higher because of inflation and the cost of landscaping and placemaking, which are not included in this total.
The SNP, in their manifesto, pledged to “support efforts to bring the former Powderhall railway line into use as a new walking and cycling route in the capital”.
This pledge is thought to have significantly bumped the project, which – according to one source – is not high on the council’s list of priorities, up the agenda.
SNP MSP for Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith, Ben Macpherson, has thrown his backing behind the proposed path.
He told The National last month: “I’m very supportive of converting the Powderhall railway path into a new active travel route, and know many of my constituents are too.
“I look forward to working with all the bodies involved to make this happen sooner rather than later.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson, however, was cagier about the assistance they could offer: “We recognise the potential benefits that the former Powderhall railway line could bring to active travel connectivity in Edinburgh.
“We welcome the ongoing discussions between the City of Edinburgh Council and Network Rail and will continue to engage with relevant partners and stakeholders where and when appropriate to support the development of active travel projects.”
The drive to convert the railway line has been reinvigorated by active travel campaigners Andy Arthur and Chris Hill, who picked up the mantle from previous cycle path proponents.
During an Edinburgh Critical Mass ride last month, Mr Arthur stopped in St Mark’s Park – where the line terminates – and delivered a speech about the campaign:
“There is another bit of path hidden over there, behind some fences that has some tracks on it that hasn’t had a train in 10 years, and the depot that it served was demolished seven years ago.
“Before that closed [in 2016], we were in discussions with the council and anyone who would listen about ‘why can’t we connect this on to the rest of the path over there?’.
“Wind the clock forward at least 12 years, and my son’s 11. We were talking about it before he was born, we’re still talking about it now.
“Not one centimetre of path has been built; they have spent hundreds or thousands of pounds – or more – on reports, on consultations.
“The council doesn’t understand what Network Rail understands. Network Rail doesn’t understand what the council understands.”
The pair set up the Powderhall.Link website to “encourage a future for the former railway line to Powderhall”, and timed the FOI disclosure and the renewal of the campaign to mark the 40th anniversary of the completion of a section of the North Edinburgh Paths at Pilton
The Pilton Path was reclaimed from the trackbed of an old railway by a grassroots “slightly anarchic” team of volunteers in under a week.
Mr Arthur’s FOI request confirmed that DB Cargo retains a depot lease on part of the line, and that no trains are expected to run in the near future. They also confirmed that it is “anticipated that the full branch would be sold.”
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We’re continuing to work with Edinburgh City Council as it explores the potential purchase of the former Powderhall railway line for active travel use.
“Discussions are ongoing in relation to the number and condition of the structures along the route and to agree a way forward. We’ll continue to engage with the Council as it considers the future of the line.”
In a statement, Transport and Environment Convener at The City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, said:
“We’re currently in discussion with Network Rail, who own the land in question, to see what potential future use could look like.
“We’re committed to enhancing active travel provision and accessibility across the wider city.”
Ross Chalmers is a journalist focusing on local Edinburgh news, transport, the environment, the arts, and housing.
He graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in journalism in Summer 2025 and began working at Deadline News as a reporter in August.
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