With a new rail connection opening up a world of possibilities for locals and visitors, Robin McKelvie discovers Leven is enjoying the start of an energised and overdue renaissance "Leven has been disconnected for too long,” explains Ross Bennett, Treasurer of the successful Levenmouth Rail Campaign, as we peer out over Leven’s new railway station. “It’s been a long, tough journey, but now it’s a delight to see trains running again to Leven. The arrival of regular passenger trains in June has already given a massive boost to Levenmouth, the wider area that has struggled since the 1980s.
” The 1980s and the aftermath of Thatcherite economics on the once mighty local collieries still hang heavy in the air in Leven; Methil and Buckhaven too. This contiguous urban trio has struggled with deprivation, unemployment, and a population triangle inverted, as Levenmouth’s young have sought a future elsewhere. There is no understating the effect of a new six mile train line that brings Edinburgh within easy commuting distance.
The Levenmouth Rail Link will also bring visitors. And you should come. Standing on the platform the whiff of salty sea fills the air alongside squawking gulls.
Bass Rock and North Berwick Law brood across the Forth. It’s a dramatic scene but I walk a further five minutes to the famed beach – once wildly popular with Glaswegian holidaymakers before the advent of cheap jet travel spirited them off to the Costas – to appreciate the full drama . .
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