page_title: Fife Coast Railway
section_title: The Anstruther and St Andrews Railway authorised
hierarchical_section_title: Fife Coast Railway / History / The Anstruther and St Andrews Railway authorised
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the railways of the Fife Coast, Scotland, in 1887
context_page_description: The Fife Coast Railway was a railway line running round the southern and eastern part of Fife, in Scotland. It was built in stages by four railway companies:
  the Leven Railway opened the section from a junction at Thornton on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway main line to Leven in 1854, serving textile mills and a distillery. In 1857 the company extended eastwards to Kilconquhar;
  the East of Fife Railway built the line from Leven to Kilconquhar, opening in 1857;
  the Leven and East of Fife Railway was created in 1861 by an amalgamation of the first two companies. It opened the line to Anstruther in 1863;
  finally the Anstruther and St Andrews Railway completed the line from Anstruther to St Andrews in 1887.
  St Andrews itself had already been reached from Leuchars in 1852 by The St. Andrews Railway.
  As well as the textile industries, the line served fishing and agriculture, and an important passenger traffic built up. The lines had been engineered by Thomas Bouch and some difficulties were experienced with inadequately specified technical equipment.
context_section_description: Anstruther had been reached by a railway in 1863, and St Andrews, 8 miles away, had been on the railway system since 1852: but the short gap in the railway network between the two important towns, with fertile agricultural land in between, demanded a connecting link. In February 1864 this was proposed in the press, and a survey was carried out. In September 1864 a prospectus was issued, but there were mixed feelings locally about the profitability of the line, and after several meetings, it was announced in December 1866 that the scheme would be deferred for the time being. A further unsuccessful attempt to get a proposal activated took place in 1874, and in 1877 there was what seemed to be a better outcome, when on 24 August 1877 a meeting at Crail attracted considerable support, including subscriptions for shares. Yet in August 1878 it was announced that "the prospect of the line being shortly proceeded with is now bright", implying that not enough subscriptions had been taken
  By this time (actually in 1877) the North British Railway had taken over both the St Andrews Railway (from Leuchars) and the Leven and East of Fife Railway.
  In February 1880 after a considerable controversy over the route of the line, and particularly the location of the St Andrews station and whether the line should link up with the St Andrews Railway there, the matter seemed to be settled. A working agreement with the North British Railway was negotiated (giving them 50% of gross receipts), and the matter went to Parliament. The Anstruther and St Andrews Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 26 August 1880. The share capital was to be £57,000; a new through station was required at Anstruther, and there would be a terminus at St Andrews in the Argyle district.
  A contract was let on 7 January 1881 to John Coghill and Sons in the amount of £37,698 exclusive of permanent way, a lower price than expected. At first the works proceeded as expected, but the following year it was obvious that Coghill and Sons had over-reached themselves and were bankrupt in August 1882. The Company resolved to continue the works themselves.
  In November 1882 it was announced that a railway connecting the Anstruther line and the St Andrews Railway at St Andrews was to be built. The North British Railway was to fund the work, which would include providing a new through station, and it would get free use of the new Joint station. This was authorised by Parliament on 16 July 1883.
caption: Fife Coast railways in 1887
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