page_title: Levenmouth rail link
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Levenmouth rail link / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Railway Children The view from the roadbridge over the railway line, which served the power station and the docks.
context_page_description: The Levenmouth rail link is a planned scheme to re-open 5 miles of railway line in Fife, Scotland. The link will connect the town of Leven and other settlements in the Levenmouth conurbation with Thornton, and will join the Fife Circle Line at Thornton North Junction. The line is being promoted by Fife Council and the South East Scotland Transport Partnership. The plan was approved by the Scottish Government on 8 August 2019.
context_section_description: The line first opened as the Leven Railway on 3 July 1854 after receiving parliamentary authorisation in 1852. The line served stations at Cameron Bridge and Leven. The East of Fife Railway merged with the Leven Railway in 1861, forming the Leven and East of Fife Railway. The station at Leven was moved to a new site in 1885, and in 1909 the line was doubled. Freight east of Leven ceased in 1966, bringing a closure of the line up to St Andrews. Passenger services on the line to Leven ceased in 1969, and in 1972, the remainder of the line to the Kirkland yard at Leven was converted to single track.
  The route remained open as a freight only line to serve the Cameronbridge distillery, Kirkland yard and Methil power station, the terminus of the line. Carbon dioxide produced by the distillery at Cameronbridge was carried by rail, whilst coal slurry from collieries around Fife was delivered to Methil power station using the line. The last services ran on the line in 2001, at the time Methil power station was mothballed. The line was unused entirely until 2011, when one mile of the route was reopened to serve a loading point for the opencast coal mine at Earlseat. Freight services ran on this section of track between 2012 and 2015.
caption: Methil power station (now demolished) with the disused railway in the foreground
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