Rail lines are being reopened

Opponents in the village of Clackmannan believe the route would be dangerous and affect their property prices.

However, a Holyrood committee backed the general principles of Scotland's first post-devolution private bill to build a railway.

They called for the bill to progress to the next stage, when the objections will be considered in more detail.

Transport accessibility

A Scottish Parliament report from the committee set up to scrutinise the bill said the proposal "could be a major boost to the development of the local economy".

Labour MSP Bill Butler, convener of the committee, said: "During the course of our scrutiny of the bill, the committee was made aware that Clackmannanshire, whilst being located in the central belt, suffers from relatively poor strategic transport accessibility.

"The railway proposal in the bill could help to address this."

The Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway and Linked Improvements Bill is being promoted by Clackmannanshire council, seeking statutory authority to construct a 15-mile railway along the former rail route between Stirling and Kincardine via Alloa.

New stations

Meanwhile, work on reopening the Larkhall railway line in South Lanarkshire is set to get under way in the new year, it has been announced.

The Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive (SPT) said the project will begin in February.

The scheme includes a three-mile track from Hamilton to Larkhall, along with a line joining Anniesland and Maryhill in the north west of Glasgow.

Four new stations will also be opened at Larkhall, Merryton, Chatelherault and Dawsholm.

The Scottish Executive will provide �25m of the project's �35m cost.

SPT will contribute �9.1m, with �400,000 coming from South Lanarkshire Council.

The aim is to establish a half-hourly service from October 2005.