At a meeting of the East Ayrshire full council last week, Ballochmyle Councillor Jim Roberts said that his constituency needs a quality road but is competing for funding against such projects as the A9 Perth to Inverness road.

But he added that a new rail link at Mauchline would alleviate some of the problems on the A76 Kilmarnock to Dumfries route.

Referring to the rail service, Councillor Eric Ross said the council missed an opportunity to improve the frequency of trains when the present franchise agreement was reached, to change the present hourly service to Glasgow in line with the half-hourly one which runs from Kilmarnock.

Councillor Douglas Reid revealed that he has a meeting in the near future with MSP Derek Mackay, Minister for Transport, and he hopes for a ‘positive response’ from him in respect of the A76 corridor.

Stewart Turner, head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance said: “A new company, Abellio, takes over the running of the service at the end of March, and this is an opportunity to state our case for an improvement on the line, with several more trains each day.

“It is also a chance for East Ayrshire Council to promote the redevelopment of Mauchline Station, while a five-point action plan for the A76 will result in improvements to the busy trunk road.

Mauchline station was originally part of the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway, and was opened in 1848, renamed Mauchline for Catrine by 1887, and then back to Mauchline in 1903, but closed to passengers in December 1965, as did Cumnock.

Auchinleck Station was also closed by the British Railways Board, but reopened in May 1984, while New Cumnock which suffered the same fate was up and running again by 1991.

Kirkconnel survived the cuts and was the only intermediate station between Dumfries and Kilmarnock for many years.