in November 2012 with BAM Nuttall appointed the following month as the main contractor. Tracklaying was completed in February 2015 and services commenced on 6 September 2015. Reopening the line as far as Carlisle has not been ruled out by the Scottish Government, although campaigners have raised doubts over the infrastructure capability of the new line amid concerns that it may make future expansion difficult. Railway preservation societies Waverley Route Heritage Association By 2002, the voluntary Waverley Route Heritage Association (WRHA) had obtained a lease from Forest Enterprise and laid a short section of track at Whitrope Siding, south of Hawick. The Association's intention is to create a heritage railway between Whitrope and Riccarton which is generally aimed at the tourist market. A heritage centre and two-coach platform has been constructed on the site of Whitrope Siding, which never previously had a platform, although it was an unofficial stopping place and access was via a stepladder in the guard's brake van. Just north of Whitrope Siding is Whitrope Summit and Whitrope Tunnel; the WRHA has extended its running line for about to the south portal of the tunnel. Track was also laid at Riccarton Junction but this has subsequently been lifted. The WRHA's first locomotive, Fowler 0-6-0DM diesel shunter no. 4240015, arrived on 9 December 2009, having previously been based at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station and the Rutland Railway Museum. On 18 July 2010, the heritage centre was officially opened by the local Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore in the company of veteran campaigner Madge Elliot who led the campaign to save the Waverley Route in the late 1960s. To mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Waverley Route on 1 July 2012, Whitrope Siding saw its first passenger train since the line's closure in 1969. Friends of Riccarton Junction In 1997, the Friends of Riccarton Junction, a railway preservation society, was set up with the objective of restoring as much as possible of Riccarton Junction station. A lease was taken from the Forestry Commission of the former generator house, a platform and the surrounding area. A small museum was set up in the generator house, more than of track at the station was laid and the station house and platform with its red telephone box were restored. Open days were held in August 2004 and October 2005. Following disputes with the