"It's become a part of Borders life': Five years since first passengers travelled on Borders Railway

Today marks five years since the Borders Railway was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen.

The £294 million pound line, connecting Tweedbank to Edinburgh, was the longest domestic line to be built in the UK in a century.

It was officially opened by the Queen on 9th September 2015 - which was also the day she became Britain's longest serving monarch.

The old Waverley Line through the region shut in 1969 as part of the Beeching cuts, which left the whole of the Scottish Borders without any rail service.

The first train from platform one on the Borders Rail line for more than 46 years left Tweedbank at 08:45 - but hundreds had been queuing for hours before - some as early as 05:00.

In its first month its demand surpassed expectations and more than 125,000 passenger journeys were made. And millions more have been made since.

Since the reopening of the 31-mile line, there has been an active campaign to have the service extended on to Hawick, Newcastleton, and Carlisle.

This month, a feasibility study for an extension on Carlisle will begin. It's been commissioned as part of the multi-million pound Borderlands Growth Deal.