The Royal Border Bridge is Robert Stephenson's masterpiece of railway engineering, a 28-arch viaduct spanning the River Tweed that carries the East Coast Main Line into Berwick station. Built between 1847 and 1850, it rises to 38 metres above the river and stretches nearly 660 metres in length. The sight of a high-speed train crossing this elegant Victorian structure above the wide estuary is one of the most photogenic sights in northern England.
The best viewing point is from the old road bridge or from the riverside below. The bridge is still in regular use as part of the main London to Edinburgh rail line, carrying around 100 trains per day. Two other bridges span the Tweed at Berwick: the seventeenth-century Old Bridge, which carried road traffic for three centuries before being superseded, and the modern Berwick Bridge, which now takes the A1. Walking across the Old Bridge — on foot only — gives a good view of all three spans.