Rail enthusiasts from across Europe yesterday descended on Scotland to travel between Alloa and Stirling for the first time in more than 40 years.

Nearly 1000 people snapped up tickets for three sell-out commemorative trips, from Alloa behind a historic steam engine with the return from Stirling hauled by a preserved diesel locomotive.

The excursions marked the formal opening yesterday of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway, which will see passenger trains between Glasgow and Alloa from Monday and coal trains to Longannet Power Station rerouted on to the new line, which will free up the Forth Bridge for extra passenger services.

Schoolchildren, residents, councillors and other invited guests from Central Scotland joined the VIP trip on the packed 300-capacity train at 11.30am, watched by hundreds more who crowded along the line to witness the first passenger train from Alloa Station since it closed in 1968.

At the train's head was the privately owned steam locomotive The Great Marquess and on the rear was a preserved Deltic diesel, one of a class of 22 which formerly hauled express trains on the east coast main line.

The plumes of steam contrasted strangely with the Asda superstore nearby and the newly built Alloa station.

Yesterday's re-opening of the 13-mile stretch of railway between Stirling and Longannet Power Station followed eight years of work on the multi-million pound project and decades of campaigning by councils who believe the line will greatly boost the local economy.

Among those travelling on the long-awaited 11.30am was train driver Harry Aitken, who was a locomotive fireman on the line in the early 1960s.

The 59-year-old from Sauchie just outside Alloa, who is now a train driver on the main line from Edinburgh to Leeds, said: "Alloa station was very busy back then, transporting wool from the mills. I remember racing pigeons, too, which were loaded on in their baskets.

"But people started using cars more and the mills closed so the station did too. Now with the price of petrol and the traffic in Glasgow and Edinburgh this is a good thing."

Bob Campbell was among the crowds of railway fans yesterday, who were set to include a party of 50 from Paris and other Europeans.

Clutching a collection of train tickets from the original line dating back to the 1860s, the 64-year-old retired civil servant from Paisley said: "The only disappointment was the whoosh of steam as they started, which obscured the engine from view."

Dollar schoolgirl Kirsty McPherson, 11, whose great-grand father James Beveridge was a signalman at Alloa, was excited about her train trip.

She said: "I'm looking forward to it. I think I'll probably use the line now it has re-opened."

The new link will provide direct hourly passenger services between Alloa, Stirling and Glasgow Queen Street plus onward services from Stirling to Edinburgh.

Education and employment opportunities for communities across central Scotland are expected to result from the improved access created by the project, which was managed by Transport Scotland and is estimated to have cost around £85m.

The re-opening was warmly welcomed by Clackmannanshire Council which led efforts to reinstate the line, including lodging, in 2004, the first private rail bill to be approved by the Scottish Parliament .

Council leader Janet Cadenhead said: "The railway will breathe new life into Alloa and Clackmannanshire, encouraging businesses and jobs while providing our citizens with convenient, safe and fast public transport to Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh."

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson described the new line as "one of the most important infrastructure projects Scotland has seen in decades."

He said: "It has been a long time coming but after 40 years we can look forward to passenger trains at Alloa station once again. The significance of this project extends beyond Stirling, Alloa and Kincardine. The whole of Scotland is set to benefit."