Almost 700,000 trips have been made on the new Borders railway in its first six months of operation.

Passenger numbers have exceeded expectations, with a total of 694,373 journeys made between September 6, 2015, and March 6 this year - more than the 568,023 forecast.

The Queen officially opened the railway line, which runs from Edinburgh to Tweedbank in the Borders, last September on the day she became Britain's longest-serving monarch.

She and the Duke of Edinburgh were accompanied by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on a steam train journey along the £294m line.

Transport minister Humza Yousaf and Phil Verster, managing director of train operators ScotRail Alliance, teamed up to announce the figures at the Edinburgh Waverley Station on Tuesday.

Mr Yousaf said of the Transport Scotland figures: "These are fantastic news for the region, further justifying the decision to bring a railway line back to the Borders for the first time in over 40 years.

"The reintroduction of a rail service to the Borders is opening up communities in the south east of Scotland as new places to live, work and visit."

He said the Scottish Government wanted to build on the success with housing, commercial and leisure developments in the communities along the railway line.

Mr Verster said: "We are incredibly proud to operate services on the Borders railway, a route which, as the numbers show, is hugely popular with our customers.

"The extremely positive first six months is a wonderful start and gives us a solid foundation on which to continue to attract new visitors to and from the Borders.

"We are committed to ensuring the lasting legacy of the Borders railway."

When the line opened last year it restored train services to the Borders for the first time since 1969.

The project involved 30 miles of new railway being built, along with seven new stations, providing a half-hourly service on weekdays and Saturdays.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks also welcomed the figures.

He said: "That the railway is proving massively popular with commuters and tourists is great news for the environment and the Borders' economy.

"Road transport is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions so if we're serious about meeting our climate change targets then we need to see a significant shift from road to rail."