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Plans to safeguard sleeper to be announced


By Rosemary Lowne



Plans to safeguard the sleeper will be revealed today
Plans to safeguard the sleeper will be revealed today

PLANS to safeguard the future of the sleeper train between Inverness and London look set to be announced today when chancellor George Osborne delivers his Autumn Statement.

It is expected he will make available a £50million investment and ask the Scottish government to match it pound for pound.

The chancellor’s cash would be used to help buy new sleeper carriages to replace the stock which is coming to the end of its life.

And it is understood the funding would be withdrawn if a deal between ministers in London and Edinburgh is not reached before the end of the year.

The overnight Caledonian Sleeper - along with the Highland Chieftain daytime Inveness/London service - is facing an uncertain future under a review of Scotland's rail services.

One suggestion is for passengers to change at Edinburgh.

The possible loss of the daily service and the direct sleeper between the Highland and UK capital emerged in a consultation document by the Scottish government on the future of Scotland’s rail services after 2014.

Suggestions that passengers using the cross-border trains might instead be forced to change in Edinburgh provoked condemnation and surprise last week, given that the Westminister government has already pledged to retain the Highland Chieftain with new generation trains.

David Stewart, Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, last week said he was astounded at what he described as "off the wall suggestions in an urban-based consultation document".

"I am appalled by this back-of-a-fag-packet analysis of the future of Scotrail services," he said.

The Inverness Courier, which won a major campaign to save the Highland Chieftain last year, has revived its campaign in light of the plans.

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