Transport plans for the north-east dismissed for no commitment to new Ellon rail link
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
AN update on the Government’s Strategic Transport vision for Scotland has been dismissed as little more than “warm words” for the north-east by an opposition MSP
At the same time a £200 million fund for cutting rail journeys between Aberdeen and the Central Belt has encountered a “challenge” over where to spend it, MSPs were told.
Addressing a ministerial statement at Holyrood on Thursday, north-east MSP Liam Kerr said the second Strategic Transport Projects Review failed to deliver the promise of reduced rail journey times, 13 years after they were headlined in the first report.
The Scottish Conservatives challenged the government for details on when a £200 million pot, first announced in 2008 and again in 2016, will be spent on cutting East Coast main line travel times by 20 minutes.
And the MSP asked Michael Matheson whether his government “will not be relaying” any former rail lines in the region, highlighting the lack of a Dyce to Ellon entry in the strategic transport report.
Mr Kerr said:“The document provides warm words but no specifics around rail in the north-east.
“So will the ‘programme of enhancements’ deliver the full 20-minute reduction in journey times the SNP have promised ever since the first STPR in 2008 will the much trumpeted £200 million be spent on this, and if so, when?
“And I see no mention of relaying Dyce to Ellon.
“So is the Cabinet Secretary telling the people of the north-east that this government will not be relaying any rail lines in the north-east?”
Mr Matheson said in reply: “Investment which he made reference to is still committed in order to help to reduce journey times across that route.
“The challenge is where that investment should go in order to deliver that improvement in journey times.
“That investment might not necessarily be on areas within Aberdeen directly in order to reduce journey times to Aberdeen.
“And in relation to Ellon, he'll be aware of the commitment here to the rapid bus transport programme for Aberdeen which is a very ambitious programme going right out to Ellon in order to help to take forward the vision that's been developed by Nestrans, which we're helping to fund at the present moment.”
Commenting on the publication Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin in whose constituency the rail link to Ellon would run said: “Since becoming an MSP in 2016 I have campaigned for further rail improvements north of Dyce to Ellon and I will continue to do so.
“In 2021 the Scottish Government committed to a feasibility study which would assess the potential for rail in my constituency and further north.
"If we are to reduce car usage by 20 per cent by 2030 we must continue looking at other opportunities for people to leave their cars and take public transport.”
Reaction: Local rail lobby group Campaign for North East Rail express their anger at the apparent ditching of rail plans
