"Latest bodyblow"for Highland commuters as bid for faster train journeys between Inverness and Edinburgh remains unattained
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A HIGHLAND MSP has called out the government on failing to deliver faster train journeys between Inverness and the Central belt.
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, asked the Scottish Government when it will fulfil its commitment to reduce train journey times between Inverness and Edinburgh to 2 hours 45 minutes, adding that the development was first promised by then First Minister Alex Salmond at a cabinet meeting in Inverness Town House in 2008.
Transport Minister, Kevin Stewart, replied that he was unable to commit to a date for delivering the journey time.
He said: "The costs and benefits for delivering this need to be considered against those for delivering alternative rail enhancement projects, notably those that will contribute towards the decarbonisation of Scotland’s railway, within constrained funding.
"In the meantime, Transport Scotland is, alongside industry partners, exploring options for lengthening passing loops on the Highland Main Line to enable longer and more frequent freight and passenger services.
"Transport Scotland will consider these, and further infrastructure enhancements that would enable future journey time savings between Inverness and Edinburgh and Glasgow, within the constraints of available funding and subject to a robust business case."
Mrs Grant, who is vice-president of the Friends of the Far North Line campaign group, said: "While the SNP continues to fail on promise after promise, this latest bodyblow for the Highlands will not be lost on our Highland communities who just want services comparable to what is available in the central belt.
“They’ve failed on their promise to dual the A9 by 2025, they will fail on dualling the A96 by 2030, they’ve failed on delivering the ferries that our island communities so desperately need and, going by the answer I’ve received, they have no intention of delivering on the commitment to reduce rail times either.
Transport Scotland's website currently states: "The long-term goal of the Highland Mainline enhancements programme seeks to achieve a fastest journey time of 2 hours 45 minutes between Inverness and the Central Belt with an average journey time of 3 hours and an hourly service by 2025.
"The exact scope and timing of works for future HML phases has yet to be determined and will be led initially by the forthcoming refresh of the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR)."
Ian Budd, convener of the Friends of the Far North Line said: “This is disappointing, but not unexpected, news. The difficulty for the Scottish Government is that it has committed to achieving modal shift from road to rail but apparently cannot afford the investment needed to improve the railway sufficiently for this to happen.
“Electrification will make the journey somewhat faster but will not solve the problem of delays escalating in both directions when one service runs late. The Highland Main Line does not have sufficient capacity in its present form to meet the government's modal shift targets.”
