RAIL
Network Rail has promised to work harder to reduce continued weekend disruption of
services for engineering work, especially on the West Coast Main Line. ORR cut rail
freight track access charges by 35% from April. NR has announced plans for a £130m
makeover of Waverley station roof and other facilities over the next four years.
Labour and LibDem MSPs have attacked a ‘watering down’ of Aberdeen Crossrail plans
but frequencies through central Aberdeen to Dyce and Inverurie are being improved
with the option for an extras halt at Kintore. To the south of Stonehaven, Laurencekirk
station reopened in May. Highland Council has offered £500,000 towards a rail halt
at Conon Bridge. New station lifts have opened at Kirkcaldy and Rutherglen
Halcrow has recommended to HITRANS that Glasgow-Oban trains be increased to 5 per
day. Criticism of the Borders Rail scheme continues with the Scotsman saying that
funds would be better spent on schools and a south-east Edinburgh tram route. Transport
Scotland’s response was that land purchase for the line was substantially complete
with construction starting in 2011. A Transform Scotland Report commissioned by SPT,
Passenger Focus and SWTrans has examined the scope for marketing and timetable improvements
on the Ayr-Stranraer line but doubts have been expressed about the viability of
this route once all Irish ferry traffic is concentrated on Cairnryan.
Residents in Dunlop and Kilmaurs have attacked plans to change the promised calls
by the half-hourly Glasgow-Kilmarnock trains, to be introduced in December, so that
their stations will only have an hourly service off-peak service as in the present
timetable. Similar complaints have come from Lockerbie and Motherwell, now served
by fewer trains in the interest of shorter trip times between major centres.
Smartcards will be introduced on the Glasgow-Falkirk-Edinburgh line this autumn.
National Express is experiencing severe financial problems due to reduced income
growth and rising payments to government under the East Coast Main Line franchise.
Media calls have been made for a large expansion of rail park and ride sites plus
consideration of bus park and ride. Government has advanced payments of £5m to speed-up
work on major SPT park and ride schemes in 2009-10.
ScotRail passengers rose 4% in 2008. There was 8% growth on Anglo-Scottish routes
despite lengthy weekend closures for modernisation and track renewal. The running
total for yearly passenger growth in the SPT area was around 2% by March 2009 with
recession expected to have further adverse influences, though less so than in the
London commuter belt. In the first year of operation, the reopened Stirling-Alloa
service recorded 400,000 passenger trips compared to a forecast of 155,000
SPT faces difficulty in funding Subway modernisation. Priority is being given to
a £20m upgrade of five stations in advance of the Commonwealth Games. The minimum
cost of wider modernisation is £100m but property deals could bring added funds as
the economy revives. Funding issues continue to delay work on the initial Fastlink
bus route from the city centre to Renfrew.
BUS
Megabus has introduced £1 fares between Edinburgh and Newcastle. Stagecoach has
reintroduced two Inverness-Caithness bus trips per day in less than 4 hours. On-bus
toilets have been added. In Edinburgh, Hermiston P+R is 80% full with Ingliston
and Sheriffhall at 50% and Straiton at 34%. Falkirk Council has funded partial replacement
of late night bus services between Falkirk and Bonnybridge withdrawn by First
Royal Mail reforms have led to withdrawal of 5 Highland post-bus routes, leaving
only 14 in Scotland – 85% down on 2005. An issue here has been the difficulty of
integrating fixed-time postbuses with growing flexibility in mail delivery arrangements.
Routes withdrawn include Thurso-Tongue-Bettyhill, Diabeg-Achnasheen, Applecross-Torridon
and Shieldaig-Lochcarron. Highland Council has made interim alternative arrangements
but considers there is scope for cost-effective integration of mail and passenger
services.
Local bus trips in Scotland rose just over 1% to 513m in 2007/08. After strong recent
growth, tramworks and recession have led to passenger decline in Edinburgh but SPT
and First Group are aiming for 4% annual growth in Glasgow.
