Ministers Set Out Blueprint For Scotland's Railways

17th July 2007

Scottish Ministers have today published a £3.6 billion rail blueprint aimed at cutting journey times, increasing capacity and meeting rising passenger demand up to 2014. The plan details what Ministers want the rail industry to deliver between 2009 and 2014 - and the money from the existing transport budget to deliver it.

The blueprint - which is based on a projected 23 per cent increase in passenger demand by 2014 - contains new priorities which Ministers are challenging the rail industry to bring forward within this timeframe to support additional growth.

These include a package of measures to improve journey times, improve reliability and increase capacity between Edinburgh and Glasgow, including infrastructure improvements to provide an effective interchange between the rail network and Edinburgh airport and electrification of the Edinburgh-Glasgow route.

The first ever Scottish High Level Output Specification (HLOS), which is submitted to the Office of Rail Regulation today, is an important industry milestone in its own right.
The Railways Act (2005) represented the biggest transfer of power from Westminster to Holyrood since Devolution itself and this is the first time Ministers have formally set out what they want the industry to achieve on behalf of Scottish rail passengers and freight users.

The HLOS also provides the framework for Transport Scotland to work with the industry to develop major improvements to Ayrshire services and those from central Scotland to Aberdeen and Inverness - as well as more frequent services between the two north east cities.

John Swinney , Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, said:

"This is our blueprint for cutting journey times, increasing capacity and meeting rapidly increasing passenger demand. Easing the commute between Scotland's cities and towns is a key objective of this new Government.

"Offering more high-quality public transport alternatives to the car and better connections will make for wealthier communities, a fairer, greener Scotland and a stronger national economy."

Firstly, the HLOS sets out two "tiers" of planned rail spending in Scotland over the five year period between 2009 and 2014. The first is to support maintenance of the current level of service on the existing network, including improvements to be delivered before 2009 such as the new Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine link.

The second tier provides major capacity-increasing projects scheduled to be delivered by 2012 - the Airdrie-Bathgate and Glasgow Airport Links and the reopening of the Borders Line - and the resources required to operate services on these new routes.

An additional third tier prioritises the projects that Ministers want the industry to prepare to deliver at the lowest cost to the public purse such as Electrification of Edinburgh-Glasgow lines. Investment for these projects will be determined by their affordability and the availability of further financial resources.

Mr Swinney added:

"The Scottish HLOS is a real statement of intent - a prioritised, sustainable and affordable programme of improvement on the rail network.

"But it also represents a challenge to the rail industry to deliver these projects effectively and efficiently within existing public expenditure levels. We expect Network Rail to work actively with Transport Scotland and the industry to achieve this."

Under the Railway Act 2005, HLOS enables the industry regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation, to instruct Network Rail to develop its Strategic Business Plan incorporating the priorities of Scottish Ministers. This is expected in October 2007.

In turn, the ORR will ensure that Network Rail is provided with the correct level of funding to deliver the five-year plan efficiently, starting on April 1 2009.

For more information see http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/uploads/documents/high-level-output-specification-July-2007.pdf