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Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2012

23 Feb 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Rail Services (Consultation)

Mason, John SNP Glasgow Shettleston Watch on SPTV

This reminds me of Westminster, which is much stricter with time.

I thank the Scottish Government for its many investments in rail, especially those that have benefited the east end of Glasgow. First, I welcome the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link, which has not been given the attention or praise that it deserves. Despite the name that it is often given, the line does much more than connect Airdrie and Bathgate, as many members know. It has opened up six stations in my constituency, with services every 15 minutes from the east end of Glasgow directly to Bathgate, Edinburgh Park, Haymarket and Waverley.

Secondly, I am delighted to welcome investment in Dalmarnock rail station of some £11 million or £12 million. Dalmarnock is set to become the station for the Commonwealth games, and as a legacy for the area it will be the station for Celtic Park, the indoor sports arena and the area in general.

There have been many other improvements recently, such as a new pedestrian bridge at Shettleston and new access ramps at local stations, which are extremely welcome.

This is a difficult time to embark on major new expenditure; a challenge that we face is to hold on to what we have. It would be disappointing to think that any station might close. The Victorians left us with a tremendous network that is comparable to that of many European cities. Strathclyde partnership for transport—which used to be the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive—has sought to protect and develop the network over the years.

Beeching cut back lines and services to such an extent that we now realise that what happened was far too drastic and seriously damaged the overall network. I would be concerned if any station were to close, especially Duke Street, which lies just outside my constituency but is the closest station to Parkhead Forge and the retail park, which are the major shopping centres in my constituency—it is also the closest station to my office.

Not only do we not want stations to close but we want to have a bit of vision and we want new stations to open, even if that happens only in the medium or longer term. Top of my wish list is a station at Parkhead Forge on the main line between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Airdrie and Bathgate, which would not just serve the shopping centre but give direct access to Celtic Park from Glasgow city centre and from Edinburgh. There are problems with the site, because the track that crosses Duke Street has a neutral section, and I am advised that if a train stops in that section it is unable to start again. That makes it more expensive to put a station there. However, it would be useful to have a station at Parkhead Forge.

I also hope for the electrification of the Whifflet line, which serves three stations in my constituency, to allow trains to use the low level at Glasgow Central station. That touches on a point that Patricia Ferguson made about congestion in the two high-level stations. In the long run, if we could get more trains into the low level at Queen Street and at Central, there could be much more train transport. There are also problems with congestion at Partick and we need to consider turn-back at Charing Cross.

My third main wish would be for crossrail at some stage, which would link the north and the south of the city. A station at Glasgow Cross would be a tremendous boost for the Saltmarket in that area, which has struggled.

We face challenging times. We should protect the system that we have, but we must also have a bit of vision for the longer term and look at how we can expand the network in Glasgow and in Scotland.

09:50

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Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2012

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