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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)

Brown, Keith SNP Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Watch on SPTV

I do not know on how many occasions we have said that we have no plans to close those stations. However, we must listen to what people have said in the consultation. This is the difference between us and the Labour Party: when we say that we have “no plans” to do something, the Labour Party thinks that there is an agenda, because that is the way in which it operated. We are saying that we will listen to the consultation responses that we have received.

I look forward to hearing members’ genuine views, which we will seek to take into consideration, and I look forward to reading all the responses to the consultation. We are making a genuine attempt to improve rail services in Scotland. Our track record—whether on Borders rail, the Airdrie to Bathgate line, the new stations that we have opened or our record levels of investment—speaks for itself. It is in that vein that we intend to continue with our proposals for rail services in Scotland.

The consultation process has been what consultation processes should be: it has been genuine, it has laid out options and it has let people come forward with their own views. It is only right that we take time to consider those views. I hope that members will ask for a copy of the consultation responses so that they can see them. Richard Baker and Elaine Murray might be surprised by some of the proposals on station closures and the quarters from which they have come. They should come to an informed view, once they have had a chance to look at the consultation responses. That is what we are doing.

Regardless of that, we will continue to invest in rail services. We have seen a substantial increase in patronage, in the number of stations and in the investment that is being put into the infrastructure and passenger services. The Government intends to continue to invest in our rail services, which in the past have been fragmented, to improve them further for everyone.

I move amendment S4M-02086.1, to leave out from “the concerns” to end and insert:

“that Rail 2014 – Public Consultation gave members of the public, communities, businesses and organisations an opportunity to set out their aspirations for Scotland’s railways; notes that the Scottish Government will give due consideration to all responses to the consultation; acknowledges the repeated assurances of the Scottish Government that there has never been any intention, nor are there any plans, to close railway stations in Glasgow or indeed elsewhere in Scotland, and welcomes the Scottish Government’s record of investment and improvement in Scotland’s railway by including, for example, the reopening of the Airdrie to Bathgate railway, major improvements to Dalmarnock station, improvements to the Paisley corridor, new class 380 electric trains for Ayrshire and Inverclyde, the ongoing improvements to Waverley steps, additional services on the Highland Main Line, increased accessibility at stations across Scotland, the forthcoming Borders Rail project, the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme and the commitment to invest a minimum of £50 million in new sleeper trains.”

09:32

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Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2012

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