Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 22 September 2021
No, and I will tell the member what I am doing to listen to the travelling public and channel their comments to the minister and to ScotRail. I have been active in encouraging constituents across my region to make their voices heard. More than 300 people have engaged with the consultation portal that I set up and have told ScotRail what they think of the cuts. ScotRail confirmed to me today that it will attend a town hall event next week, which I am organising online, to explain the timetable changes to people and hear directly from passengers across my region about how the changes will affect them. People have a voice and they are having their say on the issue.
How ScotRail deals with the responses to the consultation will be a big test. We expect full transparency about the concerns that are raised and the action that it will take to address them before it passes on final proposals to the minister for a decision.
I acknowledge that some change will be necessary. No one wants to see empty trains running, and the rail network must be used efficiently. There might be timetable changes that meet passenger demand better than the current timetable does.
However, the changes that we have seen so far are concerning. For example, the Kirkcaldy to Perth service will take up to 30 minutes longer, with no direct train between the two places and less frequent journeys. Journeys in Fife will require a change at Inverkeithing, which will increase journey times. Passengers in Strathearn might benefit from more regular services from Gleneagles, but for Perth residents the current problems with journey times will be compounded. If the message is that it will become harder to take the train between Perth and Scotland’s other cities, that will be incredibly damaging to the Government’s target of securing a 20 per cent reduction in vehicle mileage.
I hope that the minister will listen to passengers—I am sure that he will do so—and to the workers. We look forward to the successful relaunch of a people’s railway next year.
16:09