Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2026 [Draft]
I recognise the importance of travel connections from Ayrshire, including Mr Gibson’s constituency, and I recognise that greater challenges will be arising as a consequence of the fire. Transport Scotland will continue to engage with its public transport partners and stakeholders to see what measures can be put in place to mitigate the impacts and to build up the resilience of services. That will support Mr Gibson in his efforts to ensure that there are stronger public transport services in Ayrshire.
I apologise for omitting to respond to Pauline McNeill’s point about more bus connections. ScotRail is operating a range of services that are coming into, for example, Paisley Gilmore Street, and onward bus connections are available from there. Other intermediary stops are being made to try to maximise the connections. The transport secretary is working with the rail service providers and other agencies to make sure that we maximise bus connections to replace rail services for as long as the incident goes on.