Hansard

Last year, the transport delivery report focused our effort in transport on three main themes: tackling congestion; improving integration and accessibility, including lifeline links; and providing vital missing links in the transport infrastructure. We promised to report on progress and "Building Better Transport", which was published today, is that report. "Building Better Transport" describes progress and the way forward in five key areas: economic growth, accessibility, integration, new ways of working and developments for the future.

Transport is vital to us all and underpins every aspect of our lives, but I begin by talking about its importance to economic development. Economic growth is firmly at the top of the Executive's agenda and I am determined that we will stimulate growth in the economy to generate wealth, to create jobs, to reduce unemployment and to give ourselves a competitive edge in the global marketplace. We have listened to business, which says that it needs a first-class transport infrastructure to support economic growth. We are now investing in exactly that alongside our investment in research innovation and the skills of our people.

The announcement of the Scottish budget in September was a defining moment. The decision to allocate record funding to transport has been the biggest single factor in enabling us to move forward. The budget placed transport at the heart of our strategy for economic growth. It was a budget to stimulate growth in our transport systems, to invest in our public transport and to give businesses better opportunities to access their markets.

The transport budget will rise by more than 50 per cent in the next three years and reach almost £1 billion a year by 2006—an unprecedented increase by any standards. That huge uplift in transport spending has given us the assurance that money is available to fund the major infrastructure projects that business and Scotland need. Securing those resources has given us the confidence to plan and budget for the long term.

With a stable macroeconomic environment, low inflation, low interest rates and increased public spending, we have an unprecedented opportunity to invest in our transport infrastructure, to provide the freer movement of people that our economic development strategy demands and to link the work force to the labour market and Scottish business to the world. With the security of the new levels of funding, we can now plan properly for the longer term. We are developing a strategic investment plan that will enable the Executive to make commitments to major capital projects that extend beyond the standard three-year budgeting cycle, adding up to some £3 billion of transport improvements over the next 10 years.

Combined with that longer-term commitment will be a new approach to active management of financial flows over the longer term, with some additional end-year flexibility for the major capital projects. That means that, over the next 10 years, we will be able to use that £3 billion to invest in the biggest package of transport infrastructure investments that we have ever seen. Although resources are not limitless, I am certain that the transformation of Scotland's transport infrastructure will be well under way by the end of the decade.

For example, yesterday I was able to announce that the Executive would guarantee £375 million for Edinburgh's transport infrastructure. That substantial investment will ensure that funding is available for at least the first new tramline in the city. The investment is also irrespective of any decision that might be taken on congestion charging. Edinburgh's tram proposal will be one of the first public transport schemes to benefit from the new, longer-term approach to planning. The same long-term planning horizon was applied when we committed ourselves to funding the strategic elements of the Aberdeen western peripheral route.

Building on significant investments that were made prior to the spending review—such as the completion of the M74, the M77 and the Glasgow southern orbital route—we have given firm commitments to upgrade the A8 and A80 to motorway status, to build the Aberdeen western peripheral route and to reinstate the Airdrie to Bathgate railway line. We are also pressing ahead with rail links to both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. We have received the report from the consultants and in the next few weeks I should be in a position to make decisions about both airport rail links. We have invested £1 million in the redevelopment of Waverley station and supported the Waverley railway partnership with more than £2 million to develop the case for the Borders railway line and to secure parliamentary powers. All those projects should benefit from our longer-term approach to budgeting and financial planning.

One of my key priorities is to deliver the new Scottish passenger rail franchise. Good progress is being made in partnership with the Strategic Rail Authority to deliver the next franchise. Later this month, I expect to be able to announce the shortlist of those who will be invited to bid for the franchise. However, we are not prepared to hang around and we are investing in immediate improvements to our rail services. We announced in December our single biggest railway investment to date, which will deliver 22 new trains, more drivers and more reliable journeys on the network. That investment will make a real difference to the transport system and the economy of Scotland.

The delivery of Edinburgh Park station, which is at the heart of Edinburgh's financial services sector, threw up the problem of performance penalties, because creating a new station extends journey times, which carries a financial penalty. Working with the rail regulator and the SRA, I broke that impasse and secured agreements that prevented the financial penalties from being levied. In addition, we agreed to fund fully two additional trains to enable new Edinburgh Park trains to operate without creating delays to other services. We will ensure that those and other lessons are learned so that we can improve the speed of delivery of other rail projects.

Sustainable development is fundamental to our transport vision and thinking and is vital to reducing our use of resources, making better use of our energy and tackling congestion. We have committed to freight facilities grants totalling £47 million and have provided £12 million for the new rail-freight hub at Grangemouth. We have invested £11 million in the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry connection, which has helped to stimulate tourism from and trade with Europe. Those grants and investments are a huge boost to the economy and the tourism industry and will get a greater number of heavy lorries off our roads.

Buses, too, play a key role in our economy. They carry more passengers than any other form of public transport does and the number of bus passengers has increased in each of the past three years. Through the bus service operators grant, the Executive pays grants of £50 million a year to the bus industry. In addition, to increase accessibility to transport and to lessen social exclusion, we introduced free concessionary bus fares, which have enabled more than 1 million older people and people with a disability to enjoy local off-peak bus travel and have easy and free access to amenities.

Safe and reliable transport services are vital, but people also need excellent travel information to make the best use of them. Traveline Scotland was created to meet that need and it now deals with more than 16,000 telephone and online inquiries a week and provides timetable and journey-planning information for all modes of public transport throughout Scotland.

We are investing to make transport more accessible and inclusive. We live in a diverse country where our island and remote rural areas require different transport solutions. We continue to invest heavily in Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, to support the air network across the country and to use public service obligations for the maintenance of key links to remote areas. The new interim route development fund will help to stimulate new routes from the Highlands and Islands to other parts of the country and between various airports and the continent. Having direct links to Scotland from the continent and further afield is crucial for business and for attracting more visitors here from overseas.

Our support for lifeline ferry links is at record levels, which means new ferries for Orkney and Shetland, investment in new piers and harbours and the tendering of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services. That support will protect fares and lead to important service enhancements. Those key economic and social lifelines remain high on our agenda. We are making real and significant progress in delivering the key transport projects that Scotland needs.

We are doing all that we can to increase the speed of delivery, but it has to be recognised that a detailed and intricate process is involved in taking the initial idea of a new road to the eventual opening of that road. In the case of railways, the number of players involved is greater, the legislative process is more complex and the experience of building new lines is almost non-existent in Scotland. We must consider new ways of working that will bring about real change and move more quickly from inception to completion. That is likely to involve considering the legislative process for rail enhancements and financial planning processes. However, I am determined that we will do whatever is needed to improve transport in Scotland.

The "Building Better Transport" report is about taking a long-term, strategic view. It is about a £3 billion improvement in transport infrastructure. Above all, it is about delivering better transport for the benefit of everyone in Scotland.