Hansard

The member may not like it, but I dealt with it, and I dealt with Mr Baker's question last week.

On David Davidson's very fair point about road safety, one of the drivers—that is probably the wrong word—or focuses of what we have done with Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray Councils on the pass plus scheme has been the representations that many members from the north-east have made in relation to the worrying number of accidents involving young people. That is why we have taken forward that initiative, which I strongly hope will pay dividends.

On the specific issues that have arisen from the debate, we will continue with NESTRANS to support quality bus services in the north-east, including the important interchanges in Inverurie and Peterhead, and the new park-and-ride facilities to the south of Aberdeen at Banchory. I accept members' points about the importance of moving forward with demand-responsive transport—or, in other words, public services that meet localised needs—and finding ways to develop that. We have got to make a real step change on that in the future and I am strongly committed to that.

On local rail, I strongly support the feasibility study on Aberdeen crossrail. I am pleased about the reopening of Laurencekirk station. It is important to recognise that some of the train services in Inverurie with which Nora Radcliffe is familiar arguably begin that process of crossrail. I absolutely accept the argument from some members for more of that process, but I believe that we are beginning to see development, which is a tribute to those who are involved, including local agencies and the franchise operator, First ScotRail.

I remain a supporter of the efforts to improve the quality of intercity rail services to Aberdeen. On the Department for Transport's retendering exercise for the east coast main line franchise, I am very much aware of Nora Radcliffe's representations on continuation of the uninterrupted service from London to Aberdeen. I spoke on Monday to Tom Harris, the United Kingdom minister who has responsibility for rail, and I can give Nora Radcliffe an assurance about the specification for the tendering: I know that the continuation of uninterrupted services to and from Aberdeen is included as far as four companies are concerned. That applies to Inverness, too, so I hope that members from the Highlands will acknowledge that. It is important that the Aberdeen service, which is important to the north-east, continues to ensure connections between main business centres on each side of the border. Those connections should be enhanced, and the shift from road to rail should be encouraged through improved journey times and connections.

We must be realistic. As most members—although not all—have rightly argued, we cannot simply do away with road transport. If we are to avoid stifling of economic growth, it is important that we take traffic out of city centres, where necessary, and that we deal with pinch points in the network. That is why we support the Aberdeen western peripheral road, as well as upgrades to the trunk roads in the region.

When I was up in Nora Radcliffe's constituency the other day, I took the opportunity to open the £5.5 million straightening of the Hatton bends, in Stewart Stevenson's constituency. I was pleased to meet Mr Stevenson on that occasion on the A90 between Aberdeen and Peterhead. I hope that that will give the lie to the suggestion that nothing ever happens outside the central belt. That was an important investment for the area.

I accept Nora Radcliffe's point about the Souterford bridge in Inverurie. She was able to show me the situation there the other day. I have asked Network Rail to engage with Councillor Alison McInnes, the chair of NESTRANS, and Aberdeenshire Council on the matter. I want to ensure that a meeting on that happens urgently. I also take Nora Radcliffe's point about the Inveramsay bridge. We will, through the strategic transport projects review, look closely at the possibility of removing the traffic lights there. I know that Nora Radcliffe and others have made correct observations about the concerns that have been expressed over local roads being impacted upon by traffic that should be on the trunk road. We need to deal with that.

I take the points that were made by Nora Radcliffe and others about Megabus and Citylink. In our representations, we have very much followed the principle that the focus should be on the passenger, not simply on the perfect market solution. We hope that those representations will be heard.

It is important that we have a balanced and integrated transport strategy. I commend NESTRANS and the other agencies on their work, and we will do all that we reasonably can to make their intentions a reality.