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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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Showing 43 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

I have mentioned that we will progress 100km of electrification every year for the next five years over and above that to which we have committed within EGIP. My officials are currently exploring the delivery of options including the electrification of the Dunblane and Alloa s...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

General Question Time · Glasgow Queen Street Station (Upgrade)

I am not sure whether Mark Griffin heard my response to the second question from Sandra White. I have just made it clear that this closure by Network Rail is to do with maintenance, not EGIP. If he is referring to the disruption that will result from EGIP, I advise him that, a...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

High-speed Rail

On the high-speed rail link between Edinburgh and Glasgow, for which we have responsibility, we propose that the study that will take place when the tendering process is complete will take into account what EGIP is doing. In our announcement on EGIP, we said that we did not wa...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

Those things are going ahead. The extent to which we can get more for our money is evident to me. The £650 million that was announced was to deliver about 80 per cent of the original intentions for EGIP during the first period, and the other 20 per cent is to follow.We are sta...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

No, not just now. In that statement to the chamber, I committed to continuing the delivery of EGIP and ensuring that it and other network improvements are compatible with our approach to high-speed rail, and I said that further progress on EGIP would be announced shortly. In f...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Scotland’s Railways

I want to make more progress, but I will see if I have time at the end to give way.The £30 million fund will provide investment for new and improved stations. In addition to that, I will fund substantial enhancements to the line between Aberdeen and Inverness. There will be fu...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

The slab track maintenance, which has to be done in the tunnels, is Network Rail’s responsibility. It has overarching responsibility to undertake those works, and we are aware of the need to do them. We have said to Network Rail that we want to minimise disruption and we have ...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

We have to take a longer-term view on the improvement of our infrastructure. It is fairly self-evident that individual aspects had to be upgraded, such as Haymarket station, which I think was the second-oldest station in Scotland. It is also fairly obvious that Queen Street st...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

We have said that we will continue to have 100km of rail in Scotland electrified every year after we finish phase 1 of EGIP. Future phases, including the connectivity with Edinburgh Gateway station and the six trains an hour via Falkirk, could be delivered through that. Decisi...

The Minister for Housing and Transport (Keith Brown) SNP Chamber

Rail transport is vital to Scotland’s success as it supports economic growth, strengthens connections and provides sustainable alternatives to road and air travel. The Government has invested record levels in rail, opening two new passenger lines and seven new stations, provid...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

On the specific issue of the electrification of the Cumbernauld line before the Commonwealth games, yes, we are proceeding with that.On EGIP, it is right for us to take into account the possible implications of high-speed rail. We have to ensure that we have a credible and wor...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

No. The announcement of £650 million of investment that you mention was made with an understanding of how that might impact on the project and how we might best facilitate the development of high-speed rail. That means that the change has not in itself necessitated a reassessm...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Well, it depends on when the proposal comes forward from the council. Perhaps the member should talk to his Labour colleagues on the council.The timing and specification of future activities will be dependent on other considerations, including high-speed rail. It is only natur...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

I am confident that we have made the right decision on EGIP.The Jacobs Consulting report was mentioned. It is available for people to have a look at. They can check through its figures. As Network Rail will also say, it is right to analyse the future effectiveness of a project...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

First, I cannot be held responsible for what appears in the columns of newspapers. I made the statement first of all to Parliament before making it to anyone else. I think that that is the right way to go about things.The terms of the five-year break will be the subject of dis...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Topical Question Time · High-speed Rail Link (Edinburgh to Glasgow)

I give Mark Griffin my assurance that we intend to see EGIP through. As I said at the time, I reckon that we can achieve around 80 per cent of the benefits that the original £1 billion scheme had proposed. There is every possibility that we can increase that percentage—perhaps...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Modernising Scotland’s Transport Infrastructure

Many of the projects that I have mentioned were insufficiently progressed under previous Administrations.However, I am keen to encourage people to move from road to rail as we move on from the AWPR to the Borders rail project. Passenger journeys on our railways are up 30 per c...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (Business Case)

No, I do not accept that. The history of the case shows that an extensive consultation process took place after 2011. We have had a drop of around 26 per cent in our capital budget and 11 per cent in our revenue budget. We must look at such projects in the context of the resou...

The Minister for Transport and Veterans (Keith Brown) SNP Chamber

Keith Brown has identified an error in his contribution and provided the following correction. At col 28893, paragraph 3— Original text— EGIP is a £3 billion investment in infrastructure—an investment that should have been made many years ago—that will create many j...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

General Question Time · North Glasgow Suburban Railway Line (Electrification)

The Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement project, which is one of the causes of the disruption, is bringing substantial benefits to Glasgow. I think that I am right in saying that more electrification is happening in and around Glasgow than in any other part of the country. As for...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Local Train Services (Glasgow)

No, not at this point. I understand that there might be cynicism about that, but the consultation ends next month so we will find out fairly shortly whether the cynical view is the right view, or whether I have been sincere in what I have been saying.A number of members—Paul M...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

I flatly disagree, and I note that there is no corresponding reduction. Going from £1 billion to £650 million involves taking out a third of the budget but, as I have just said, we expect to get at least 80 per cent—and that figure is moving upwards, which is what we have been...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

We would not have to replace the trains that are used on the Edinburgh to Glasgow line. The high-speed service would be additional capacity so we would have to buy stock specifically for it. What we decide will depend on what our studies show, but the line will be an additiona...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Topical Question Time · Borders Railway

There is no connection between those two projects whatsoever. The same body is involved, but the decision on Borders rail was taken substantially before the decision on EGIP. The projects will result in a combined investment of about £1 billion in Scotland’s railways, and we a...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

There is now, but there were none earlier.As we have said, low-carbon vehicles deliver benefits. A range of different figures has been given: such vehicles make at least 30 per cent carbon savings over the diesel equivalents, and we heard that such buses in the Lothians have a...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Her previous contribution was to propagate scare stories about Glasgow station closures that never happened.On the point about the EGIP timetable—

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

On the point that I have just mentioned, we have already started progress towards EGIP and will continue that progress according to the previous timetable of trying to achieve all the improvements by 2016.

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

No. I have taken one from the member already.The Jacobs review identified a new opportunity to deliver increased capacity by lengthening platforms as part of the Queen Street station redevelopment. Transport Scotland is now working in partnership with Glasgow City Council, Net...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Perhaps later, but not just now.That was Labour’s legacy. At the same time, Alistair Darling said he wanted to see cuts deeper than Margaret Thatcher’s. That is what we have been left by the Labour Party. What is perhaps more surprising is Labour’s eagerness to play the role o...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

As Dave Stewart knows, it is true to say that we have inherited in the rail network—and the road network—decades of underinvestment in transport infrastructure. We are trying to remedy that as best we can by improving journey times and improving the infrastructure. We are doin...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Rail Franchise

I have tried to answer that question before for Mark Griffin, and he has lodged a written question, for which we will provide a full answer to the points that he raises. As I have said previously, in so far as EGIP relates to the new franchise, we want to minimise disruption, ...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Scotland’s Railways

I do not believe that I have misled Parliament, so I have no intention of apologising.Members have wish lists, and in many areas their long-term ambitions have been realised as a result of projects that the Government has undertaken. However, we must acknowledge that there hav...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Modernising Scotland’s Transport Infrastructure

The budget for the Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement programme is currently about £650 million, although we want to do some additional work on the programme that might take it over that figure. Other work will also be on-going between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Tavish Scott’s quest...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Modernising Scotland’s Transport Infrastructure

Does that mean that at budget time the member will come forward with a proposal to spend £1 billion on bus reregulation or to put additional money into EGIP—or is it just talk?

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Modernising Scotland’s Transport Infrastructure

I thank all those who have participated in what has generally been quite an interesting—and sometimes even consensual—debate. The major transport projects that I mentioned at the start will play a crucial part in connecting people and businesses throughout Scotland, and they t...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Modernising Scotland’s Transport Infrastructure

I have said from the start that I cannot help it if the Labour Party chooses not to listen: we will do the full EGIP. Labour did not do it when it was in control, but we will certainly carry out that massive investment in Scotland’s central belt.Of course, we have some idea of...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (Business Case)

I am sure that all the experts who have been involved in the process, such as Network Rail, the engineers and Transport Scotland, will take note of the member’s reference to a “crazy decision” but, of course, the alternative that Neil Findlay proposes would be to spend upwards...

The Minister for Transport and Veterans (Keith Brown) SNP Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (Business Case)

The EGIP final business case was completed in October 2013—that was consistent with the recommendation by Audit Scotland that Transport Scotland should review and update the business case process by December 2013—and was published at the earliest opportunity. That followed a r...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme

I have laid out exactly when we will do that, with the publication of the final business case. I made the point in my original answer and will make it again that this is the first phase of the Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement programme and there is more to come. We have also s...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

We have said that we will try to complete all of that, including the EGIP works, by March 2019. The redevelopment of Queen Street station is to be completed by the end of control period 5, which comes to an end in March 2019. In relation to the impact on passengers, the wor...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

That question points to the fact that there were at least two different ways in which we could have gone about this. I understand that point. The process that will be followed by the franchise holder will be remarkably similar to the process that we would have followed had we ...

Keith Brown SNP Committee

I do not think that I said that; I think that I said that the high-speed rail project between Edinburgh and Glasgow should be taken into account in relation to what we are doing with EGIP and other projects. I do not think that an advancement of HS2 would give us difficulty. G...

Keith Brown SNP Chamber

General Question Time · Edinburgh (Western Road Approaches)

I am more than happy to meet the member as soon as the study becomes available publicly. As I have mentioned, the work that we are undertaking in relation to the tram interchange, the work on EGIP and other infrastructure works seek to help the flow of traffic into and out of ...

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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 19 September 2012

19 Sep 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Rail

Brown, Keith SNP Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Watch on SPTV

I have mentioned that we will progress 100km of electrification every year for the next five years over and above that to which we have committed within EGIP. My officials are currently exploring the delivery of options including the electrification of the Dunblane and Alloa services.

Our record of investment stands comparison with anybody’s. The Transform Scotland report, which was published this morning, says that progress is now being made in the United Kingdom at a greater rate than in Scotland. However, the figures show that we are investing £624 per head as compared with the UK, which is currently investing £324 per head. We also have £5 billion of investment planned over the next five years, including the Borders rail project, the Airdrie to Bathgate project and the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine project, which I was proud to initiate as the leader of the council and which, in its first year, attracted 400,000 new passengers. That is a record of which to be proud.

I move amendment S4M-04165.2, to leave out from “notes” to end and insert:

“welcomes the substantial increase in the number of people using rail; recognises that punctuality and reliability are currently at record levels; notes the record investment in rail since 2007, including new lines between Airdrie and Bathgate and Stirling and Kincardine; also welcomes the announcements of 21 June and 4 July 2012 by the Minister for Transport and Veterans of a £5 billion programme of future investment in rail, including the new Borders Railway, and details of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP); further recognises that EGIP will bring faster journeys, new trains, enhanced capacity, a new station at Edinburgh Gateway, improvements to Edinburgh Haymarket station and previously unplanned improvements to Glasgow Queen Street; further welcomes the commitment to future electrification of the network through EGIP and the High Level Output Specification, and believes that this announcement is fully consistent with the Scottish Government’s stated aim of investing in infrastructure to stimulate the economy and that, as a result, businesses, passengers and areas will benefit.”

14:58

References in this contribution

Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.

S4M-04165.2 Rail Motion

In the same item of business

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab

The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-04165, in the name of Elaine Murray, on rail.14:40

Elaine Murray (Dumfriesshire) (Lab) Lab

The Scottish Government often repeats its assertion that it must hold the independence referendum in the second half of this parliamentary session because it...

John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) SNP

The member mentioned steam. I am just old enough to remember steam on the railways. I also remember when the low level at Glasgow Queen Street station was el...

Elaine Murray Lab

It is not quite the fantastic news that we were promised in the SNP manifesto, is it?In the press release from Transport Scotland, the minister was quoted as...

Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP) SNP

Will the member give way? Interruption.

The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab

Jamie Hepburn SNP

My constituents in Cumbernauld are absolutely delighted to see that the line to their town will be electrified.The member suggests that it is impossible for ...

Elaine Murray Lab

The rails will still continue to exist, but why would the UK Government invest in a rail service that benefits another country?According to a written answer ...

The Minister for Transport and Veterans (Keith Brown) SNP

The member seems to have neglected two particular statements that have been made. The leader of Glasgow City Council said:“this announcement is good news for...

Elaine Murray Lab

I checked with my council colleagues, who provided statements, but nobody had shown them the entire press release or explained to them that half of the proje...

The Minister for Transport and Veterans (Keith Brown) SNP

Since the funding of rail was devolved to the Scottish ministers in 2006, there has been major investment in the rail network and its services. The Governmen...

Drew Smith (Glasgow) (Lab) Lab

Will the minister take an intervention?

Keith Brown SNP

No, not just now. In that statement to the chamber, I committed to continuing the delivery of EGIP and ensuring that it and other network improvements are co...

Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Will the member give way on that point?

Keith Brown SNP

Earlier this year, Network Rail began advanced route-clearance works and the redevelopment of Haymarket station in readiness for increased passenger numbers ...

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Will the minister take an intervention, or will he just keep talking?

The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab

Keith Brown SNP

In December 2012, new Edinburgh to Glasgow via Carstairs services will be introduced. Delivered a year earlier than expected, the new services respond to loc...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab

Will the member give way?

Keith Brown SNP

I will give way to Patricia Ferguson, but perhaps she could say where the £350 million that the Labour Party says that it intends to reinstate would come from.

Patricia Ferguson Lab

The minister knows of my long-standing interest in this project. I recently had occasion to write to Network Rail about its consultation process on EGIP. It ...

Keith Brown SNP

There was no answer to the question about where the £350 million would come from. I note the member’s previous intervention in relation to this—Interruption.

The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab

Keith Brown SNP

Her previous contribution was to propagate scare stories about Glasgow station closures that never happened.On the point about the EGIP timetable—

Drew Smith Lab

Will the minister take an intervention on that point?

The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab

The minister has made it clear that he is not taking an intervention at the moment.

Keith Brown SNP

On the point that I have just mentioned, we have already started progress towards EGIP and will continue that progress according to the previous timetable of...

Patricia Ferguson Lab

Will the minister take an intervention?

Keith Brown SNP

No. I have taken one from the member already.The Jacobs review identified a new opportunity to deliver increased capacity by lengthening platforms as part of...

Neil Findlay Lab

In the past few days, I have been contacted by a large number of constituents from Winchburgh who are concerned that the new project there, which is to creat...