Scottish Association for Public Transport

NEWS RELEASE:  Thursday 8th May 2014

Call for Better Rail Links North of the Central Belt

A leading public transport campaign group has today (Thursday 8 May) called for action to improve rail links and public transport north of the Central Belt. In Perth today, the Scottish Association for Public Transport (SAPT) is convening the “Look North!” event to focus on how to speed up progress on rail upgrades for Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee, Perth and Stirling.

Speakers from Regional Transport Partnerships TACTRAN and NESTRANS are expected to highlight the economic opportunities that will be boosted by better rail services, both locally and between cities. Progress in the HITRANS area around Inverness will also be covered.

Paul Tetlaw, Transform Scotland rail campaigner, will outline proposals for an Inter-City Express programme which would transform rail travel from Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Stirling, with highly competitive journey times, such as:

• Perth to Edinburgh in 45 minutes
• Inverness to Perth in 90 minutes
• Inverness to Edinburgh/Glasgow in 2½ hours
• Aberdeen to Edinburgh / Glasgow in 2 hours
• Aberdeen to Inverness in under 2 hours

Dr. John McCormick, Chairman of SAPT and also a Board member of Transform, said:

“Most train journey times and service frequencies north of the Central Belt have not improved much over the last 20 years, while elsewhere in the UK there have been spectacular improvements. For instance, the best journey time from Aberdeen to Glasgow twenty years ago was 2 hours 30 minutes. It is now 2 hours 33 minutes. Over the same period, the Manchester-London journey has shrunk from 2 hours 34 minutes to just 2 hours. Aberdeen-Glasgow frequency has remained hourly, while Edinburgh-Glasgow frequency has doubled from half-hourly to every 15 minutes.

“Higher priority needs to be given to bringing forward investment in rail infrastructure and services north of the Central Belt. Our “Look North!” meeting will focus on achieving this.”

The meeting will be held in Perth Mercure Hotel (Kinnoull Suite) West Mill St, Perth PH1 5QP starting 10.30 on 8th May. Delegates from Transport Scotland, ScotRail franchise bidders, Network Rail, RTPs and SAPT are expected to attend. It will be followed by the SAPT AGM.