Extract from General Question Time in the Scottish Parliament: Direct Rail Services (Ayrshire and Edinburgh) - Mar 22

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the provision of more direct rail services between Ayrshire and Edinburgh. (S5O-01929)

A direct service is currently available between Ayr and Edinburgh, which offers five services per day. The introduction of an additional direct service between Ayrshire and Edinburgh has been investigated by ScotRail, but it was not considered feasible to operate a through service between Kilmarnock and Edinburgh because of the detrimental impact that that would have on other services.

The minister will be aware that, under current arrangements, it takes more than two hours to get from stations in Ayrshire to Edinburgh, and that all those journeys involve changing trains and/or stations. As the minister said, there are no direct services for a journey of only 65 miles or so. Does the minister agree that that is a significant impediment to people from Ayrshire who might wish to make use of the many job opportunities in Scotland’s capital, but who want to continue to live in Ayrshire, and that real direct express rail services could be a huge boost to the people of Ayrshire?

I have no doubt at all about the logic of what the member is saying, and I would advise him to continue to engage with ScotRail on that. He will, of course, understand that any increase in a service in one part of the network might well have a detrimental effect or impact on another part. I encourage Willie Coffey to engage with ScotRail on the challenges that it faces with regard to its timetable.

On the issue of improvements to the line, the member will be aware that we now have a local rail development fund, which means that, if the local authority or the regional transport partnership wants to consider improvements on the line, they can apply for that funding, and I would encourage them to do so.

My door is always open to Willie Coffey and other members about what is the art of the possible.

I welcome the introduction of the direct service between Ayr and Edinburgh and say how much it is valued by my constituents. I support everything that Willie Coffey says on behalf of his constituents in that regard.

Are there any plans to increase the frequency of the service between Ayr and Edinburgh and perhaps to increase the capacity of that train? Having travelled on it myself, I know that it can be overcrowded by the time that it gets to Edinburgh.

The member will be aware that we are working hard to on the introduction of the class 385 trains. Further, in May, high-speed trains will be introduced across the network, which will allow rolling stock to be cascaded across the network, which will free up capacity and introduce more capacity to the network. I will send John Scott and Willie Coffey a note about how that will affect the capacity on the service that they are asking about. 

Of course, the offer that I made to Willie Coffey is also open to John Scott—I am more than happy to discuss with him where improvements can be made. However, questions about operational matters should be directed to ScotRail. If Willie Coffey and John Scott have not met Alex Hynes, the managing director of ScotRail, I encourage them to do so, because there are some challenges around increasing the frequency of services, due to the timetable that is being run. Again, the art of the possible should be explored wherever it can be.

I would also like to see more direct services to Edinburgh from Ayrshire, and also from Inverclyde and Renfrewshire. Currently, only a small number of direct trains that travel from Ayr to Edinburgh go via Carstairs—it is more like round rail than crossrail.

Progressing the long-awaited Glasgow crossrail scheme would make it quicker and easier for my constituents to travel for business and leisure to our capital city and for people to travel to the west. I urge the minister again to give serious consideration to the significant benefits of the Glasgow crossrail scheme with regard to improving connectivity.

I am aware of issues around the crossrail scheme. The member will of course know that, in 2008, the project was considered as part of the strategic transport projects review, but, for a number of reasons, a decision was made that it would not be progressed.

If Glasgow City Council, some of the other relevant local authorities and Strathclyde partnership for transport, which is the regional transport partnership, want to submit a bid to the local rail development fund in order to explore whether crossrail can be progressed in a way that is feasible, is financially viable and will make an improvement to the rail services around Glasgow, that opportunity exists, and I encourage the member to have a conversation in that regard with Glasgow City Council and SPT.

Following on from Neil Bibby’s question, I point out that one of the pinch points is Glasgow Central station. Does the minister agree that using crossrail would take pressure off Glasgow Central station and lead to quicker services, which would please Willie Coffey?

John Mason is absolutely correct to say that Glasgow Central is our busiest station. As he knows, there are some capacity issues at that station already, and, as I have just said to Neil Bibby, the crossrail project was explored before but, for a variety of reasons, was not progressed.

The local rail development fund provides an opportunity for the crossrail project to be explored again, as does the commencement of the next control period—control period 6, which will run between 2019 and 2024—in regard to which further investment decisions will be made. If SPT and other partners and stakeholders wish to re-explore the crossrail project, there are opportunities to do that. I encourage the member to have those conversations.