Strategic Transport Review

14/8/06

Margaret Smith MSP for Edinburgh West has responded to the Scottish Executive's National Transport Strategy consultation.

Transport remains one of the major issues for the constituency. Edinburgh West is a very varied constituency comprising urban and semi-rural areas, and therefore has many different transport needs. There is high car ownership in some areas but in others people have no access to a car at all. This issue also profoundly affects the elderly and disabled. Margaret feels it is important that the Executive increases accessibility to public transport for all citizens.

Massive investment in public transport counts for little when bus operators and councils have no statutory need to provide even a limited bus service. This was highlighted with recent problems in Ratho where some constituents were left with no bus service at all. The Executive’s concessionary fares scheme will go someway to helping travel for the elderly and disabled. Margaret would support the expansion of this scheme to include people under 25 and students (including mature students). The expansion of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services is critical to improving accessibility and has a real part to play for urban/rural fringes. Margaret would welcome the Executive doing all it can to tackle the various barriers in the way of developing these sorts of services.

It is important that the Executive does what it can to improve the health of its citizens, through cycling and walking for example. Edinburgh City Council has come up with a scheme to help employees purchase a bike – Margaret feels this is something that could be expanded.

Edinburgh West includes Edinburgh Airport, the Forth Road and Rail Bridges, and many major trunk roads, and in the coming few years it will include a tram and a rail line. The constituency is economically important and this has been recognised by the Scottish Executive with the establishment of the West Edinburgh Planning Framework. Clearly one of the major issues affecting the local area is the question of the future of the Forth Road Bridge. Given the state of the Bridge’s cabling it is sensible that the Executive is taking forward preliminary work to look at all options for another Forth river crossing. Margaret has sought, and received, assurances from the Transport Minister, that this will include the option of a tunnel, west of the existing bridges, with excellent road networks on either side of the river. Given the importance of the bridge to the economies of Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife, the Executive must prioritise the solving of the bridge’s problems. Whether this means that a new bridge has to be built or not, it’s essential that funding is available to keep this transport corridor open to private vehicles, public transport and HGVs. However, it is also essential that everything possible is done to reduce the numbers of vehicles using the bridge through a range of measures.

The EARL project represents a good opportunity to link West Edinburgh into the Glasgow and Fife rail lines and therefore the Scottish rail network. It could assist in persuading the many hundreds of people who commute to Glasgow from the West of the city every day to shift to rail. However, it is an extremely expensive project and it’s vital that the Parliament and the Executive carefully scrutinise the financial case for the Link as well as some of the technical issues such as tunnelling under the Airport runway, the need for new rolling stock and the impact on local residents and the environment.

Despite not being situated in the constituency, the re-opening of the South Suburban Line and the expansion of Waverley Station would make a difference to the local economy, congestion and modal shift of West Edinburgh residents, both projects of which Margaret supports. The expansion of and investment in the local bus service would also have a beneficial effect on the economy. The Executive’s concessionary fares scheme will go some way towards helping travel for the elderly and disabled. Margaret would support the expansion of this scheme to include people under 25 and students, including mature students.

Margaret also expressed her support for the Air Route Development Fund, which has assisted Edinburgh Airport to secure new routes. The Airport plays a significant role in the local economy and community as well as the Scottish and Edinburgh Tourism industries.

However, Margaret has also expressed her support for high speed rail links between Scotland and England and in particular, links between Edinburgh and London. “I think it’s important that the Executive does all in its power to improve the rail links between Scotland and England so that passengers have a real choice between domestic flights and travelling by rail,” she said. Margaret highlighted that she would be in favour of a high speed rail link between Edinburgh and London. She thinks that there is real scope to compete with the quality of the air journey between the two capitals if the rail journey time could be reduced. She hopes the Executive would see this as a priority in the quest to reduce unnecessary air travel on environmental grounds.