Network Rail in Scotland has a target to be Net Zero by 2035 and is currently implementing the Scottish Government's Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan to electrify the rail network across Scotland from Carlisle and Newcastle, all the way to Thurso and Wick.
(Permalink) Carlisle Network Rail Newcastle Rail services decarbonisation plan Scottish Government Thurso Wick

Scottish Ferries union RMT, has called on the government in Scotland to award Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) contract directly to publicly owned operator Calmac.
(Permalink) Caledonian MacBrayne Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services RMT Scottish Government

The plea comes in the wake of a series of problems which have hit the state-owned operators ageing fleet.
(Permalink) Caledonian MacBrayne Iona Isle of Mull Scottish Government

The Scottish Government has confirmed its key priorities for future transport investment with the publication of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).
(Permalink) Scottish Government

Before the end of the year, the Scottish Government should be publishing their delivery plan for the future transport proposals - including the vast overhaul of the metro system. We delve into the proposed changes and how they could revolutionise Govanhill's connections to the city.
(Permalink) Clyde Metro Glasgow District Subway Govanhill STPR2 Scottish Government Strategic Transport Projects Review

The Scottish Government will pay more than £200,000 to a Dutch consultancy firm to tell them how to turn around a scandal hit ferry shipyard.
(Permalink) Ferguson Marine Royal HaskoningDHV UK Limited Scottish Government

Figures show that since the reduced service began, 439 journeys were made in ministerial vehicles.
(Permalink) ScotRail Scottish Government

Network Rail will invest more than £120m of Scottish Government funding in the next three years to boost the electricity power supply into Scotland's railway network.
(Permalink) Electrification Network Rail Scotland Scottish Government

More than £120 million of Scottish Government funding is to be invested into boosting the electrification of the countrys railway network. Network Rail said that the investment will see six feeder stations at strategic locations across the network, as well as a further nine sites being upgraded to improve resilience and reliability.
(Permalink) Electrification Network Rail Scotland Scottish Government

Scottish Government senior officials have insisted there is 'no blank cheque' over the £250m ferry fiasco contract - despite public finance auditors saying ministers were 'committed to pay the final vessel costs regardless of the final price'.
(Permalink) Ferguson Marine Glen Sannox Hull 802 Scottish Government

The Scottish Government has published a new report on the renewable energy requirements projected to be needed for the transport sector between now and 2045.

The key finding from the report is that the amount of electricity and hydrogen the transport system is expected to need is well within the limits of what the energy sector is expected to generate.
(Permalink) Electrification Hydrogen Power Scottish Government Transport Scotland

Will the rewards of running Scotland's train services outweigh the risks for the government?
(Permalink) Nationalisation ScotRail Scottish Government Scottish Rail Holdings

Ahead of a meeting with the Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth MSP, RMT calls on the Scottish Government to listen to passengers and reject the cuts to ScotRail ticket offices.
(Permalink) RMT Scottish Government Ticket offices

Scottish Government is planning to privatise the contract for lifeline ferry services in the west of Scotland.
(Permalink) Caledonian MacBrayne Privatisation RMT Scottish Government

The Scottish Government recently published their Strategic Transport Projects Review and recommended that Edinburgh joins Aberdeen and Glasgow in having a new mass transit scheme.
(Permalink) Edinburgh Mass Transit Scottish Government

This is a tale about transparency of the often fearsomely complicated workings of Scotlands rail network.
(Permalink) ScotRail Scottish Government Scottish Rail Holdings

State buyouts of Prestwick airport, a shipbuilder and a company supplying offshore wind turbines which have cost the public purse tens of millions of pounds are 'unlikely to achieve value for money', the spending watchdog has said.
(Permalink) Auditor-general for Scotland BiFab Ferguson Marine Newark Shipyard Prestwick Airport ScotRail Scottish Government Scottish Rail Holdings Stephen Boyle

Rail union RMT today called on the Scottish Government to stop playing fast and loose with peoples lives following the publication of the Scottish budget for 2022-23 which showed cuts of £74 million to the railway infrastructure budget on the previous year.
(Permalink) Budget RMT Scottish Government

The Scottish Government announced Abellio's contract would end early. [Independent article requires subscription. -RS]
(Permalink) ScotRail Scottish Government

Scotland's Railway is on track to be Net Zero by the Scottish Government's 2035 target for rail, thanks to its increasing efforts to help fight climate change.
(Permalink) Net Zero ScotRail Scottish Government

Following further discussion between ScotRail and RMT, the following agreement was reached:
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Following recent discussions we are pleased that all four trade unions have now agreed to accept this very good pay offer on behalf of their members. We are proud to have brokered and funded a deal which gives Scotlands rail workers a decent pay rise and improved terms and conditions, in contrast to conditions for rail workers under the UK Government.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

ScotRail says 'no rail services' will be provided outside Glasgow and Edinburgh for two weeks during COP26, if strikes go ahead.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

ScotRail and the Scottish government have given the RMT until 17:00 on Wednesday to accept their offer.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Members of RMT union are due to begin strike action on November 1 during UN climate conference in Glasgow.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Scotland's transport minister Graeme Dey accuses the RMT union of 'moving the goalposts' in negotiations.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Details of changes to routes and how strike action could see nearly every service stopped
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

If one sector can be said to show up the gulf between government rhetoric and reality on climate change, it is the railways.

And for all the Scottish governments posturing as an enlightened alternative to the Tories at Westminster, the Scotrail mess shows that it, too, is unwilling to walk the walk when it comes to investment in a greener future for transport.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Rail strike action is set to go ahead as planned during the summit after RMT union members voted to reject a 'revised pay offer' from ScotRail at their AGM in Leeds.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

The Scottish government says the union is 'letting members down' by not agreeing to resolve a pay dispute.
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'For some weeks now, ScotRail has been in constructive discussion with the four Railway Trade Unions to negotiate a pay increase for 2021. They have done so in good faith and with a willingness to hear unions' concerns and seek, through collective bargaining, to reach a position acceptable to all but especially union members and all of ScotRail's workforce. Three out of four unions have now accepted, or recommended acceptance, of the pay offer and two have done so by balloting their membership. That is welcomed hugely. We were disappointed that the RMT rejected the offer. Having taken nearly two weeks to tell ScotRail they were rejecting the offer, ScotRail sought to return immediately to the table to focus on the area the RMT said publicly was their one remaining concern - rest day working. ...
(Permalink) COP26 Caledonian Sleeper Industrial Action RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Passengers on Scotland's railways have faced months of misery with weekend services slashed and no end in sight to industrial action.
(Permalink) COP26 Industrial Action Politics RMT ScotRail Scottish Government

Glasgow's SNP council is seeking to take control of the city's subway system despite legislation from the Scottish Government 'forbidding' the move..
(Permalink) Glasgow Council Glasgow Subway Scottish Government

The SNP-led administration wants to take back control of the Subway and develop it into an interlinked system alongside the metro network [a proposed tram system -RS], but new government legislation would be needed.
(Permalink) Glasgow Council Glasgow Subway Scottish Government

MSP Edward Mountain says that is because the same government failed to build two new ferries on time and on budget.
(Permalink) Edward Mountain ScotRail Scottish Government

Hauliers in the Western Isles have piled pressure on the Scottish Government by taking their own initiative to find a charter vessel which would relieve the current crisis in west coast ferry services.
(Permalink) Caledonian MacBrayne MV Loch Seaforth Scottish Government Stornoway Ullapool

The Scottish Government is to provide a further £7.5 million of emergency funding for Glasgow Subway and Edinburgh Trams in response to the on-going financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This latest emergency funding brings the total light rail support available up to £28.5 million and this will now be in place until the end of June 2021.

This funding announcement follows ongoing discussions with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Edinburgh Trams regarding available resources due to the unprecedented impact that Covid 19 has had on travel demand.
(Permalink) Edinburgh Trams Glasgow Subway Scottish Government Strathclyde Partnership for Transport

The Scottish Government paid ScotRail £237.3m more subsidy between March and September last year than the corresponding period of the previous year because of Covid-19. Transport Scotland paid operator Abellio £475.1m during the Emergency Measures Agreement that operated from 1 March to September. This is twice the £237.8 paid to the operator for the corresponding period of 2019.
(Permalink) COVID-19 ScotRail Scottish Government Subsidy

The Scottish Government published its 2021/22 budget today, setting out its spending priorities for the coming year. The transport portfolio appears to contain no surprises but also no new investment for sustainable transport beyond what has already been announced. Nonetheless, the budget includes a number of positive spending priorities, including: £100.5 million for active travel ...
(Permalink) Budget Scottish Government Transform Scotland

Political leaders have welcomed £7.7 million in funding for inter-island ferries in Argyll and Bute, Orkney and Shetland.
(Permalink) Budget National Islands Plant Scottish Government

Network Rail, Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council have today revealed their concept designs for transforming the capitals main station as part of the Edinburgh Waverley Masterplan.
(Permalink) City of Edinburgh Council Edinburgh Waverley Network Rail Scottish Government