News - Transport scotland
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Themes ScotRail Weather Ayr Station Hotel Ayr Edinburgh Trams Fire CMAL Avanti West Coast Edinburgh Tram Inquiry HS2 Levenmouth Line Aberdeen Speed Restrictions Cancellations Ferguson Marine Scottish Power Cameron Bridge Dumfries 40th Anniversary Flooding West Highland Line Talgo Inverness Longannet Power Station Leven Opinion Footbridge Cairngorm Mountain Railway Caledonian MacBrayne Food trolley Delays Accessibility OLE Electrification
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Transport Scotland has insisted that there will be an 'all encompassing review' into allegations that the awarding of the ferry fiasco contract to tycoon Jim McColl's Ferguson Marine was rigged.
(Permalink) CMAL Ferguson Marine Transport Scotland |
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Scotland's ferry procurement body could be scrapped and merged with Transport Scotland to create a new Ferries Scotland agency dedicated to improving ferry services across the country, the government has said.
(Permalink) CMAL Caledonian MacBrayne Transport Scotland |
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South Ayrshire Council is moving forward with plans for a new station and transport hub.
(Permalink) ScotRail Ayr Ayr Gateway Ayr Station Hotel Network Rail South Ayrshire Council Transport Scotland  Ayr: The Station Hotel in Ayr closed in 2013 but was not put up for sale until
2017. Here it is on 10 October 2017, awaiting developments (or development).
 Ayr: Barriers and scaffolding around Ayr's Station Hotel in January 2016. Built by the GSWR in 1866, the grade 2 listed building, which forms an integral part of Ayr station, closed in 2013, since when it ...  Ayr: The empty Station Hotel basks in the early morning sunlight overlooking Ayr station on 10 November 2014. Unfortunately this shows up the sad state of the building. At least the pigeons don't seem to h ... |
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South Ayrshire Council is working on a new vision for the main gateway into Ayr, including Burns Statue Square, as part of The Strategic Governance Group which includes Transport Scotland, Network Rail and ScotRail.
(Permalink) ScotRail Ayr Gateway Network Rail South Ayrshire Council Transport Scotland  Ayr: Eschewing the chance to take another exciting 380, my attention was drawn to the latest garden project at Ayr. Here is the new life Buddleia Plantation.
 Ayr: Work is about to begin on a new staff accommodation block at Ayr station in the first phase of a programme that will unlock significant improvements for passengers and the operation of the station. |
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The procurement process for the Ardrossan Harbour Redevelopment is being paused to deliver a refreshed business case for the project.
The tender design stage has identified that costs have risen significantly since the start of the project, and will need to be reassessed to take significant construction inflation and the expanded scope of the works into account. The project plans now include technically challenging and costly berth realignment marine works to better accommodate new ferries, allow better vessel interoperability and ultimately improve service reliability and resilience. (Permalink) Ardrossan Harbour Arran Brodick MV Glen Sannox North Ayrshire Council Peel Ports Group Transport Scotland  Ardrossan Harbour: Calmac 'MV Caledonian Isles' loads for the return sailing after battling a strong wind and extremely rough sea to reach her berth at Ardrossan Harbour on arrival from Brodick Pier on Arran in June 201 ... |
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Scottish Rail Holdings chief executive said trial could cost £60m a year.
(Permalink) Peak Fares ScotRail Scottish Rail Holdings Transport Scotland |
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Every five years the priorities for investment by Network Rail are determined by the setting out of a High Level Output Statement (HLOS) by its funders. In Scotland this is Transport Scotland. This statement includes what the Scottish Ministers require the railway industry to achieve during the next Control Period. Usually shortened to CP, the current CP6 ends on 31 March 2024 and CP7 then runs until 31 March 2029.
(Permalink) High Level Output Statement Network Rail Railfreight Transport Scotland |
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The Scottish Government announced in 2021 that one of its aims was to reduce private car mileage by 20 per cent by the year 2030. However, this will never be achieved unless the policies it pursues through its agency Transport Scotland are radically altered.
(Permalink) Transport Scotland |
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Women and girls are being forced to adapt their own behaviour and change their travel habits in order to feel safe on public transport, according to research commissioned by Transport Scotland.
(Permalink) Safety Transport Scotland Women |
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The original date for Transport Scotland to submit the Control Period 7 (CP7) High-Level Output Spec ...
(Permalink) Transport Scotland |
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Transport Scotland will examine 16 options, which include dualling the A96 and rail improvements.
(Permalink) Aberdeen Inverness Keith Transport Scotland  Keith: An Inverness to Aberdeen service calls at Keith on 26 September 2017. Keith
station is some distance from the town centre. Hardly surprising as this
was the former junction station and the town had ...  Kinloss [3rd]: The former Kinloss Station on 12 September 2004. View is east from the level crossing looking towards Elgin. Kinloss station closed to passengers in May 1965. See image [[3657]]  Alves: The former Alves station, midway between Forres and Elgin, looking west from the road bridge in November 2005. |
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Public Audit Committee convener requests a complete version and an explanation for the omission.
(Permalink) Public Audit Committee Transport Scotland |
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Testing of an electric multiple-unit retrofitted with hydrogen fuel cells has been completed under a project bringing together the University of St Andrews, Transport Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Ballard Motive Solutions, Abbott Risk Consulting, ARUP, Aegis and Angel Trains.
(Permalink) ARUP Abbott Risk Consulting Aegis Angel Trains Ballard Motive Solutions Bo'ness Hydrogen Power Scottish Enterprise Transport Scotland University of St Andrews  Bo^ness TMD: DMS 64600 from 314209 on the jacks at Boness for removal of redundant equipment in preparation for the installation of the new hydrogen fuel cell package. |
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The St Andrews rail campaign has come to a standstill because Transport Scotland owe the group tens of thousands of pounds. [Article requires subscription. -RS]
(Permalink) STARLink St Andrews Transport Scotland  St Andrews [2nd]: The former St. Andrews station area, viewed from near the site of the bridge which carried Doubledykes Road across the line. Here the former trackbed slopes back down to formation level which is reach ... |
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We were delighted to meet up with our members and supporters at the Riverside Museum on Thursday last week for our first in-person event since 2020. After meeting outside the museum in the Glasgow sunshine, we embarked on a tour led by John Messner and Neil Johnston-Symington, the Curators of Transport and Technology.
(Permalink) Riverside Museum Transport Scotland |
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The next ScotRail fares increase will be postponed by two months to at least March and be less than the anticipated 12.3 per cent rise, Transport Scotland has announced.
(Permalink) Fares ScotRail Transport Scotland |
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CalMac have been hit with £3.5m in fines in a year as concerns rise about the reliability of Scotland's ageing ferry fleet.
(Permalink) Caledonian MacBrayne Fines Transport Scotland |
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A series of community events will take place next month to share proposals for port enabling works at Colonsay, Kennacraig, Port Askaig and Port Ellen ferry terminals.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) is leading plans to upgrade the ferry terminals in advance of the arrival of two new Islay ferries. Works include dredging, fendering, provision for mooring aids and shore power facilities. At the events, CMAL engineers, with representatives from Mott MacDonald, CalMac and Transport Scotland, will share details of the proposed plans for each ferry terminal, along with high level timescales, potential disruption caused by the works, and high level plans for continuing ferry services during construction. (Permalink) CMAL Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited Colonsay Dredging Fendering Kennacraig Mott MacDonald Port Askaig Port Ellen Transport Scotland |
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The return of passenger services to public control, along with government targets for decarbonisation and freight modal shift, promise a positive future for Scotland's rail network. Tony Miles talks to Transport Scotland and Scotland's Railway about the benefits and challenges of renationalisation. [Article requires subscription. -RS]
(Permalink) ScotRail Transport Scotland |
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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 |
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West Lothian Council has expressed its disappointment that hurdles have been placed in the way of delivering a new railway station in Winchburgh.
Winchburgh is one of West Lothians core development areas, and will see the build of 3,450 new homes by 2025. To support the development, a number of infrastructure improvements were identified - including the provision of a railway station. (Permalink) New station Transport Scotland West Lothian Council Winchburgh Winchburgh Developments Ltd  Winchburgh: Stairs to nowhere remain in place at the site of the former Winchburgh station on 25 March 2008. |
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Rail union RMT, has uncovered new evidence where Transport Scotland has directly requested for track operator Network Rail to cut the funding for vital railway operations, maintenance, and renewals across Scotland.
(Permalink) Network Rail RMT Transport Scotland |
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Consultation on proposals to develop the landside facilities at Ardrossan Harbour is to be held in Brodick on Wednesday, April 13.
North Ayrshire Council is working with a group of project partners - Transport Scotland, CMAL, Peel Ports Group, CalMac and the Arran Ferry Committee - to complete a comprehensive upgrade and redevelopment of the Ardrossan Ferry Terminal. (Permalink) Ardrossan Ferry Terminal. Ardrossan Harbour Arran Arran Ferry Committee Brodick CMAL Caledonian MacBrayne North Ayrshire Council Peel Ports Group Transport Scotland  Brodick Pier: CalMac Ferry MV 'Caledonian Isles' is seen loading at Brodick Ferry Terminal for the slightly delayed 16.40 return crossing from Arran to Ardrossan, after a very rock and roll trip from the mainland i ... Ardrossan Harbour: Calmac 'MV Caledonian Isles' loads for the return sailing after battling a strong wind and extremely rough sea to reach her berth at Ardrossan Harbour on arrival from Brodick Pier on Arran in June 201 ... |
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The Scottish Transport Statistics publication released today shows that the number of journeys being made by public transport in Scotland fell markedly from 502 million in 2019 to 153 million in 2020.
Transport and travel habits in Scotland were significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with restrictions on travel and daily activity in place for large parts of 2020. (Permalink) Scottish Transport Statistics Statistics Transport Scotland |
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The Emergency Measures Agreements, which temporarily varied the terms of the franchise agreement with Serco and Abellio ScotRail, expired on 28 February 2022. New arrangements are necessary to maintain rail services beyond this date.
(Permalink) Emergency Measures Agreements ScotRail Serco Transport Scotland |
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Transport Scotland blamed for 'blunder'. Plans to connect Grantown to Aviemore by steam train have been hit by yet another delay amid claims of a blunder by Transport Scotland officials. [See also earlier item. -RS]
(Permalink) Grantown-on-Spey Strathspey Railway (Preserved) Transport Scotland  Grantown-on-Spey West: Beneath this fine display of weeds lies the trackbed leading to Broomhill. The A95 which has to be crossed is on the right. Farm structures prevent a direct line-of-sight photo of the Grantown end of ...  Grantown-on-Spey West: This bridge marks the end of the existing trackbed south of Grantown-on-Spey West. Some major work will be involved before the Strathspey Railway can cross the A95 and reinstate the railway to Grantow ...  Grantown-on-Spey West: A northbound goods attacks the 1 in 84 out of Grantown-on-Spey West in 1961 on the long climb towards Dava Summit. |
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Environmentalists have told the Scottish Government to replace a fleet of gas guzzling high speed trains which require three times as much energy as a standard diesel train - when it takes over ScotRail in March.
Twenty six refurbished high speed trains (HSTs) - which are diesel-powered and leased from a company in England - have been introduced to ScotRail's services since October 2018. This fulfilled a promise made by the company's operator, Abellio, when it took over Scotland's railways in 2015. (Permalink) HSTs Inter7City ScotRail Transport Scotland  Blackford: 43149 leads a Glasgow Queen Street - Aberdeen Inter7City service towards Blackford, seen from Panholes footbridge on 7th May 2019.
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Transport Scotland has today confirmed the fares increase it will put in place as it seeks to recover rail revenues lost throughout the pandemic.
From late January, both peak and off-peak regulated fares will increase by July 2021 RPI (3.8%). This is a necessary step away from previous years where the off-peak fares increase was lower (RPI-1). (Permalink) Fares Transport Scotland |
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A Transport Scotland official has vented his frustration as it emerged the agency has halted joint work with the UK Government to bring high-speed rail north of the Border despite ministers clamouring for years for faster progress from Westminster.
(Permalink) High Speed Rail Transport Scotland |
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A rail operator has announced plans to operate a new service on the Newcastle to Edinburgh route.
(Permalink) Alnmouth Berwick Cramlington Dunbar Edinburgh Waverley Morpeth Newcastle Rail North Partnership Reston TransPennine Express Transport Scotland Widdrington |
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Representatives from the National Railway Heritage Awards (NRHA) were at Stirling station today (Wednesday, June 30) to present an award to Network Rail, Story Contracting and Transport Scotland for their work to refurbish the footbridge and install the lift.
(Permalink) National Railway Heritage Awards Network Rail Stirling Story Contracting Transport Scotland  Stirling: Here is NHRA chair Theo Steel with representatives of Network Rail and Story Contracting at this morning's presentation of two separate plaques for the 2020 awards for the footbridge and canopy. |
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A number of options are being considered by bosses looking to the future. Rail realignment at Saltcoats, rail link between Largs to Wemyss Bay, new rail curve from Drybridge to Gailes, Lugton to Kilwinning.
(Permalink) Ayrshire Transport Scotland |
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The community council had been involved in discussions with Transport Scotland over a £95,000 study.
(Permalink) Car Park Dunblane Transport Scotland |
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Accelerating economic recovery and laying the groundwork for an inclusive, greener transport network will be at the heart of future transport investment in Scotland.
The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will help to deliver the vision, priorities and outcomes for transport set out in the National Transport Strategy (NTS2). Phase One has been published which, together with conclusion of Phase Two in autumn this year, will set out Scottish Governments investment priorities for the next 20 years. (Permalink) Transport Scotland |
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The first annual Delivery Plan for Scotlands National Transport Strategy has been published, setting out actions to improve transport for the future and address the impacts of COVID-19.
The Strategy outlines four priorities for our transport system: that it reduces inequalities; takes climate action; helps deliver inclusive economic growth; and improves our health and wellbeing. This Delivery Plan contains the actions being carried out by the Scottish Government to address each of those priorities while supporting a green recovery from the global pandemic; including a new action to encourage people back on to public transport post-COVID 19 when it is safe and appropriate to do so. (Permalink) Transport Scotland |
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A list of options to improve transport links to and from St Andrews is to be considered in more detail after the case for change was approved by Transport Scotland.
(Permalink) Reopening St Andrews Transport Scotland |
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A £4 million funding boost for Edinburgh Trams and the Glasgow Subway has been announced by Transport Scotland.
(Permalink) Edinburgh Trams Glasgow Subway Transport Scotland |
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Caithness is playing a key role in a £195k project which hopes to show that moving timber by rail is a viable and greener alternative to using roads.
(Permalink) A9 A99 Dalcross Far North Line Georgemas Junction Hitrans Inverness Network Rail Norbord Scottish Forestry Timber Transport Scotland Victa Railfreight |
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Hundreds of lorry loads of timber could be removed from the A9 in Ross-shire after almost £200,000 was allocated to a rail freight trial by Victa Railfreight.
(Permalink) A9 Dalcross Far North Line Georgemas Junction Hitrans Inverness Network Rail Norbord Scottish Forestry Timber Transport Scotland Victa Railfreight |
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Kilcreggan's ferry service will at last be transferred to the oversight of Transport Scotland in two months' time, following years of campaigning by local residents.
(Permalink) Gourock Kilcreggan Transport Scotland |
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Years of campaigning by fed-up Kilcreggan ferry users are set to pay off in the new year when oversight of the route is transferred to Scotland's national transport agency.
(Permalink) Gourock Kilcreggan Transport Scotland  Kilcreggan Pier: SPT's MV Island Princess heads from Kilcreggan Pier to Gourock in July 2016. |
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Transport Scotland has appointed WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff to produce a business case for improvements to the Highland Main Line between Perth and Inverness.
The project will establish the business case for reducing journey times, increasing capacity and enhancing freight operations on the route, which links the Highlands with Scotlands Central Belt and the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. (Permalink) Highland Main Line Transport Scotland  Inchmagranachan Crossing: The East Coast Kings Cross - Inverness 'Highland Chieftain' HST heading north near Dunkeld on 30 June 2011.  Buchanan Street: The 10.15am to Inverness leaves Buchanan Street on 11 July 1955 behind B1 4-6-0 61180.  Millburn Junction: A triple-headed southbound train takes a run at the 1 in 60 gradient shortly after passing Millburn Junction, Inverness, in the summer of 1971. With 11 coaches, a restaurant car third from the front, ... |
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Transport Minister, Derek Mackay, today announced a revolution in rail in Scotland, which will deliver the largest programme of benefits to rail passengers seen in a generation. ScotRail will introduce 200 new services, providing 20,000 more seats per day, with passengers across Tayside, Stirlingshire, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire and the Borders set to feel the benefits. This represents a significant enhancement to ScotRails current timetable, which currently runs 2,300 services per day. Timetable improvements are made possible by the decision by the Scottish Government to retain 13 additional Class 170 diesel trains (39 additional carriages) beyond the terms of their current leases, which were due to end on 2018. These extra trains create the capacity to make timetable service improvements “ with input supplied by local stakeholders to find the best fit for local priorities.
(Permalink) Class 170 Derek Mackay ScotRail Transport Scotland |
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Transport Scotland announce plans to boost services out of Alloa to Edinburgh from May this year.
(Permalink) Alloa Edinburgh Kincardine Stirling Transport Scotland  Alloa: 66167 passing the new Alloa station with empties from Longannet PS - Hunterston HL.  Alloa: The Rotary Club of Alloa barrel-train on the platform at Alloa station.  Alloa: A bright and sunny May morning in 2012 sees a train of coal empties from Longannet Power Station heading west along the Alloa station bypass line on the way back to Hunterston. |
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Wednesday 17 October 2007. Fergus Ewing, Minister for Community Safety and MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber joined Mary Dickson, managing director of First ScotRail and David Duthie, Partnership Director of HITRANS to unveil a plaque to officially open the new look Fort William Station transport hub, which has undergone a £750,000 refurbishment programme.
The refurbishment work is the result of a successful partnership between First ScotRail, Transport Scotland and HITRANS - the regional transport body for the Highlands and Islands. The significant investment has been used to provide customers with a more modern station environment - internally and externally - along with improved facilities such as enhanced access, a complete overhaul of the toilets, improvements to the left luggage facilities and ticket office and the introduction of five new showers. New flooring has been laid throughout and lighting across the station has been enhanced. As part of a wider station investment package, Transport Scotland provided further funding to invest in CCTV at the station, increasing the overall feeling of security for customers. In addition, customers are benefiting from increased comfort and improved facilities on board the Class 156 trains which operate to and from Fort William, thanks to a refurbishment programme currently underway. Funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by First ScotRail, the programme includes the replacement and upgrade of the luggage racks, new lighting, an interior repaint and new floor and wall carpets along with brand new table tops, creating a cleaner, brighter and more modern interior. [Item via First ScotRail] (Permalink) Class 156 Fort William HITRANS ScotRail Transport Scotland West Highland Lines |
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