Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, recently spoke in the Parliamentary debate on Scotland Railways to highlight the inadequate provision for disabled passengers in the Highlands, as well as the opportunities to reduce journey times between the Highlands and the Central Belt.

Dave, a regular passenger on the trains, pointed out that Kingussie Station has inadequate provision for disabled access on one platform, requiring passengers to take a lengthy taxi ride to board their service. Dave also highlighted the potential reductions in journey length that could be brought through dualling the line north to Inverness.

Dave said: “It is important that we secure guarantees through the franchise specification to ensure that all stations, including Kingussie, are accessible to all passengers.

“In the Highlands journeys can regularly be three or even four hours long, and it is important that passenger comfort meets the highest standards.

“I would also hope that in the long term we can dual the line up to Inverness. Understandably this would be a large project, but it could deliver a significant improvement to journey times between the Highlands and the Central Belt.”

Note:

Dave Thompson (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP): Since 2004—I give credit to previous Administrations—there have been many improvements to Scotland’s rail network. It is, therefore, no surprise that those improvements have led to a significant increase—of about 30 per cent—in the number of passengers who use Scotland’s railways.

In my constituency, a good number of improvements have already been delivered. In December 2012, the new timetable was launched, which added two extra services a day between Inverness and the central belt, which is to be welcomed. The Beauly station is now a mandatory stop and has gained a couple of stops—one in each direction—between Monday and Saturday.

Earlier this year, I was delighted to be present at the reopening of the Conon Bridge station, which is an excellent improvement to the transport links with Inverness, the west and Kyle, as well as Nigg and Caithness. The size of the platform there is indicative of a refreshing approach. It is possibly the smallest platform in Scotland, at around 7m—

Stewart Stevenson: It is not quite the smallest.

Dave Thompson: I bow to Stewart Stevenson’s superior knowledge, but it is very small indeed. In the past, we would have put in great, lengthy platforms at any new station, so we are making progress in terms of how people think and innovate when it comes to improving railways. If we can think a wee bit out of the box, improvements do not always have to cost a fortune. The reopening of that station has helped to alleviate the congestion resulting from the maintenance work that is taking place on the Kessock bridge.

We have made progress in eliminating open level crossings on public roads. Following a campaign that was started by me just over five years ago, Network Rail has started putting barriers on all 23 of Scotland’s open level crossings. Barriers have been installed at the crossing in Ardrossan—that was the pilot project—and at the one in Corpach, and the project is being rolled out across the others, which are mainly in the Highlands. Further, Network Rail will do the same thing to more than 100 open level crossings in England and Wales. I am extremely pleased about that.

Other improvements that are in the pipeline have been spoken about already today. Phase 2 of the Highland main line improvement will increase capacity on the line and decrease journey times in due course between the Highlands and the central belt, with a target of reducing the shortest journey time to 2 hours and 45 minutes.

It has been announced recently that 25 stations around Scotland, including Inverness and Fort William, will have free wi-fi. I am pleased about that. Wi-fi is also being rolled out to all class 170 trains, which run between Inverness and other Scottish cities, and to the class 380 trains. Soon, a third of Scotland’s rolling stock will have free wi-fi.

The planned and delivered improvements are welcome and will significantly improve transport links between the Highlands and the central belt. I was encouraged by what today’s motion says about the use of franchise specifications to better meet the needs of the people of Scotland. I am sure that that will be the case. However, I want to mention a couple of points that I think are important.

As I am sure will be the case, the specifications must improve the rolling stock. As has been said, many of the journeys to the north can take three or four hours, so it is important that we have rolling stock that is equipped with adequate luggage and cycle storage, and comfortable seats. That is important from the point of view of our tourism industry, and from that of the people in Scotland who use these trains.

We must encourage people on to the trains. Time is not the only important factor in that regard; comfort and the ability to take pleasure in the journey are important, too. That includes the ability to get something decent to nibble on as well. Murdo Fraser mentioned the infamous British Rail sandwich. I occasionally take the sandwiches that are offered by ScotRail, but I prefer the bacon rolls on the south coast service. I think that that is a better service. That is what we should aspire too—the old buffets, and a bit of comfort. That will encourage more people back to the trains.

We must continue to improve station facilities in the Highlands. For example, we still have anomalies and problems with stations such as Kingussie, where one of the platforms on the other side from the main station is about a foot lower than the one on the station side, which means that people cannot get disabled access. As we can now have two trains at a time coming in, which is an improvement, that is causing a problem for disabled passengers in getting on the southbound train at the other platform. They have to be taxied to the next station, which could be many miles down the road. We need to look at such things in the long term.

Murdo Fraser mentioned Transform Scotland’s proposal to use the Glenfarg line to run a service directly from Edinburgh to Perth and save up to 35 minutes on the journey. That would be great. We need to look at that in the long term, but it might be better to spend any money that we have on dualling the line up to Inverness as much as possible and on electrifying that line. That might gain almost as many minutes as reopening the Glenfarg line would.

We are doing very well on the railways in a difficult period, and I am sure that we will do even better after we get independence.