12.04.17
Scottish rail minister intervenes to block CrossCountry service reduction
Proposals to reduce CrossCountry rail services from the north east of Scotland have been scrapped after transport minister Humza Yousaf stepped in to defend the line.
CrossCountry has now withdrawn a proposed timetable that could have resulted in six services between Aberdeen and Edinburgh being taken off the tracks from December.
However, after Yousaf penned a letter to rail minister Paul Maynard expressing his concerns and making a case for the line not to be cut, the decision has been made to ditch the new timetable.
“I’m very pleased that the Department for Transport and CrossCountry Trains have seen sense and withdrawn this proposed timetable,” Yousaf stated.
“It was very clear the proposals would’ve had a detrimental impact on rail travel in the north east of Scotland, reducing connectivity and capacity, and put unwelcome pressure on the network.”
Yousaf argued that the services fill important timetable gaps and act as a key commuter route to and from Edinburgh and beyond.
“I was not prepared to let these crucial business and social links disappear and that is why I raised the matter personally,” Yousaf reassured Scottish passengers.
The Scottish minister also said that he had reached an agreement with Maynard that Transport for Scotland would be fully consulted on similar issues in the future, saying that “this, of course, is how this type of process should work”.
“We have now secured a continuing, cross-border rail link for people in the north east and will continue to work with the Department for Transport to ensure the continuity of that service in the future,” Yousaf concluded.
A CrossCountry spokesman said: “Last year CrossCountry consulted widely on possible changes to its timetables from December 2017.
“These included the option of changing the number of CrossCountry services north of Edinburgh to and from north east Scotland, allowing the local train operator ScotRail to provide these.
“After discussions between the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland, it became clear that ScotRail would be unable to replicate these services at this time, so it was agreed there would be no changes to CrossCountry’s Scottish timetables from this December and further discussion would take place to agree the future of these services.”
The news comes the day after a new study was commissioned to look into extending the Borders railway to Carlisle and further improve connections to the North East of England for Scottish travellers.
Top Image: EDDIE
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