Computing Commuters' Needs

The re-opening of rail stations throughout Scotland has proved the popularity of good rail transport to commuters. The usage of the Laurencekirk Station has gone up by 40% since I reopened it in 2009 as Transport Minister, the Dyce station has increased by 239% since 2002 and Inverurie by 450% since 2002.

At the moment the area north of Aberdeen faces various transport issues for both rail and road, making travel increasingly difficult for commuters. It currently takes almost an hour and 40 miles by road for 15,000 Fraserburgh residents to reach their nearest railhead in Dyce.

Rail services in Peterhead and Fraserburgh were suspended in the 60s and with the opening of the Borders Railway, Peterhead and Fraserburgh are now the towns of over 10,000 residents which are furthest from a rail station.

There is no doubt that improved transport links North of Aberdeen would encourage business, home buyers and vacationers.

Responding to the environmental implications that come with road use is a priority for Scotland. Better availability of public transport would be a great development for this. More people would be able to reach the city centre without increasing road traffic, congestion and car parking requirements.

The campaign to bring a rail link to Buchan has received a boost this week with the Scottish Association for Passenger Transport (SAPT) publicly backing a rail link to Ellon as a first step towards future expansion. A rail link to the city would be congestion free unlike the current use of dual carriageway at Bridge of Don and King Street.

The SAPT have been involved with this issue for over 50 years. And have said that the proposed transport links and reduced journey time between to Aberdeen and could ‘revolutionise’ public transport in the area. Speaking from my own experiences living very rurally I definitely welcome these moves forward.

As Honorary President of SAPT I have been co-operating with people of all political persuasions and of none to help this initiative go forward and have received cross party support.

Reintroducing a rail service would mean faster journey times with a much higher level of comfort. A line to a station at Ellon with a park and ride would be great and could hopefully be matched with better bus connections from Peterhead and Fraserburgh to Ellon. Hopefully these rail links could later be extended to these towns.

The report by SAPT will hopefully drive the initiative forward. The numbers show that where rail travel is faster than by road it is popular.