Politicians urged to ‘get a grip’ on Highland rail investment
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Politicians are being urged to “get a grip” on the need for investment in railways in the Highlands.
The plea was made by Ian Budd, convener of the campaign group Friends of the Far North Line (FoFNL), who highlighted the “vast expense” involved in dualling the trunk road between Inverness and Perth.
He claimed it was “stretching credibility to breaking point” to suggest that the cost of A9 dualling would have no impact on rail projects.
Writing in the May edition of the FoFNL magazine, Far North Express, Mr Budd said: “The Scottish Government has been embarrassed by the (sometimes disingenuous) campaign by members of the public, and some of its own MSPs, into promising to dual the remaining single-carriageway sections of the A9 south of Inverness at vast expense, by the most expensive method possible.
“Unlike the parallel railway, the A9 has no capacity issues whatsoever. We are often told that the cost of this will not affect the money being spent on rail projects in Scotland. This seems to be stretching credibility to breaking point – how can it not?
“We need our MSPs to get a grip on the need for investment in Highland railways, before they fall any further behind the rest of Scotland. They’re already somewhat of an embarrassment, when it’s quicker to get to Paris from Edinburgh by train than to Wick.”
At the end of last year the Scottish Government pledged to dual the remaining single-carriageway sections of the A9 between Inverness and Perth by the end of 2035 – 10 years later than the original 2025 deadline.
Meanwhile, the FoFNL annual general meeting and conference will take place in the Crown Church in Inverness on Saturday, June 22. The AGM, for members, starts at 11am with the conference, open to the public, following at 11.45pm.
