3 November 2009
SGP news release: Crossrail should be Glasgow's priority
GREEN MSP MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release 3 November 2009
GREEN MSP: CROSSRAIL SHOULD BE GLASGOW'S PRIORITY
SNP plans to scrap the Glasgow Airport Rail Link were debated today in the Transport Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee. Greens on Glasgow City Council last week proposed an amendment supporting Crossrail to a Labour motion, an amendment which was accepted. (1)
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
"There's a lot of bluster about the Glasgow Airport Rail Link on both sides. It wasn't a bad project, especially for the improvements to Paisley's commuting services, and it may well be possible to save parts of it.
"However, the long-overlooked Crossrail scheme is a better answer to Glasgow's transport problems, and I think Labour know that. Labour councillors in Glasgow last week accepted an amendment supporting the project from my Green colleagues, and I hope Labour MSPs will join me in working hard to promote Crossrail as the first priority for Glasgow's railways.
"The proposed additional Forth Road Bridge is the elephant in the room here. It will cost upwards of £2,300m, almost twenty times the cost of Crossrail. Important local projects across Scotland are on hold so the money can be found for this unnecessary bridge, and communities in Glasgow and elsewhere are paying the price for this gargantuan SNP vanity project."
Notes
1. The full amended motion passed last week read as follows:
"This Council condemns the decision by the SNP Scottish Government to cancel the Glasgow Airport Rail Link and considers that the case for Glasgow Crossrail, which would benefit many thousands of existing and potential rail users, is now overwhelming, given economic and environmental priorities which the SNP Government claims to support."
The Green amendment added everything after "Glasgow Airport Rail Link".