1 October 2013
Tom Hart's news notes, September 2014
Scottish Transport – News Notes May to September 2013
HIGHLIGHTS
Cycling, active travel and criticism of High Speed Rail have been prominent in media comment since late spring. As yet, transport has barely figured in the debate on Scottish independence but there has been separate comment on A9 dualling, the slowness of public service efficiency reforms and the best means of encouraging sustainable economic growth. A lack of transparency and detail is hampering informed choices on transport and other options for the future. Cutting carbon emissions has lagged behind more immediate priorities for economic revival giving rises in jobs and real incomes.
AVIATION
After years of decline since 2008, there are signs of reviving growth in overseas travel and also in domestic travel. Attracted by the lower prices of spacious houses in Scotland, ‘super-commuters’ have been relocating residences from London to the Central Scotland Belt. Airlines continue to press for the devolution of air passenger duty as a means of increasing incentives to fly to and from Scotland from overseas centres, aiding both business and tourism.
Inverness has welcomed the EasyJet decision to provide extra Inverness-Gatwick flights to replace those lost by the withdrawal of Flybe links. The Scottish Government has announced a grant to assist repairs to the storm-damaged Shetland Sumburgh runway
CityJet has withdrawn its Edinburgh-London City service but Edinburgh has rising traffic overall. £25m is to be spent on an extension to the terminal building, also allowing speedier bag and security checks. Dreamliner flights to China and other long-distance centres are seen as an important component in developing airport traffic. Air Canada has introduced direct flights from Edinburgh to Toronto while Lufthansa flights from Frankfurt will become a year-round service.
Icelandair is to raise transatlantic flights from Glasgow via Reykjavik from 4 to 5 per week from April 2014.
Jet2 has already expanded European tourist flights from Glasgow. Aer Arann is to expand flights on its Aer Lingus franchise for services from Dublin to Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow, aided by funding from Stobart Logistics .
SHIPPING & FERRIES
A need for major ship repairs disrupted Scrabster-Stromness services for almost two weeks in May. Two hybrid diesel/electric ferries for CalMac short crossings have been launched. One will be used on the Portavadie-Tarbert route. Two new and more economical ferries have been launched for the Western Ferries Gourock-Dunoon route. They will also increase capacity and frequencies will be able to rise to 12 sailings per hour.
The value of the cruise industry for the Scottish economy is projected to rise to £50 million in 2013, a 65% rise on 2010 with 400,000 passengers expected at ports right round Scotland. Aberdeen has been added to cruise ship calls with 12 visits due over 2013. The former Cockenzie Power Station is being considered as a cruise ship hub provided that plans for a new gas powered electricity plant are dropped
A £3m appeal has been launched to allow the Maid of the Loch to return to service on Loch Lomond. An enlarged yacht marina is planned at Inverness. The 150 berth facility opened in 2008 is at 90% capacity
RAIL
Consultations are in progress with the selected bidders for the successor ScotRail franchise (excluding overnight services) and with the new separate franchise for overnight Anglo-Scottish services. Final specifications (more flexible than in the past) are expected shortly with Scottish Government awards announced in 2014 and coming into operation in 2015.
On overnight services, a higher quality is expected but with comment favouring a mix of accommodation at varied price levels rather than a strong luxury bias which could increase costs of provision and require fares which could deter existing passengers.
At UK government level, a return of the East Coast franchise to the private sector is being proposed despite pressures for continued public sector operation of the present franchise which includes a substantial premium paid to government.
Though media comments see present ScotRail services as offering better quality than other franchises, there is concern at a deterioration in quality and a perception that many fares still fail to offer good value.
Overcrowding and service delays have been rising though with part of this due to Network Rail failings relating to track and signalling rather than within ScotRail control. Long delays in improving stations, opening new ones and considering network extensions have been criticised by Railfuture Scotland at a time when record numbers are shifting from car use to rail.
A £650m programme for the extension of rail electrification in Scotland over the years to 2019 was announced by the Scottish Government at the end of May but there is a lack of clarity on the detail of this programme and fears of slippage. Though welcoming the enlarged programme including the lines to Dunblane and Alloa plus both the Falkirk and Shotts line routes between Glasgow and Edinburgh, SAPT has attacked slow progress since electrification was first announced in 2006 and the lack of firm orders for the new electric rolling stock required to allow more diesel trains to be reallocated to other routes in Scotland, including the Borders line due to open early in 2015 (H 4 September)
Following on the ‘quick’ approach used for Glasgow-Paisley Canal line electrification, this is also to be used to accelerate completion of Whifflet line electrification, as well as Springburn-Cumbernauld ,in advance of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July 2014. This ensures early release of some diesel trains.
Fears of a one year closure of Glasgow Queen St High Level as part of the EGIP programme have been denied by Transport Scotland and Network Rail. Any closures will be of much shorter duration but with details still not available.
Coal traffic by rail continues to be hit by reduced coal demand, closure of many opencast sites in Scotland and prospects of higher track access charges. Despite recession, container traffic remains more buoyant .
For the first time in 30 years, Speyside distilleries are working together to reintroduce ‘whisky trains’ from Speyside to the Scottish Central Belt. It is estimated that each rail trip will save 29 lorry trips on the A9.
By extending some London-Birmingham trains through to Edinburgh, Virgin is to increase through trains from London Euston to Edinburgh from 1 to 6 in December
The new Borders railway is expected to cut car trips by at least 500,000 a year. It will also boost tourism with First Minister Alex Salmond confirming that the line design includes full capability for longer tourist charter trains and steam working. It is already stimulating increased interest in new housing, especially on that part of the route closer to Edinburgh.
SAPT has called for more urgency in cutting rail trip times between the Central Belt and Aberdeen-Inverness to make them more attractive to those presently using cars. Transform Scotland is seeking restoration of a direct rail route from the Forth Rail Bridge to Perth. Pressure is building for reopening of the Fife branches from Thornton to Leven and Leuchars to St Andrews.
Letters to the press have called for more ‘exciting’ and better quality trains on Scotland’s great tourist routes together with plans for selective tree-cutting to improve views being blocked by tree growth.
The former Mull narrow-gauge tourist railway may relocate to Oban.
The Scottish Government has been attacked for re-selling land purchased for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link at far below the original purchase price. This is seen as premature pending decisions on improving public transport access to Glasgow Airport later this year. These will come after publication of a delayed report on options including a rail link. Critics have asked for early publication of the draft report on options.
Supporters of an airport rail link also argue that this could be associated with low-cost plans to restore passenger services on the existing cross-Glasgow rail link from Shields Road to Bellgrove. However, others have pointed out that passengers from the airport and the south-west will have excellent links into improved Glasgow Central to Edinburgh services. They see an airport service running to Glasgow Central. as the better option. Over time, some services might use the cross-Glasgow link.
ScotRail has reduced anomalies where some travel is cheaper if tickets are bought between intermediate points rather than as through tickets. This has not stopped demands for further reforms with clearer links between improved services and rises in some fares. Multi-modal zonal fares with discounts for pre-purchase have increasing attraction in and around cities.
Due to pressure on bandwidth, wifi will not be available for users watching videos or other heavy bandwith material on rail trips. This decision came after more than 130,000 users logged on the ScotRail wifi in August. Telent has won the NR contract to replace radio infrastructure on the Glasgow-Oban and Inverness-Thurso lines.
Metal thieves caused major disruption on Aberdeen-Inverness line after three cable thefts within a week
ScotRail has provided the largest expansion yet in services during the Edinburgh Festival. Record numbers travelled by train for the Golf Open at Muirfield. 25,000 used the train to reach the event, a 33% rise on the last major Muirfield event in 2002. Final access was by bus from Drem station.
Gleneagles station is to be refurbished for the Rhyder Cup in 2014. £11m renovation of Dalmarnock station for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games will be completed later this year.
NR is planning the addition of £12m viewing platforms to the Forth Rail Bridge for the 125th anniversary in 2015. Most costs should be recoverable from charges. The original Perth-Inverness line has celebrated 150 years since opening in 1863. March saw the 50th anniversary of the Beeching Report on Rail Reshaping.
HIGH SPEED RAIL (HSR)
HSR2 (the plan for a London-Birmingham route dividing for Wigan/Manchester and Leeds/York) has attracted mainly adverse media comment in recent months. The right-leaning IEA has argued that costs could top £80 bn and queried the level of benefit. Others including the former Chancellor, Alistair Darling, have announced that they no longer support the project. With ongoing limits on public funding, they urge priority for road, rail and urban transport schemes offering better value. However, the Prime Minister and UK Transport Minister have insisted that the project offers good value and should remain on track for completion by 2033 (or earlier) as an extension of existing plans for rises in inter-city and conurbation rail development and expanded electrification. The Labour Party has continued to support the project provided that costs (at present prices) can be capped at £50bn.but Ed Balls, as UK finance shadow minister, has stated that the project may be dropped or revised due to other priorities within limited funding.
The IEA estimate of costs reaching £80bn has been ridiculed as adding in the costs of city-region transport projects which can be justified independently of HSR, an over-inflated contingency allowance and ignoring both the increasing ability to cut and control rail costs and the strong evidence of rising, and continuing, demand for rail use offering the substantial added benefits of reduced demand for movement by road and by short-haul air services. Budgets already include provision for rising investment in the existing rail network and in city public transit. Phased delivery of integrated HSR and inter-city development is compatible with rises in other rail investment and with progress on the low carbon agenda for transport and other sectors required for a secure and expanding economy.
Opinion in Birmingham and further to the north (including strong support from the Scottish Government) remains favourable to HSR though many details have still to be worked out. An HSR Scotland stakeholder group has been established and is working with Transport Scotland on the case for Glasgow-Edinburgh high-speed rail services and their optimum linkage with HSR developments in England. A report is due by spring 2014.
SAPT has been prominent in arguing for a rethink of original plans costing around £35bn for new HSR rote from London to Lancashire and to Leeds yet only reducing London to Glasgow and Edinburgh times to 3 hours 38 minutes by 2033! This would decrease the relative connectivity of Scotland compared to connectivity between English cities directly on new HSR route. Alternatives being examined include sections of high-speed route within Scotland, extensions of new route from the south to Preston or beyond and further upgrades or realignments of the existing West Coast main line between Preston and Carstairs.
A possible target could be 3 hours from London to both Glasgow and Edinburgh by 2030 delivered by a combination of new route and upgrades of existing track. Further HSR extensions after 2030 could cut London times to around 2hours 30 minutes. An additional advantage of this approach would be improved trip times and better frequencies for inter-city links both north of the Scottish Central Belt and to English city regions such as Liverpool/Manchester, the West Midlands, Tyneside, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Pressures on airport capacity and on longer-distance motorway travel would also be reduced along with the release of capacity for rail freight and improved regional passenger services
BUS, TRAM & TAXI
Emergency tunnel repairs disrupted services for three days on the Glasgow Subway in June. A new ticketing system compatible with ScotRail ticketing is being introduced while, in Edinburgh, a new company Transport for Edinburgh will oversee ticketing on Edinburgh trams and buses Edinburgh passengers over 60 or disabled will be able to use the trams free but with Edinburgh City Council responsible for compensating the operating company. Previous efforts to get the Scottish Government to accept this responsibility have failed. Longer Sunday opening hours have been requested on the Glasgow Subway
Edinburgh trams are likely to be in operation over the full route from the Airport to York Place no later than May 2014 with trial running on the whole route by December 2013. Trams will have £1.50 single trip flat fares apart from a £4.50 fare for Airport travel and £2.50 from Ingliston park and ride. Day tickets at £3.50 will be introduced for bus and tram use along with longer-period tickets.
Tram fares from the Airport will be higher than the £3.50 fare on continuing airport bus services also operated by Lothian Buses and with a shorter trip time into the city. But the tram is seen as having comfort and reliability advantages compared to bus use. Times from the Airport to York Place will be 33 minutes but less to other stops between Haymarket and St Andrew’s Square – making times comparable to bus times and better than bus at peak periods with greater delays for buses.
As part of plans to improve city centre amenity, there is a possibility of tram frequencies every 5 minutes on the inner section of route and associated with bus feeder and car parking provision. SNP MSP Marco Biagi has called for faster action to remove high emission buses from central Edinburgh. In the longer term, there are suggestions that south-east sector trams could extend as far as Dalkeith.
Access to Edinburgh Royal Bioquarter has been improved by a new 200 metre link road to the north-east reserved for buses, taxis and emergency vehicles.
A new Citylinkair coach service has been introduced from Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station. Journey time is 1 hour with a half-hourly frequency at peaks. Stagecoach has introduced a new Citylink Gold service four times a day from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. The service includes free wifi and calls at Ferrytoll, Kinross and Broxden park and ride centres as well as Dundee.
Stagecoach has launched overnight sleeper coaches from central Scotland, Fife and Edinburgh to London with prices ranging from £15 to£60. This follows a successful pilot service between Glasgow and London.
First Scotland East has improved coach services between Stirling and Edinburgh, re-introducing the popular Bluebird designation.
£2m has been added to the Green Bus Fund which helps bus companies buy more environmentally friendly vehicles. Take-up in Edinburgh has been good but there are concerns at a lack of take-up in Glasgow which could have been valuable as part of Commonwealth Games Transport Plans for 100% access by public transport or active modes. Many details of the Plan have still to be agreed though it is now less than ten months to the Games.
Ronnie Park, MD of First Glasgow, is reported to be unhappy with proposed levels of service cuts. In early summer, many service numbers were changed and some routes improved using the SimpliCITY logo but there is public concern and confusion at the extent and nature of change. £14m is being spent on 89 new buses for use in and around Glasgow
Lothian Buses has introduced a 20 minute new 28 summer bus to the Visitor Centre at the West Gate of the Botanic Gardens
Iain Gray continues to seek support for a Bill to re-regulate buses in Scotland. Prospects of approval by the Scottish Parliament are not high but it may encourage other new approaches and funding/traffic management reforms to ensure a local bus revival within co-ordinated public transport services and fares.
SPT is concerned that the Bill as proposed could lead to a large rise in costs plus high probabilities of legal challenge. It has urged action on an alternative Ten Point Bus Plan pending wider reforms.
Taxi drivers are opposing Edinburgh City Council plans to raise late night fares, fearing friction between drivers and users. Glasgow City Council has already introduced such fares. Edinburgh taxi fares are low compared to many other cities but comparisons are difficult due to considerable variation in the fares which can be charged at different times of the day and night.
ROADS & PARKING
Sir Brian Souter has suggested that direct road charging may have a role in future Scottish transport policies. This has also been suggested by other business groups and could lead to a lowering of levels of fuel duty. The UK government is seeking EU approval for the extension of present island 5p a litre fuel duty rebates to substantial parts of the rural mainland.
A9 Corridor Scottish Government plans for full dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025 have attracted mixed responses. Since accident rates on the road place it in the ‘low to medium’ risk category, the safety argument for substantial investment has been questioned compared to other ways of spending on improved safety. With longer-distance road flows falling relative to rail, a particular priority for A9 dualling could also offer poorer value than a multi-modal corridor assessment looking at opportunities for shifts from road use to rail passenger and freight services.
Some account of these views have been taken in a re-emphasis on the phased nature of A9 dualling and the new priority given to the installation of average speed cameras and a focus on lesser works giving high benefits. Road hauliers claim that the efficiency of route operation would be improved if average speed cameras were linked to a raising of the HGV speed limit to 50 mph on most sections of the present Perth-Inverness road. The Scottish Government view is that such action would lead to more accidents than enforcement of present 40mph HGV limit
The existence of plans for full dualling is still regarded by business and tourism interests as an important contribution to economic growth in the North with the Free Church also seeing this as part of a Christian duty to improve safety.
In addition to Scottish Government plans for a Western Peripheral Road, Aberdeen is consulting on plans for an extra River Dee bridge to improve access to the city from the south. Consultation runs to 4 October
Work has started on A77 grade separation at Bogend Toll/Symington and on the A75 Dunragit Bypass.
Erskine Bridge upgrades will involve traffic delays for 10 months. Consultation has started on A82 improvements between Tarbert and the north end of Loch Lomond. The Scottish Roads Partnership has been named as preferred bidder to complete the M8 and related M73/M74 improvements. It is estimated that these schemes will shave 18 minutes from peak trip times.
SNP is under pressure to support full dualling of the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh. In May, Transport Minister Keith Brown unveiled plans to add a £3bn full dualling of the A96 Inverness-Aberdeen road by 2030 to existing plans for a £3bn full dualling of the Perth-Inverness A9 by 2025
Edinburgh Airport is seeking a direct road link to the M8 while costs for the proposed Inverness West Link Road have risen to £43m. Legal and preparatory work for construction of the A737 Den and Dalry bypasses is almost complete.
Following a death when an HGV crashed into a house on the A78 in Fairlie, consideration is being given to a 20 mph limit on this section of the trunk road. After Police Scotland action to crackdown on speeding drivers in Edinburgh, deaths and serious injuries in summer 2013 have fallen to 42 compared to 68 in 2012.
On street parking charges on the fringe of central Glasgow have risen from 50p to 80p for the first hour.
Charges in Edinburgh are also rising with cash-strapped motorists claiming they are being squeezed by an extra £2m. Sunday parking in Edinburgh is to remain free after protests but will be capped at 2 hours.
In Glasgow, the number of fines for motorists driving in bus lanes has fallen partly due to successful appeals based on poor signage but also influenced by better observance of bus lane regulations.
Under EU rules being considered, drivers may be required to fit car technology which keeps vehicles within speed limits
Edinburgh City Council is employing more inspectors to ensure that utility bodies complete satisfactory reinstatement after opening up roads. Road maintenance is beginning to improve after years of complaint at underspending and sub-standard repairs. One continuing complaint is the apparent inability to maintain high standards in road markings and ensuring that signs are not obscured.
Recent anniversaries include 50 years since the first Linwood Hillman Imp and 50 years from the opening of the Clyde Tunnel. Plans are being made for the 50th anniversary of the Forth Road Bridge in 2014. The additional crossing now being built is to be called the Queensferry Crossing.
WALKING & CYCLING
Partly due to a rise in cycling deaths and serious injuries plus some high profile fatalities and lenient court decisions, the media has given much greater coverage to cycling issues in both the UK and Scotland.
Cycle deaths and serious injuries in Scotland rose 7% to 898 in 2012 The London example as a pro-cycling city has been held up as an example to follow. There is also evidence of wider public awareness of the health and financial benefits of cycling and walking not only for leisure but as part of daily travel. Cycling successes at the 2012 Olympics added to this impetus.
Campaigns have focused on higher investment in cycling and satisfactory maintenance of pavements, paths and cycleways plus more 20mph zones and a presumption of a vehicle driver’s fault when an incident occurs. There has also been more emphasis on publicity, awareness and cycle training
In Scotland, there is increasing interest in radical and often controversial, proposals to shake-up present city centres to make them much more friendly for cyclists, pedestrians and community/tourist activities.
Proposals include fewer (or no) through routes for cars and public transport changes to lower noise and emissions levels while increasing the use of segregated track or tunnels where these are available. In Edinburgh Jan Gehl as city adviser has said ‘Princes St must adapt to survive’ rather than be ‘a big bus station’. Glasgow City Council has been looking at a similar approach but it is proving difficult to move from concepts to action.
Another current issue is when it is both legal and desirable for cyclists and pedestrians to share pavements and paths. In Glasgow, the cycle and footbridge across the M8 on the west side of the city centre started in the 1960s is finally nearing completion and other schemes will be added before the Commonwealth Games.
Cycling has been awarded some extra funding in the draft Scottish Government budget though it is unclear where this funding will be found from. Most local authority support remains very limited.
Walking and cycling is being encouraged in the new national Active Travel campaign. 1 in 3 car trips in Scotland are under 2 miles so there is ample scope for shifts to walking and cycling. The campaign slogan is ‘Not far? – Leave the Car’. Businesses and schools have also participated in Walk to Work and Walk to School weeks.
In May, 4000 cyclists converged on Holyrood as part of the Pedal on Parliament campaign with the major Freshnlow Pedal for Scotland event in Glasgow following on 8 September
Surveys for the Glasgow Centre for Population Health have shown a 25% rise in those cycling in and out of the city between 2009 and 2012. Benefits to the local economy and citizen health are estimated at £4.3m a year. Favourable Herald editorials appeared on 18 May & 29 July. A Transform Scotland report , utilising previous work by SNH, has concluded that cycling generates 10 times as much tourist spending in Scotland as does whisky.
Glasgow has appointed Frank McAveety as a ‘cycling czar’ and is planning to remodel Sighthill as a cycle-friendly community on Dutch lines.
Cyclists and pedestrians are to have priority in a revamp of Leith Walk in Edinburgh. Scottish Canals is spending £1m to upgrade canal towpaths while £780,000 is being spent on renovating the West Highland Way on the east side of Loch Lomond. A 35 mile Great Trossachs Path linking the West Highland Way and the Rob Roy Way is due to be finished in 2015
RESEARCH & STATISTICS
Air Passengers
Edinburgh reports a stronger rise in passenger numbers, now also including UK domestic travel. Edinburgh had a record 1.08m passengers in July, up 13% on July 2012 . Glasgow Airport has had its busiest June since 2008 with passengers up 5.4% on 2012 . Growth at Glasgow continued in July with especially high growth on BA’s domestic routes to London and on Flybe regional services. Aberdeen Airport was up 6.8% on July 2012 with rises in oil, domestic and international passengers. After large falls in passengers, Prestwick has had a 7% rise in passengers in April compared to the previous year. Most other regional airports in Scotland are experiencing growth – substantially higher where there are oil industry related trips but with Dundee in decline. Inverness was up 3% in July.
Cars
Scots are now buying new cars at a greater rate than elsewhere in UK. New registrations in Scotland in May were 17.5% above 2012 After a period of decline, UK petrol and diesel sales are showing slight growth and contributing extra Exchequer income despite a tax freeze. But sales again fell sharply in July as pump prices rose. While new cars are up, average yearly mileage for all cars has been falling.
Transport and Travel in Scotland 2012 was web published in August. The annual publication of Scottish Transport Statistics is to be delayed from December 2013 to Spring 2014 in order to capture more information. Details from Transport and Travel include:-
- road traffic in Scotland up 0.4% (-0.4% over Britain as a whole) – new vehicle registrations up 7%
- average monthly household spend on car fuel £134 (up £34 on 2009)
- 1 in 5 have used car for only part of trips (with big rise in informal and formal park and ride)
- ScotRail trips up 2.7% to 83.3m (up 45% on 2003)
- 28% of those in SHS sample have used train in past month compared to 15% in 2002
- 439m local bus trips (2% up on 2011)
- 22.2m air passengers (up less than 1% on 2011)
(46% of SHS sample took a leisure flight and 8% a business flight)
- ferry passengers down 2.5% (influenced by poor weather – 2013/14 usage is up)
Scottish Government expects all new cars to have near zero emissions by 2040 with fossil fuel vehicles in urban areas halved by 2030. £14m will be spent over the next two years to encourage a switch to electric vehicles. These changes aim both to improve city amenity and air quality while also making a major contribution to meeting targets for carbon cuts. They may prove hard to deliver.
Stagecoach is testing a pilot scheme which will allow real-time bus times to be supplied via display boards at bus stops, smartphone applications and the internet.
Ofcom reports a faster rise in internet access from mobile phones in Scotland than in other parts of UK. However, one quarter of the country – including parts of cities – has poor mobile coverage with a Herald editorial of 17 September calling for substantial broadband improvement.
DfT sample surveys show that British residents make fewer trips in Britain than the 1995/97 average. Average miles travelled in Britain in 2012 were 6691 per person compared to the peak of 7208 miles in 2005. Trips by private transport have fallen 14% since 95/97 while public transport trips (mainly by rail) are up 2%. Walking trips are down 27% but this may be exaggerated due to sampling issues.
The UGO Cabfinder app can now locate all taxi firms in an area at the touch of a button. It also provides price quotes
UK’s overall carbon footprint is up 10% over the past 20 years though domestic emissions are down around 20%. The reason for the overall rise is the carbon emissions related to imported goods. Greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland in 2011 were 54.2 m tonnes, 0.8m tonnes above the official target.
Petrol stations in Scotland are falling faster than in the rest of Britain. North of the border, 97 forecourts closed between 2010 and 2012 – a fall of 14%
The 2011 Scottish census shows an overall population rise to 5.3m but also confirms that several cities formerly in decline now have a rising population. These include Glasgow though the highest area growth since 2001 was 12% in Aberdeenshire with the Highlands, Orkney and East Lothian following at 11%. Edinburgh had 28,000 more people than in 2001. Glasgow’s population is up from a low of 583,000 in 2008 to 600,000 by 2011.
SNH survey reveals a marginal fall in time and money spent outdoors in Scotland by Scottish residents in 2012. However, the proportion visiting the outdoors close to home has risen from 30% in 2004 to 44%. Poor weather, a rise in overseas holidays, major events on TV and increased time spent on the internet and electronic games may have contributed to the fall.
A Transport Scotland survey has shown that 19% of parents in Edinburgh still drive children to school despite efforts to increase walking and cycling. Another 6.4% choose to ‘park and stride’ – walking their children for the final section to school.
Research by Fraser of Allander Institute has estimated that ScotRail services contribute £1.5 bn to the economy by enabling total employment of almost 60,000 (equated to £1.5bn). Direct ScotRail employment is 4,700 (up 35% since 2004) with other contributions to employment being indirect.
RAC Foundation has web published for Transport Scotland an analysis of changing trends in passenger movement in Scotland. This complements a similar report on Wales and the published study On the Move – making sense of car and train travel trends in Britain, RAC Foundation, December 2012 , Authors : Scott Le Vine and Peter Jones.
BUSINESS & PERSONNEL
Edinburgh Airport has won the accolade of Scottish Airport of the Year.
First Group market value has slumped due to debt problems but there has been some success with disposals
Stagecoach has posted an 8.1% rise in annual profits. Martin Griffiths became Chief Executive in May after Sir Brian Souter moved to be Chair
Falkirk based bus builder Alexander Dennis is showing a strong performance with profits up 56%
Lothian Buses boss Ian Craig has emerged as the highest paid chief executive of any public organisation in Scotland – being paid £265,000 a year
Ryanair has seen first quarter profits fall by more than 20% due to rising fuel costs and strike problems.
Allied Vehicles of Possilpark is expecting further growth in the accessible transport and taxicab market.
East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Councils have linked up in an Ayrshire Roads Alliance.
Administrators of the Railcare plant in Springburn have struck a deal to sell the business to German firm Knorr-Bremse. 70 jobs will be saved at Glasgow and 100 at Milton Keynes.
Colin Paterson, former MD of Caledonian MacBrayne has died. He retired in 1998 but continued to take a lead role in preserving and restoring the Maid of the Loch paddle steamer on Loch Lomond.
Prof. Chris Harvie has retired as SAPT President, being replaced by Vice President Tom Hart.
Jane Ann Liston has taken over from Mike Harrison as Secretary of Railfuture Scotland.