Funding of £4.85bn for 2019-24

Scottish Government funding of £4.85 billion for the five years from 2019 will be “more than enough for core operating, maintenance and renewals, and some enhancements”, according to Transport Scotland Rail Director Bill Reeve.

He was speaking to a conference organised by Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (Hitrans) in Inverness on January 29, just days after the figure - known as the ‘statement of funds available’ - was made public.

Reeve added that the Scottish Government was not happy with the money provided by the UK Treasury, but he thought that more would come to Scotland as the UK Department for Transport spent more on enhancements projects in England.

He argued that electrification delivery could be improved to bring more benefits, adding that he didn’t believe that bi-mode trains were the answer (in contrast to the view from the DfT). He called for ScotRail and Network Rail to pursue ambitious journey times and better performance, with the railway needing to remain competitive with Scotland’s road network.

Regarding the Far North Line from Inverness to Wick and Thurso, Reeve said recent performance had been disappointing, and that journeys had been made longer to cope with level crossing safety concerns. He said he shared aspirations for more frequent and longer trains.