The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Tory plan to transform transport
The Scottish Conservatives have launched infrastructure plans to improve several key routes across Scotland including the A9, A90 and to take forward the building of the Dundee Northern Relief Road.
The party unveiled their Uniting Scotland plan to rebuild Scotland’s roads, railways and infrastructure in Aberdeen on Monday, including a proposal to reopen the railway line between Perth and Edinburgh.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross claimed the plans would create “tens of thousands of new jobs and generate long-term economic growth”.
The infrastructure plan also sets out a number of major proposals including the introduction of a Scottish Smart Travel Card, the reversal of the Beeching cuts of the 1960s and the roll-out of full fibre broadband by 2027.
The Tories have vowed to build the new relief road for the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen dual carriageway, which was first identified by Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government more than a decade ago.
The Scottish Government confirmed the plans were being “reappraised” in 2019 but since then, no further work has been carried out on the route.
Proposals have also been unveiled to improve several key routes across Tayside and Perth, including the A90 between Dundee and Aberdeen and the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
Transport Scotland bosses expect to confirm this year if the current timescales for dualling the two major roads “remain deliverable”.
The A9 Perth to Inverness road was due to be completed by 2025 but timescales have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
On rail, the party revealed it would move to take forward plans to reopen the line between
Perth and Edinburgh, to accelerate work to improve rail links between Aberdeen and the central belt and to speed up plans to decarbonise the railways.
The party would also develop a new action plan to meet Scotland’s electric vehicle target, including a complete national charging system by 2025.
Mr Ross said: “We would unite Scotland with closer transport links and improved local services in every part of the country.
“If we’re going to tackle the looming economic and jobs crisis, we need to look at bold plans like a threelane M8, reversing the Beeching cuts and rolling out full fibre broadband everywhere by 2027.
“The SNP’s infrastructure incompetence can be seen all over the country; from the ferries fiasco on the Clyde to the delayed Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh to the roads in the northeast, they’ve been far too slow to fix.
“Any project by the SNP is inevitably delayed and the costs often spiral out of control.
“By stopping an SNP majority and their push for another referendum, the Scottish Conservatives would get all of the focus back onto rebuilding Scotland.”
The Tories also vowed to build a new road to bypass the A83 Rest and Be Thankful, to upgrade the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness, the A9 between Perth and Inverness and the A82 between Glasgow and Inverness.
Again, Transport Scotland bosses expect to confirm this year if the current timescales for dualling the A9 by 2025 and A96 by 2030 will be able to be delivered.
The construction of the two major roads projects have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Ross’ party have also pledged to work with Regional Transport Partnerships to take forward more local projects including bridge maintenance work in Aberdeenshire and to carry out a feasibility study on creating a new ‘hydrogen network’ between Aberdeen and Inverness.