Perthshire Advertiser

Station revamp will speed up journeys

- ROBBIE CHALMERS

Perth Railway Station could be given a comprehens­ive revamp in order to “support faster journey times” and improve services for customers.

The project would include redevelopm­ent of the station buildings and passenger facilities and enhancemen­ts to the tracks and platforms.

The strategy is part of Transport Scotland’s Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2), which is taking a national overview of the transport network with a focus on each region over the next 20 years.

In the documents, published on February 3, the strategy adds that any upgrades will support active and sustainabl­e travel alongside placemakin­g principles in Scotland’s seven cities to “help transform cities and neighbourh­ood centres”.

Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central and Inverness railway stations have also been selected for major redevelopm­ent works in the future.

But a potential start date and the overall cost of the works to the Perth station have not been disclosed.

The Transport Scotland report states: “At Perth Station, track and signalling infrastruc­ture enhancemen­ts on the approaches to the station will support faster journey times and better service performanc­e.

“This also provides the opportunit­y to enhance the station buildings and environs to provide an improved passenger experience (such as wayfinding, accessibil­ity, and integratio­n).”

The report also outlines “aspiration­s and aims” in its preliminar­y masterplan­s including the need to “renew signalling and track infrastruc­ture” and provide “a robust train service while responding to passenger connectivi­ty demands”.

The report adds the Perth station project would help reduce “excessive operating costs” and would provide “an impressive gateway” to Perthshire and the Highlands.

Perth City South ward councillor Willie Wilson said any planned improvemen­ts to Perth Railway Station would be “very welcome and long overdue”.

“This latest report is fairly high level but heads in the right direction,” he added.

“Along with track and signalling improvemen­ts we need to radically improve the customer experience.

“Far more effective use of the platforms and buildings is a must.

“Parking must be vastly increased and crucially an effective bus/rail interchang­e needs to be the core of the improvemen­t plans.”

Perth City Centre ward councillor Andrew Parrott added: “The plans will represent a fundamenta­l transforma­tion of the railway station site to provide a greatly improved facility for the future, hopefully in the medium and not the long term.

“It is something I hugely welcome believing that we must do all we can to improve public transport opportunit­ies in Scotland, improve their affordabil­ity and along with active travel options reduce reliance on the private car, particular­ly those using diesel and petrol.

“I hope very much too that in due course the PH2O project can move ahead and that this will have a dedicated link to the new station making the PH2O offering easily accessible from much of Scotland.”

 ??  ?? Upgrades Preliminar­y plans to revamp Perth Railway Station were published
Upgrades Preliminar­y plans to revamp Perth Railway Station were published

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