Scotland plans tram expansion and Clyde Metro
A major review of Scottish transport projects has backed an expansion of Edinburgh’s tram network and pressing ahead with a ‘Clyde Metro’ system.
The Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 final report (STPR2), produced by consultants Jacobs and AECOM for Transport Scotland, also recommends a series of enhancements along Scotland’s major rail corridors.
Transport Scotland said it would follow up the report with a “delivery plan” in the new year, “when there is more clarity and greater certainty on the available capital budget and fiscal policy for the coming years”.
Scotland’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “The final publication of STPR2 represents a key milestone for transport planning in Scotland, setting out a 20-year framework for capital investment to drive the change we need to reach our ambitious - and essential - net zero goals.
“The era where catering for unconstrained growth in private car use is well and truly over.
“The majority of the 45 recommendations contribute directly towards achieving emissions reduction, and I’m pleased that significant progress is already being made on many of these.”
But Colin Smyth, Scottish Labour’s spokesman for the same brief, said the review was “already years late”. He described the commitments as “vague” and criticised the SNP government for “failing to publish a delivery plan”.
On top of the extension to Leith and Newhaven, which is currently under construction, the report includes a map showing “potential future tram extensions" to destinations including Granton on the city’s waterfront, and as far as Musselburgh in East Lothian.
STPR2 also gives support to the long-planned Clyde Metro scheme, which could feature new light rail lines to East Kilbride, Newton Mearns and Clydebank, heavy rail metro extensions to Erskine, Glasgow Airport and Kirkintilloch, and the conversion of existing rail lines to metro operations.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Chair Stephen Dornan welcomed the support for the scheme, saying: “We look forward to working with Transport Scotland and Glasgow City Council to develop and deliver this fit-forpurpose multi-modal public transport system, designed to improve transport across the region for many future generations.”
Pressure group Get Glasgow Moving, which campaigns for integrated transport and ticketing in the area around Scotland’s largest city, welcomed the support for Clyde Metro. But it criticised the suggestion of a “partnership” model for the city’s bus network as “an irresponsible waste of public money”.
Get Glasgow Moving co-founder Ellie Harrison told RAIL: “It is also vital that Glasgow City Region’s public transport governance is reformed, so that there is a ‘guiding mind’ for the region’s public transport network capable of planning and delivering the Clyde Metro project in the public interest.”
On the Highland Main Line, the report recommends “new and longer passing loops with more flexibility and permissible speed increases”, which it says will increase passenger and freight capacity and decrease journey times.
On the Perth-Dundee-Aberdeen rail corridor, it recommends permissible speed increases and junction upgrades. It suggests upgrades to the approaches to Perth station and the Tay viaduct, as well as local area enhancements at Arbroath and Montrose and improvements to signalling. Increased gauge clearance, the report says, could “facilitate growth in the full range of intermodal freight traffic” through permitting “taller and wider trains”.
South of Dundee and Perth, on the routes to Edinburgh and Glasgow, the report suggests junction improvements at Greenhill Junction, Dunblane, Hilton Junction and Moncrieff Tunnel, Perth station approaches, and
Edinburgh's western station approaches. Improvements to gauge clearance are also suggested on this route.
The report also backs improving accessibility, including a trial of “enhanced audio announcements and help points” and smart ticketing.
Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway, the alliance of ScotRail and Network Rail’s Scottish region, said: “Scotland’s Railway is in the unique position of being a high-capacity, low-carbon mode of transport capable of moving both people and heavy goods. That’s why it’s so encouraging to see STPR2 supporting the potential for even more passenger and freight to travel by train.”