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11 March 2010

(S3O-9810) Grangemouth Freight Hub

1. Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the final acquisition of land for the A801 Avon gorge upgrade, when its support will be forthcoming to enable the further progress of this project and other improvements related to the Grangemouth freight hub, as identified by the national planning framework 2 and the strategic transport projects review. (S3O-9810)

The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):

I recognise the value of the work undertaken by Falkirk Council and West Lothian Council in moving this project forward. Under the terms of the concordat with local government, Falkirk Council and West Lothian Council are free to bring forward proposals for the upgrade of the A801, should they wish.

The priorities arising from the strategic transport projects review are clear—the Forth replacement crossing, and the Edinburgh to Glasgow, Highland main line and Aberdeen to Inverness rail improvements. We will bring forward future road and rail proposals arising from the STPR and national planning framework as resources permit.

Cathy Peattie: Does the minister agree that early support for the A801 upgrade and the Grangemouth freight hub would not only make my constituency a safer place but would make a fundamental contribution to the local and Scottish economy and would meet the Government's climate change commitments? Will he make the proposal the highest priority? People in Falkirk East simply cannot wait. I think that people in Scotland also cannot wait.

Stewart Stevenson: We have to manage within the resources that we have, given the constraints of the reduced funding that is now available from Westminster as a result of decisions that Cathy Peattie's colleagues there have made. I share her enthusiasm for this project; it is an important one, coupled with support for Grangemouth. That is, of course, why the projects that I set out made it into the STPR and national planning framework. We will act at as early a stage as finance permits.

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): Will the minister examine, alongside any plans to upgrade the rail facilities at Grangemouth freight hub, the potential to reintroduce passenger services to Grangemouth, not least because the infrastructure is in place and given the positive impact that that would have on the local economy?

Stewart Stevenson: My colleague Jamie Hepburn has already been on the case. The proposal has the potential to deliver significant local benefits. The rail line from Grangemouth that connects into the network is really only configured to allow trains to run to the west. One would therefore want to look to establish whether connections to the east would be of greater utility to Grangemouth than those to the west. We will keep the proposal under review, although I do not expect any early decisions on the matter.

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