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22nd April 2008
Scotrail Franchise Extension a Missed Opportunity says
MSP
North east MSP and Scottish Conservative
transport spokesman Alex Johnstone, attacked the way in
which the governments decision to grant a three year
extension to the Scotrail franchise was arrived at and
announced during the Scottish Parliaments Easter recess.
Responding to a statement in the Holyrood
parliament by transport spokesman Stewart Stevenson, Mr
Johnstone criticised the lack of consultation in advance of
this decision and the way in which it was made public in a
press release two weeks before the statement was made to
members in parliament.
Speaking afterwards the Northeast MSP said,
“While I welcome the additional investment which this
extension will bring I am extremely disappointed that the
detailed explanation of where service improvements will
occur, appears to exclude the Northeast entirely.
“I have been critical of Scotrail in the
past for their performance on the flagship
Aberdeen/Edinburgh and Aberdeen/Glasgow routes. Although
there are signs of improvement on these services they are
all down to Scotrails efforts to improve efficiency.
Transport minister Stewart Stevenson appears to have missed
an opportunity to bring new investment and significant
service improvements to the Northeast.
“I have arranged to meet Mary Dickson, the
chief executive of Scotrail, next week to discus what can be
done to make train travel more attractive for the people of
the Northeast.”
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