Moray SNP News

LOCHHEAD WELCOMES COMMITMENT TO INCREASE MORAY�S RAILWAY CAPACITY

Responding to a commitment made by Scotrail Alliance in their recently published improvement plan that by 2019 capacity between Inverness and Aberdeen will be increased by 75%; between Aberdeen and the Central Belt by 66% and between Inverness and the Central Belt by 43%, Moray MSP Richard Lochhead said:

"Passengers in Moray who rely on the Aberdeen to Inverness line have been expressing growing frustration over local services in recent years and the promised improvements can't happen soon enough. 

"The pledge to increase capacity on the Aberdeen to Inverness line by 75% by 2019 and also to increase capacity between Aberdeen and Inverness and the central belt are desperately needed. 

"More people want to use the train these days so it's essential the infrastructure is there to meet the growing demand but passengers often tell me that on some services they are squeezed like sardines into a tin and sometimes North trains are delayed or even cancelled.

"I'm pleased that the pressure being applied by Scottish Ministers to Scotrail in response to customers' concerns has led to the publication of the improvement plan because if these promises are delivered they will be transformational for passengers using local services in Moray.

" We need to see better punctuality, quality of trains and that extra capacity as quickly as possible.  I hope we don't have to wait until 2019 to see the pledges delivered but we can see significant improvements introduced incrementally before then."