Inverness mourns TLR and trains get a bashing

December 16, 2008 · Filed Under Inverness, Roads, Transport 

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The SNP’s Strategic Transport Review was supposed to be a declaration of commitment to bring Scotland’s transport infrastructure into the 21st century.

Unfortunately, it increasingly looks like a document confused in terms of commitments and priorities.

While the aspirations are laudable, the really big question really begs how seriously committed the Scottish Government is to these projects.

Also, while major projects were mentioned, smaller ones were conspicuous by their absence.

A particular one is the development of the infamous TLR – which despite years of hope and planning didn’t get a mention.

The Inverness Courier has a couple of articles about the apparent death of their long-anticipated southern bypass:

Is this the road to nowhere?
TLR – and what might have been

The reality is that a road which has been years in the planning and is central to many other assumptions about the development of Inverness has run into the buffers.

I guess that means that any visitors travelling between Inverness and the A82 remain doomed to weave through the narrow back streets of the one-way system for some time to come. Not exactly very 21st century,

It does seem that that the closer you look at Scottish politics, the more glaringly obvious it is how problematic having centralised spending decisions can be – on the one hand, major Highland projects being pushed aside by Edinburgh for spending on the Central Belt; and within the Highlands, Inverness pulling money in from outlying areas to develop itself at their expense.

Scottish funding looks increasingly cannibalistic rather than prioritised.

Secondly, Newsbleat raises concerns that rather than improving, Scottish transport links are actually getting worse:

The new Inverness-Aberdeen timetable is out from First Scotrail and the government has published its big transport plans for the coming years.

The timetable shows that First Scotrail are making train services for people living in Nairn, Forres and Elgin worse than ever.

The last train out of Inverness remains at 9.20pm. (Bang goes any hope of a night out in the Highland Capital unless you want to drive, which means you can’t drink, or unless you want to wait until almost midnight for, gulp, The Last Bus To Elgin and all the delights that involves.)

But the first service in the morning into Inverness now arrives even later – 7.48 – pretty much wrecking any hope of getting the 7.55 connection south to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

And you still can’t get into Inverness before midday on a Sunday.

Meanwhile the government’s transport review has come out in favour of dualling the A9 and the section of the A96 between Inverness and Nairn.

Yet there was no mention of dualling the pitiful single track railway lines.

Are we serious about getting folk out of their cars and onto public transport or not?

Not sure that the Inverness connection to Edinburgh or Glasgow is that bad – but 7 minutes doesn’t give much time in case of delays, or to grab a drink or smoke in Inverness.

The point about the rail system is an interesting one, though – certainly more frequent late trains on a Friday or Saturday would be welcome, though would dualling the rail lines really make sense in view of demand issues?

Overall, it seems the really big point underlined by the transport review is not how ambitious the SNP is, as much as how badly the Scottish transport infrastructure needs modernising for the 21st century.

Comments

2 Responses to “Inverness mourns TLR and trains get a bashing”

  1. Des on December 16th, 2008 10:50 pm

    ‘But the first service in the morning into Inverness now arrives even later – 7.48 – pretty much wrecking any hope of getting the 7.55 connection south to Edinburgh and Glasgow.’

    Correct, you’re taking a big chance with that connection. Use other means to get to Inverness if you want to be sure of heading south on the London train.
    Went in once on Scotrail to get that one myself, as Scotrail arrived the London train was majestically pulling away out of the station. Took Scotrail 20 minutes to find a minbus taxi for all the irate passengers but we still got to Edinburgh before the London train lol (with a comfort break at house of Bruar).

  2. Brian Turner on December 20th, 2008 12:37 pm

    Looking increasingly dead as a project so far:
    http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/995748?UserKey=

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