Highland Council TECS Committee 20 November 2009

2. Presentation - Rail Services

The Chairman welcomed Mr F Roach, HITRANS, who gave a presentation summarising the structure of the rail network in Scotland, the policy background, the current position with regard to rail services in the Highlands and a number of planned developments:

• the Tesco service to Inverness had commenced with 10 containers and would increase to 20 containers which would equate to 20 lorries per day less on the A9 each way
• the Invernextra rail service would be launched on 14 December 2008 and would include four trains per day to Wick and Kyle, a morning commuter service from Aviemore and Carrbridge arriving in Inverness at a more suitable time than the previous Kingussie service, a late night service to Tain on Fridays and Saturdays and a connection from Ardgay to the National Express train to London
• a half-hourly peak service through Dingwall with provision in the timetable for stops at Conon Bridge was also planned
• from 15 December 2008 there would be one additional train each way on the Aberdeen to Inverness line including an 0710 service from Inverness to Aberdeen to fill a long gap in the existing timetable
• a feasibility study had been carried out regarding the construction of a station at Inverness Airport at an estimated cost of £12m and the outcome of the Strategic Transport Projects Review was awaited but as each additional stop added three minutes to the timetable, that could be saved by work to improve track alignment at Forres
• on the Highland Main Line, an hourly service from Inverness to Edinburgh would commence in 2011/2012 with a journey time of 2 hours 45 minutes following planned major infrastructure developments
• on the West Highland Line, there would be additional trains to Mallaig on Sundays from spring 2009 and it was hoped to increase the number of trains to Oban to five per day
• finally, the possibility of introducing a summer steam train service to Kyle, particularly in connection with the Invergordon cruise ship market, was being investigated

In discussion, the following comments were made:

• support was expressed for the planned developments which would significantly improve rail services in the Highlands and connectivity to the rest of the UK
• disappointment was expressed that the Invernet service from Kingussie to Inverness, which now commenced at Aviemore, had not been more successful and improvements to the timetable for that route were sought
• the construction of a station at Conon Bridge would help to reduce traffic congestion on the Kessock Bridge and it was hoped that the necessary funding could be secured in the near future
• cheaper tickets and improved integration were necessary to encourage more people to use public transport
• the introduction of the Tesco freight service was welcomed and it was hoped that freight services could be extended in the future, particularly to Wick and Thurso
• the Jacobite steam train to Mallaig was very successful and support was expressed for the introduction of a similar service to Kyle
• the train journey from Inverness to Thurso currently took four hours and this would have to be reduced if people were going to be persuaded to use public transport in favour of their cars
• separate desks should be introduced at Inverness Station for enquiries to reduce the time it took to purchase a ticket
• the full potential of the West Highland Line was not being realised and it was suggested that more carriages be introduced in the summer months

Following a question and answer session, the Committee NOTED the presentation and the Chairman thanked Mr Roach on behalf of the Committee for his work to promote and develop rail services and the detailed information given to the Committee.