Central Scotland MSP, Graham Simpson, led a Members’ business debate in The Scottish Parliament last night on the Scottish Government’s announcement that it will no longer fully dual the East Kilbride rail line.
Local MSPs from all parties agreed with Mr Simpson’s motion, including East Kilbride MSP Collette Stevenson, that the reversal was a mistake which would have grave consequences for the town.
The Tory MSP opened with a quote from the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, Michael Matheson, from September 2020 in which he made it clear that it was the Government’s intention to electrify and dual the line all the way to East Kilbride.
Mr Simpson, who was told that the Government had concerns that the £40m cost to extend the dualled section of line would spiral, went on to criticise the Minister for Transport for not being brave enough.
He also called on the Scottish Government to be more ambitious to prevent East Kilbride residents from having to travel via Glasgow or by the car when they want to visit other areas of Scotland.
Mr Simpson argued plans should go beyond dualling to East Kilbride, even extending the line to Hamilton.
In response, the Minister for Transport, Graeme Dey, promised that all local MSP from all parties will be consulted on the next steps of the project at some point in the new year.
The Minister argued the line will have greater resilience through improvements to signalling and the addition of new ‘loops’ but refused to admit that the Scottish Government had broken its promise to residents.
Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland said: “MSPs from all parties were unanimous in opposing the government’s current plans.
“There was a promise to dual the line and that is absolutely essential given that East Kilbride is growing at a tremendous rate of knots.
“The Scottish Government has the opportunity to do the right thing and give East Kilbride the investment we need.
“I’m pleased the minister has agreed to involve MSPs in any future decisions. We can only hope that this leads to a change of heart.”
