5 October 2005

Green light for vital strategic rail project

A new £600,000 feasibility study, just completed by Strathclyde Passenger Transport, proves that the £187 million Crossrail project - described as 'the most important strategic rail project in Scotland' - is technically possible.

The project has the potential to link the whole of south-west Scotland with the rest of the country by spanning the missing link between Glasgow's Queen Street and Central Stations, closing the gap between what has effectively been two separate rail networks.

The key to the project is upgrading existing infrastructure to deliver significant new local, regional and national services.

Three new stations would be built at Glasgow Cross, the Gorbals and West Street with High Street station being relocated. The new West Street station would offer an interchange facility where customers could leave the rail network and join the Subway.

Cllr Alistair Watson, Chair of SPT, said, "This project ticks so many boxes in terms of what the Scottish Executive is trying to achieve with transport corridors: economic regeneration, social inclusion and building both the west of Scotland's economy and Scotland's economy as a whole.

"We are in the business of growing the network. Crossrail opens up the whole railway network to south-west Scotland, the city of Glasgow and once the new rail link is completed, to Glasgow Airport. This taps into the vast potential rail market in Ayrshire and also creates the opportunity for cross-conurbation journeys.

"Crossrail's strategic importance goes beyond Glasgow's boundaries. It is strategically the most important project in Scotland. It gives us the railway equivalent of the M77 and the M8.

"We've done our bit and now I believe it's up to the Scottish Executive to support this vital project.'

The next step in the process would be for the Scottish Executive to agree to finance Crossrail. SPT or its successor, the West of Scotland Regional Transport Partnership, would then sponsor a private bill through the Scottish Parliament with a target completion date of 2010.

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