30 October 2006
Glasgow Airport Rail Link promoter welcomes Parliamentary Committee Report
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) - the organisation promoting the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) - today welcomed a parliamentary committee report recommending approval by Parliament of the Private Bill that will allow GARL to become a reality.
The report recommended that some final amendments should be made to the Bill to address the remaining objectors' concerns and SPT will assist the Committee to draft these.
The report states: "The Committee is satisfied that the benefits of the scheme outweigh the disbenefits. The Committee is also satisfied that an appropriate balance has been struck between the rights of those adversely affected by the scheme and its benefits to the wider community."
SPT Assistant Chief Executive John Halliday said: "We are very pleased that the committee has recommended that the Bill progress. A fast, direct rail link between Glasgow city centre and Glasgow Airport is now one step closer.
"During the past few months, we have worked hard with objectors in an effort to address their concerns and we will continue to work with the local community and those who have objected. We will now be examining the report in detail and working closely with the committee to ensure that all the amendments recommended by the committee are incorporated into the final bill.
"We are committed to this project and hope the required amendments will secure Parliamentary, and subsequently Ministerial approval, so that SPT can deliver this important extension to the rail network."
The GARL Bill is progressing through the Scottish Parliament. On 21 June 2006 MSPs voted 110 to 1 in favour of passing the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill from the Preliminary to the Consideration stage, where it was considered in detail. An independent assessor - Professor Hugh Begg - was appointed to further examine the Bill and report back to the committee. After considering the assessor's findings - and taking into account its own meetings with the Promoter and objectors during Consideration Stage - the GARL bill committee produced a consideration stage report, published today.
MSPs are expected to vote on whether the bill should be approved at the end of November. If GARL gets the green light, Royal Assent should be granted by early in 2007 and construction is expected to begin later in the year.
The proposal is to upgrade 9km (5.4 miles) of existing track between Shields Junction and Paisley Gilmour Street station and to lay 1.9km (1.2miles) of new track between Paisley St James station and Glasgow Airport. The new track will cross St James Park and the M8. A new platform will also be built in Central Station and a new track laid at the Elderslie sidings.
The Minister for Transport announced in a statement earlier this year to the Scottish Parliament that he expected delivery of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link by the end of 2010. The Transport Minister's recent statement places the out-turn cost - cost at point of completion - at between £170m and £210m. This is consistent with SPT's projections.
The new rail link would provide a dedicated train service every 15 minutes between Glasgow Central Station and a new station at Glasgow Airport. Trains will stop once at Paisley Gilmour Street and the journey time will be 16 minutes.
The Department for Transport estimates that passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport are predicted to almost double, from 8.2million a year in 2003, to over 15 million passengers a year in 2030. Airport owner, BAA Scotland's latest forecasts are even higher and indicate that passenger numbers could rise as high as 24 million by 2030. At present, 95% of these passengers travelling to Glasgow Airport do so by road.
The rail link will provide more travel choice for airport users and establish a sustainable transport link to Glasgow Airport, which is a major employer and one of the biggest wealth generators in the region. It will increase the rail opportunities for travellers using Paisley Gilmour Street station.
The link will also benefit the tourist industry. According to Roger Tym & Partners, Glasgow Airport Rail Link could help bring 52,500 additional UK and overseas visitors and contribute towards £10m in additional visitor expenditure every year to Glasgow, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde. The link would also support the Glasgow City region's conference sector business, worth an estimated £115m annually. In addition, the link will help support 1300 jobs across Glasgow and Renfrewshire including 650-700 gross new jobs in Paisley town centre.
The Glasgow Airport Rail Link is being promoted by SPT and supported by Transport Scotland.
Since 2004 SPT has consulted widely on its Glasgow Airport Rail Link proposals. SPT's formal public consultation into the Glasgow Airport Rail Link ran from 1 November 2004 to 28 February 2005 - there were a total of 1638 formal responses. In addition, 284 people attended public meetings and focus groups and 917 people visited the exhibition stands at various locations in Glasgow and Renfrewshire. The formal consultation saw more than 20,000 information leaflets distributed to homes and businesses along the route of the proposed link. A further 15,000 leaflets were distributed on local train services. A series of public exhibitions and meetings have been held and a website has also been created www.spt.co.uk/garl. In late January 2006, SPT sent out more than 12,000 leaflets to people living along the line of the proposed route. The consultation continues.
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