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Edinburgh rail link to be dropped Edinburgh air rail link dropped
(about 23 hours later)
A major plank of the previous Scottish Executive's transport policy is to be scrapped by the SNP administration. Ambitious plans for an underground rail station at Edinburgh Airport have been scrapped, the government has announced.
Plans for a £650m Edinburgh Airport rail link will instead be replaced by other transport improvements. Proposals for a new station on the Edinburgh-Fife line and a new loop on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line, which would be electrified, were instead outlined.
The Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (Earl) would have linked the city centre, as well as a further 60 railway stations, to the rapidly-growing airport. Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson told MSPs that the scheme would achieve intended goals more quickly and at a third of the original price.
Critics, including the SNP, said it was a costly scheme and that the money could be better spent. However, the plans were attacked by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
In June, the Scottish Government suffered its first major Holyrood defeat when MSPs voted against SNP plans to scrap the new £600m tram system for Edinburgh. The Scottish Government said the £650m Edinburgh Airport Rail Link, known as Earl, was costly and that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
Preparatory work on the project is now under way and it is scheduled to be completed by January 2011. The SNP ordered a luxury Lexus limo for their first minister - why are they delivering a Reliant Robin rail link for Scotland? Iain GrayLabour transport spokesman
'Cheaper alternatives' Mr Stevenson told the Scottish Parliament there was no way for the current airport project to proceed and said the new plans set out an "ambitious, credible and deliverable alternative".
However, Earl which would have diverted the east coast and Edinburgh to Glasgow rail lines through the airport by an underground tunnel was not saved by parliament. "We believe that our programme for investment in rail will provide a major boost to the wealth of Scotland and its long-term sustainability," he said.
Now it appears that an extra railway station, near the tramline, will be used improve connections to the airport from the north of the city. "These are strong proposals for the future of Scotland."
The Glasgow to Edinburgh line could also be electrified to bring the two cities closer together. The plan includes an airport station at Gogar on the Fife railway line, to allow easy access to the airport.
The Scottish Greens said the new airport tram link was sufficient. Former transport minister Tavish Scott said the Nationalists, along with their "cosy" Tory supporters, were seeking to kill off a strategic transport project.
The party said it did not want a scheme that might encourage even more people to fly. "The SNP's solution is not the direct link that Scots, visitors and business want," Mr Scott said.
Alex Johnstone MSP, Conservative transport spokesman, also welcomed the decision. "A Gogar rail halt is not a direct airport rail link. And it is not the right solution."
He said: "Right from the start, Scottish Conservatives have led the way in pressing for a serious examination of cheaper alternatives to Earl." 'Gross incompetence'
He said the SNP "appear to agree with us and are putting in place a sensible, achievable, value for money means of connecting Edinburgh Airport to the national rail network". Also claiming ministers had taken forward a poorer alternative, Labour transport spokesman Iain Gray said: "What this promises is an airport station which isn't at the airport."
Mr Gray said he had heard Earl described as a "Rolls Royce solution", adding: "The SNP ordered a luxury Lexus limo for their first minister - why are they delivering a Reliant Robin rail link for Scotland?"
Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone welcomed the Earl alternative and attacked the previous Scottish administration for backing the original airport link.
"By arrogantly insisting on the most expensive scheme of all and crudely dismissing attempts by the Conservatives and others to suggest alternatives, the Lib-Lab pact stand accused of gross incompetence and an indecent disregard for the public finances," he said.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie welcomed the announcement, adding: "With all parties now talking the language of climate change, we must ensure that this amounts to more than platitudes."
Mr Stevenson said the government also intended to build a rail link between the Fife and Edinburgh - Glasgow routes, known as the "Dalmeny chord", allowing trains from Scotland's two largest cities to stop at the new airport station.
The savings from Earl, said the minister, would be invested in improving rail services, including a planned electrified rail network between Edinburgh and Glasgow and routes up to Dunblane, Alloa and Cumbernauld.