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Scottish Government currently has no plans to construct a direct rail link to Aberdeen Airport.

However, Transport Scotland officials met with Aberdeen City Council to hear their proposals for an Airport rail link in November 2016. As is normal in such circumstances, we have advised promoters that they should follow the appropriate Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) process to allow proper consideration of the issues, options and proposed schemes.

We are not aware of any appraisal work being undertaken but look forward to reviewing the information when available.

To support route development at Scotland’s airports, the Scottish Government adopts a Team Scotland approach. This sees Transport Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland work in partnership with Scotland’s airports to provide support to airlines in a way which can be instrumental in an airline deciding to start a new route or develop an existing service. We can provide support to airlines in the form of attractive cooperative marketing packages, and also provide market intelligence and data to airlines on the potential of the Scottish market. Additional support can be considered for airlines who wish to base aircraft in Scotland in order to facilitate the economic benefits, including job creation, that comes with such a development.

Improving Scotland’s air connectivity is one of this Government’s top priorities, as it will help build strong business links and provide a real boost to our tourism industry. Our support has helped Scotland’s airports secure new routes to other parts of the UK, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The Scottish Government will continue to promote Scotland as a destination which can sustain more direct air services and better global hub connectivity and we will continue to work with all Scotland’s airports to achieve these objectives.

We are currently working with all our partners to decide the best and most cost effective way to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment on the promotion of electric bikes. We will ensure that the £80 million funding announced as part of the Programme for Government promotes an inclusive agenda for all ages and abilities in delivering our Active Nation Vision for Scotland. Announcements will be made in due course.

The Scottish Government has not conducted any assessment into the feasibility of rail or road connections between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of providing good transport links between Scotland and Northern Ireland via the Cairnryan Port facilities and over the last ten years has invested approximately £80 million on improvements to the A75 and A77. We are also committed to delivering the A77 Maybole Bypass, with construction expected to begin in 2018.

Furthermore, we will shortly take forward the “Programme for Government” commitment to commence work for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review in the Dumfries and Galloway area including looking at access to the ports at Cairnryan.

The situation for train performance in the West of Scotland, including delays, is advised to the Scottish Ministers on a regular basis. ScotRail publish their performance statistics for each sector on a four-weekly basis:

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/performance-and-reliability

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets/download_ct/schedule_7_web_upload_p1718_05.pdf

This reporting is analysed to assess ScotRail’s performance against their contractual benchmarks.

Enforcement costs of Low Emission Zones (LEZ) will depend on the type and scale of enforcement used to monitor and enforce each LEZ. The Building Scotland's Low Emission Zones consultation is currently seeking views on the establishment of LEZs including Automatic Number Plate Recognition enforcement of LEZs.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work with Highlands and Islands Airports Limited to build on the success of Inverness Airport’s recent growth in passenger numbers. We will continue to provide funding for projects, such as the recently completed car park expansion, that will provide the necessary capacity to support the airport’s growth.

Responsibility for the reliability and punctuality of rail services within Scotland rests primarily with ScotRail, the operator for 95 percent of rail services within Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s Franchise Agreement with ScotRail is designed to deliver improved punctuality and reliability through meeting contract benchmarks towards reaching a moving annual average for performance of 92.5% by April 2019 (currently 91.0%). Officials with Transport Scotland meet regularly with ScotRail to review their progress on meeting this target, and also review specific initiatives to improve reliability, notably throughout autumn and winter.

A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) was released in November 2016. These plans cover actions across fleet, operations and infrastructure. When the Plan was implemented, ScotRail’s overall performance (moving annual average) was recorded at 89.6%; it has now improved by 1.4%, and currently sits at 91.0%. This demonstrates clear evidence the Performance Improvement Plan is working and its contribution to lifting performance should be acknowledged.

ScotRail are committed to making significant investment to improve railway stations in Scotland, as the Scottish Government recognises their integral role in connecting communities. This investment includes the redevelopment of major stations such as Aberdeen, Inverness and Stirling, to the upgrading and enhancement of front line passenger and retail facilities at stations across Scotland.

ScotRail also work with community groups on initiatives to transform vacant station buildings into facilities to benefit local people through a Station Community Regeneration Fund or for use by small, start-up businesses in areas where a lack of accommodation for new business is restricting growth. In addition, ScotRail work and engage with the local community to develop opportunities enabling the railway to be a catalyst for social and economic regeneration through Adopt a Station Schemes and Community Rail Partnerships.

Transport Scotland has discussed with ScotRail the satisfaction scores for rail station parking following the results of the recent National Rail Passenger Surveys, it is difficult to determine the reasons for the low satisfaction score. Therefore ScotRail undertake their own analysis of car parking throughout the year by social media feedback, customer complaints, stakeholder engagement, staff feedback and mystery shopping sampling etc.

I understand the Member met with ScotRail recently and was provided with an update on their strategy to improve station car parking.

Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd at Port Glasgow is continuing to make progress on the construction of the two 100 metre ‘dual-fuel’ ferries with the anticipated launch of the first vessel, the MV Glen Sannox, on 21 November 2017.

The value of the contracts for the construction of these two vessels is £97 million.

FMEL are continuing to work with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd to ensure delivery of the new vessels as soon as practicable.