SNP blasts Labour plan to axe rail service

Published on Saturday 7 November 2009 19:03

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has hit out at "secret plans" to axe a vital rail service between Scotland and London.

The UK government takes over the direct service between Glasgow and King's Cross on the East Coast Main Line next week and will end it in December next year.

This prompted an angry reaction from the SNP leader yesterday as he campaigned in the Glasgow North East by-election, accusing Labour of "deceit" and claiming the decision would damage the Scottish economy.

The First Minister said: "This secret plan to slash one of Glasgow's main connections to London, a connection that is vital for business, for tourism and for employment, is a clear sign that Labour continue to take Glasgow and Glasgow voters for granted.

"It is the deceit at the heart of their campaign."

The two governments have been at loggerheads over recent attacks on the Scottish Government's decision to scrap a rail link between Glasgow airport and the city centre.

Salmond said: "Labour's London transport minister has spent two days lecturing the Scottish Government about an unaffordable airport link, when all along his department was set to axe an important and existing service to and from Glasgow."

John Mason, the SNP MP for Glasgow East, joined in the attack, accusing Labour of "hypocrisy" in its criticisms.

"These plans, which have been made without any consultation, are a serious mistake and must be stopped in their tracks," he said.

The proposed changes to the timetables to have also been criticised by Passenger Focus, which has demanded that an alternative arrangement be made to "take up the slack" and ensure direct services from Glasgow to the north of England continue.

James King, Scottish board member of the body, said: "Withdrawing these services is only acceptable if another operator can be found to provide connectivity between Glasgow and the north-east of England as far as York. We would want to be reassured another operator can pick up the slack."

Although there is no official statement on any replacement, there have been suggestions that Arriva Cross Country could take up some of the services lost in the new timetable by extending the service operated from Glasgow along part of the East Coast Main Line as far as York. That would only leave destinations in the south-east of England without a direct connection to Glasgow. The proposed change comes just days after the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that a government-owned company, East Coast, would be taking over services on the route after National Express handed back the operation of the franchise, having suffered a revenue crisis due to declining passenger numbers.

The changes have been discussed between the DfT, Network Rail and other interested parties. However, a DfT source insisted no timetabling changes had been proposed to the UK transport secretary Lord Adonis, whose approval would be required.

However, the timetabling changes, which were discussed yesterday at a stakeholder event in London hosted by National Express, are said not to be directly linked to the temporary nationalisation of the franchise. Network Rail said: "Passenger train timetables are devised by government and by train operators."