Transport minister Keith Brown shuns rail for chaffeur-driven car

And despite his responsibility for the £1 billion Scot- Rail contract, Brown has also proved far less of a fan of the train than several ministers, including his predecessor.

The latest Scottish Government figures show rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead made 15 rail journeys between December 2010 – when Brown was appointed – and last October. Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop made six.

However, Stewart Stevenson, who Brown replaced, has taken the train 59 times since he returned as environment minister in May. In two-and-a-half years at transport, Stevenson clocked up 1,000 train or bus journeys, regularly providing updates in his speeches.

By contrast, Brown’s official track record runs to only two Glasgow-Edinburgh rail journeys in December 2010, and one from Perth to Edinburgh and another from Edinburgh to London last September. His journeys by official car include trips from Ayr, Edinburgh and Perth to Glasgow, and Alloa to Edinburgh, all of which have rail stations.

Brown’s limo log includes being driven from a “personal address” to Airdrie station for the launch of the Airdrie-Bathgate rail line last March. He was even driven to Waverley station in Edinburgh from a “personal address” in June.

In his New Year message, Brown called on Scots to make 2012 “the year they explore alternative means of travel, including cycling, walking and public transport.”

However, he admitted to relying on his official car. He said: “Personally, my car acts as a mobile office, allowing me to catch up on work in between engagements in a way I wouldn’t be able to using other means of transport.”

Yesterday, green campaigners said Brown must get out more. Colin Howden, director of sustainable transport group Transform Scotland, said: “If he’s not prepared to travel more sustainably then he has little credibility in telling others to get out of their cars. Perhaps if [he] used public transport, he’d be less eager to slash funding for buses and cycling.”

Green MSP Patrick Harvie added: “Any transport minister who chooses to travel daily by limo really can’t claim to stand up for the interests of rail passengers, especially in a week when the SNP has hugely increased the motorways budget but cut funding for sustainable transport.

“It’s time he spent some serious time using trains and buses, seeing for himself the standard of public transport many people have to use every day of the week, and the failings which come from letting companies put profit ahead of public interest.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The journeys detailed on [our] website are only those Mr Brown has actually claimed expenses for. They do not cover the other journeys he has taken which have not been claimed in expenses.

“As well as this, Mr Brown travels by bus regularly around Edinburgh, Glasgow and his constituency and enjoys the opportunity to speak to other public transport users.”