Yes—I have a brief opening statement.
On our trunk road network, we have experienced severe winter weather since my last update. As a result, there was an extended period of freeze, thaw, snow and rain cycles this winter. That somewhat accelerated the deterioration of localised sections of our carriageways—local roads felt the impact, too.
In terms of our responsibilities, Transport Scotland’s trunk road response led to the reprioritisation of £6 million towards more than 90 patching or larger resurfacing schemes across the network. The trunk road response also included the deployment of additional maintenance crews and road signage, as well as targeted and focused media updates. A number of areas in the trunk road network were particularly affected, which we discussed in a recent members’ business debate in Parliament.
Notwithstanding some of the weather challenges, we have pushed forward with essential upgrading of our roads. I will give some of the highlights. The iconic route along the side of Loch Lomond from Tarbet to Inverarnan is progressing, and we are pressing ahead with the preferred route option. In February, we awarded £3.4 million towards ground investigation, which has been progressing at a good pace. Following route options assessment, Transport Scotland announced its preferred option—option 3—for the A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton link road. Again, that work is progressing. Grade separation work is being done on the A9/A82 Longman roundabout. Work is also being done on the Aberdeen western peripheral route and on further schemes.
We intend to introduce the transport bill to Parliament next month. I have already said publicly that the bill will include measures on buses, responsible parking, smart and integrated multimodal ticketing, low-emission zones and regional transport partnership finance. There will be some elements on the Scottish road works commissioner and some technical proposals on the Scottish Canals board.
Within the £5 billion that will be spent on the Scottish rail network, there will be major investment in new and refurbished rolling stock. More than £475 million will be invested in ScotRail’s rolling stock, which will deliver major enhancements to train facilities and increase seating capacity by 23 per cent by 2019, with further increases once we can run eight-car services. We published our rail enhancement and capital investment strategy in March, and we are taking measures to tackle overcrowding. The committee will be well aware of the continued measures that we and ScotRail are taking to improve performance right across the network.
On ferries, we have provided money to Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd to allow it to purchase three passenger vessels to serve the northern isles, which will guarantee the lifeline connections to and from Orkney and Shetland. We have committed to roll out to the northern isles the road equivalent tariff, which has already been a major success on the west coast, and we are continuing discussions with Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council on a long-term solution to their internal ferries. There have been some challenges in the Clyde and Hebrides network at the start of summer, largely due to issues with the Clansman. The number 1 priority for Caledonian MacBrayne and for us is to maintain, and ensure the sustainability of, lifeline services.
I will not go into too much detail, but the national transport strategy review is on-going and progressing on schedule. Early work has started on the strategic transport projects review, and the STPR will follow the NTS review.
Engagement with local communities has been central to the NTS review, and I am pleased that we have covered from north to south and from east to west.
We are also pushing ahead with our commitment to decarbonise transport and to do our part in that regard, given that transport is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide. We are looking to take forward a number of work strands in that area. Low-emission zones are a key strand of work, and I am delighted that Glasgow will be the first city to introduce low-emission zones by the end of the year. Glasgow will be followed by the three other largest cities, and other air quality management areas will be established thereafter. Again, I am happy to talk in detail about that.
On active travel, we have a commitment to double our budget from £40 million to £80 million. Work in that area is well under way, and we have made some good announcements—most recently, we have increased our community links funding—but we will be doing a lot more, and we are happy to update Parliament about that.
I will leave it there as a quick run-through of the parts of my portfolio that are relevant following our previous conversation. Of course, there is much more that I could talk about and that I am sure we will get into. I am happy to take questions.