Plenary, 05 Nov 2009
Meeting date: Thursday, November 5, 2009
Official Report
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Point of Order
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. On Friday 25 September, the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change told me in a written reply to question S3W-27487 that the Waverley railway line would be complete by 2014. On 8 October, he told members in the chamber that the line would open in 2013. On the BBC "Scotland at Ten" programme on 3 November, Christine Grahame claimed to have a letter from the minister dated 5 October saying that the Waverley line would reopen in 2014.
I am sure that the minister would not knowingly mislead Parliament, but I am concerned that he told Parliament one thing on 25 September, wrote to another member on 5 October to confirm what he said, and then told Parliament something completely different on 8 October. This is an important issue for the residents of Midlothian and the Borders, which are the only mainland authorities in Scotland with no passenger rail services.
On 5 March 2008, the minister told Parliament
"Today I am able to advise that construction work on the Borders rail project will start within the life of this Parliament."—[Official Report, 5 March 2008; c 6573.]
On Monday, however, Transport Scotland said that it anticipates that it will be autumn 2011 before it will agree on a consortium to construct the railway.
Presiding Officer, could you use your offices to give the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change the opportunity to clarify to Parliament and the 200,000 people in Midlothian and the Borders exactly when the Waverley line will be completed?
That is not a matter for me. If the minister wishes to inform Parliament of anything to do with any of your points, he will do so. I suggest we move to the next item of business.