Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Official Report 860KB pdf

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Adopt a Station

The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-01567, in the name of Christine Grahame, on the adopt-a-station programme. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament notes what it considers the resounding success of the return of the Borders Railway; recognises the economic potential already being realised, and congratulates communities in Gorebridge, Newtongrange, Stow, Galashiels, Tweedbank, Eskbank and also Shawfair, which is adopting its local station with support from ScotRail, which has improved the appearance of the station with planting, flower tubs and hanging baskets and which it considers is a sure sign of how much the railway means to these communities and how proud they are of its return, and congratulates the volunteers who are involved in Adopt a Station projects throughout Scotland, enhancing the rail journey experience for both tourists and commuters.

17:05  

I thank all those members who signed the motion for allowing me to have the debate, and I thank those who have stayed to take part in it.

Members may be aware that, after nearly 50 years, the Borders railway, which travels through my constituency, reopened last year—incidentally on my birthday, which, as the minister knows, is 9 September. What a present! The railway had been cut down by the Beeching axe in 1969. In 1999, when I entered Parliament, I set up the cross-party group on Borders rail and then sat in the Public Petitions Committee when it considered a petition, which had gathered 17,000 signatures from the Borders and Midlothian, that sought to begin the track building and reinstate the line. In 2000, in another historic event, the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to do so. Therefore, I am now somewhat maternal and protective—indeed, possessive—of the line and I travel on it regularly to my office in Galashiels. I never take it for granted, though I notice that the young people who travel on it do—and why not? A generation on, even the lambs that used to run from the passing train simply keep munching the grass unperturbed.

Building the line meant that the surrounding embankments were, at first, harsh and devoid of vegetation. The stations, too, were pristine and modern but lacking character. That has all changed over the year, thanks to the individuals and communities who have adopted their local stations. Before the line reopened, I had never heard of the adopt-a-station programme, which is operated under the auspices of ScotRail—by the way, this is good press for ScotRail, which is much in need of it. Under the programme, people are given guidance and a small amount of funding to make their station attractive, like a well-tended front garden to their community. There are modest rewards for those who keep their station in that way, such as two annual tickets on any ScotRail journey, but that is not why people take it on. No—they do so out of an old-fashioned sense of pride in their community, and the line was rebuilt because communities fought for it.

I thank—as I have before—Gillian Rankin and Kerry-Lee Godfrey of Newtongrange mining museum; Anne Maher and Brian Paterson at Gorebridge; for Stow station, Jack MacKenzie of make Stow beautiful; for Galashiels station, Judith Cleghorn of the Galashiels community council and Ronnie Murray of Gala in bloom; and Sylvie Grundy, Alan Thompson and Malcolm Luing of Melrose rotary club for all their efforts in my constituency. I also thank, for Eskbank station, Elaine Henderson and Beth Thomson of Esk Valley rotary club and Albert Jaster and Jim Orr of Dalkeith rotary club. I know that Colin Beattie wanted to take part in the debate tonight, but he was unable to be here because of a prior constituency commitment.

I am a bit of a planter policewoman. As I journey down from Parliament to Gala, I always have a shifty at the planters to see how they are getting on. In the summer, I watched as they blossomed. Now, as the geraniums and summer bedding are passing, I see the planters being refilled with autumn flowers. I know, too—because I keep up with these things—that, beneath those plants, the bulbs are ready for spring. The displays make such a difference to regular commuters and tourists alike, and they speak volumes for the communities that the stations serve. Some stations even have a plaque telling travellers who to thank for the displays. Following the debate, I will ensure that every station on the line has one—perhaps that is something that ScotRail can help with.

Does the member have libraries in any of her stations? Shettleston station in my constituency has a library that is run by the staff; such facilities can be attractive to commuters.

I say to the member—

Ms Grahame, you should know that you must wait to be called.

I beg your pardon, Presiding Officer. I curtsied—why did I do that?

I call Christine Grahame.

I know that there are vacant buildings, and there are plans to make them into cafeterias and display rooms for the history of each station, so I am now of the mind that we could use them as libraries.

Do I get my time back, Presiding Officer?

Yes.

Thank you—I was just checking.

I thank ScotRail—which is getting a bit of a kicking, as I said—for helping communities through its adopt-a-station programme. In particular, I thank Lindley Kirkpatrick and John Yellowlees.

While I know that Keep Scotland Beautiful runs an award scheme with ScotRail, I am having my own wee competition—along with my colleague Colin Beattie with his part of the line—for the best Christmas display. The prize will, of course, go towards more plants.

I end with a quote from Phil Verster, who spoke to the Borders railway adopt-a-station folk when they were in Parliament recently. He said:

“We are delighted at the range and variety of floral displays which are already helping give the stations individual character. Galashiels with external sponsorship secured by Judith Cleghorn received red, white and blue flowers in time for the Queen’s 90th birthday. Stow is a riot of brilliant begonias, while Gorebridge has a fine collection of planters and fence-mounted baskets. The Mining Museum has assembled a team to enhance the displays at Newtongrange, and we have three Rotary Clubs showing service to the community by their adoption of Tweedbank, Eskbank and Shawfair Stations. Taken together with Newcraighall and Brunstane which had already been lovingly adopted by another Rotary and a couple who live nearby, what we have is a journey where the charm of the passing countryside is enhanced by the welcoming smile that greets the traveller at every stop along the way.”

Who would have thought that Phil Verster could so speak so eloquently about stations?

ScotRail has a lot for which to thank the adopt-a-station folk. It is appropriate that a railway line that started life as a people’s petition to the Parliament in 1999 should again have its stations’ floral displays in the hands of the people. Those are their stations, and it is their railway, and—by gum!—it has been a great success.

17:12  

I, too, thank Christine Grahame for bringing the debate to the chamber and for highlighting the importance of promoting examples of commercial and community collaboration. I am glad to declare that I have a registrable interest in the first-ever company to participate in the adopt-a-station scheme back in 2008. I was travelling north by sleeper and reading the in-house magazine when I saw an article looking for sponsors of the scheme. I followed that up, and shortly afterwards Deeside Timberframe, which is based in Stonehaven, made Stonehaven station the first station to be adopted by a commercial company.

We installed brightly coloured planters, tubs and fence boxes on the platform, which were planted and are now maintained through funding for the Stonehaven horizon team. Under the leadership of Allan Cairnduff, the horizon team does an enormous amount of work, including watering and tending to plants during the summer months and planting bulbs for the spring during the winter. The excellent work of the volunteers at Stonehaven horizon was started in 2004 to foster civic pride in the town. They do everything from picking up litter to working with Stonehaven Town Partnership and Aberdeenshire Council. They have even managed to create their own adopt-a-street campaign, through which residents take on responsibility for looking after their own road or immediate area. That campaign has experienced much success. Their more recent plans include the planting of 60 rowan trees in the area. I wish them all the very best in that endeavour.

Without the hard work of volunteers, such schemes would simply not be possible, so it is to them that we owe the greatest thanks. I have been told that the plantations have made a great impact, and the floral colours are creating a real welcome for all visitors and those who pass through Stonehaven on the train. The scheme has enabled our company to build better relations with not only ScotRail but the wider community. As local companies invest in local infrastructure, they have a vested interest in making our communities better. That is a social solidarity of which we can all be proud.

The scheme is a great opportunity for local organisations to put something back into the community. The idea would have found a home in our former Prime Minister’s big society—I am sure that the SNP members will have no problem with endorsing that sentence.

It is great to see ScotRail developing its concept of community partnership and that it is now actively encouraging communities to use stations for anything from meeting rooms to shops, and from artwork displays to—as we have just heard—libraries. Whether it be litter picking, planting or art work, it is important that we all participate in the communities in which we live. As a former Prime Minister once said, there is one word at the heart of all this, and that word is “responsibility”.

17:15  

At the outset, I congratulate Christine Grahame on securing the debate. I am delighted that the adopt-a-station scheme is thriving in Ms Grahame’s constituency.

I refer members to my register of interests, the reason for which will become apparent shortly.

Adopt a station provides local community groups with the opportunity to become involved with their local stations. Station adoption brings significant benefits to local communities and the rail industry. Communities get a much-improved gateway to their town or village, often including enhanced facilities. The station becomes a part of the community and is something in which local people can take pride. Railway companies are seeing a rise in the use of stations, a reduction in the level of vandalism and, in many cases, they are seeing externally funded improvements. Station adoption is a way of transforming stations, bringing them into the heart of the community and encouraging greater use of environmentally-friendly public transport. More and more community groups and individuals have adopted their local stations. It is all about local pride and seeing the station as an important part of the community.

I would like to touch on the great work of two groups in my constituency. The first is the Greenock and District Model Railway Club and its adoption of the Fort Matilda station. The second is Friends of Wemyss Bay Station and its work. Fort Matilda station is situated on the edge of the west end of Greenock just before Gourock. In September 2010, it was taken over by the Greenock and District Model Railway Club, which obtained the necessary approvals and funding from the Railway Heritage Trust and the stations community regeneration fund for conservation work and improvements to make the building into a clubhouse. The club has done a tremendous job in turning a shell of a building into something that is once again an asset to the community. The tie-in between the model railway club and the national railway is obvious, but the station is also a community hub—other organisations also use the facility. Last weekend, the club held its annual two-day exhibition in the Lyle kirk in Greenock, which appears to have been a huge success.

My second example is the group Friends of Wemyss Bay Station, which formed in 2009 as part of ScotRail’s adopt-a-station campaign. The 300-strong group is made up of local people who were increasingly concerned about the neglected state of the station and anxious to ensure its continued survival. The group’s initial aim was restoration of the floral displays for which the station had become famous. Later, it was given the use of some empty accommodation, which it has restored and now takes the form of a second-hand bookshop and exhibition area as a means of raising funds and making contact with local people and the travelling public, whose appreciation for the group’s efforts is very welcome. I have seen the bookshop grow from its first iteration to its present state and an excellent job has been done.

As a result of its efforts, the Friends of Wemyss Bay Station won the best station-adoption group award at the annual community rail awards in 2009, and the group is now planning ways of transforming the remaining empty rooms around the station, with visions of creating a mini shopping mall in the space. All that follows on from a £6 million upgrade to the pier, which was completed in March this year, and a £4 million renovation of the station by Network Rail. From visiting the station on a number of occasions and meeting the group, I know that it has taken a huge amount of pride in renovating the station and creating a pleasant environment for commuters and tourists. Thanks to the group, Wemyss Bay railway station can take pride of place in the landscape of Inverclyde. I also thank the Greenock and District Model Railway Club for what it has done at Fort Matilda.

The adopt-a-station scheme is an excellent initiative and, whether it is in the Borders or Greenock and Inverclyde, it helps to bring life back to stations and to turn them back into community facilities. I say well done to everyone involved.

17:19  

I join members in congratulating Christine Grahame on securing this debate. In recent weeks, there has rightly been a strong focus on trains and, in particular, on the need to improve their punctuality and reliability. I am sure that members of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee will have a number of questions on those issues for the Minister for Transport and the Islands tomorrow. However, today we have a welcome opportunity to highlight some of the positive work that is being done in communities to support our local train stations. Our stations, and how they look, are important: stations are often the first thing that people see when they arrive in a town and they give visitors a first impression of a community.

ScotRail has 354 stations across Scotland: 214 of those are unstaffed, so the work of volunteers is essential to many stations. The adopt-a-station programme has volunteers and community organisations playing leading roles in projects to improve stations—the projects simply would not have happened without them. As members have already highlighted, the programme has gone from strength to strength since it was launched in 2005. The fact that more than 260 ScotRail stations across the country are now part of the programme is a testament to how keen communities are to engage with their local train stations. We should congratulate the individuals and groups who have participated, and who continue to participate, in the adopt-a-station programme.

We have heard a number of examples of the programme’s success around Scotland and I join Christine Grahame in paying tribute to communities in the Borders on their work to improve the appearance of their local stations. I will also highlight some successful examples of the programme in West Scotland, which is my region.

As Stuart McMillan said, there are a number of positive examples in Inverclyde, including the Inverclyde Association for Mental Health, which has been described to me as a “star turn” among station gardeners. It is an independent charity that provides a network of support and opportunities to people with mental health issues to enable them to maximise their potential within the community. In 1993, the charity established In-Work Enterprises Limited, which is a social enterprise that provides training, voluntary and work-related opportunities in landscaping, ground maintenance and horticulture to people who have experienced mental health issues. In-Work became involved in the adopt-a-station programme in 2010 and, impressively, now looks after floral displays at 22 stations, including Greenock central, Port Glasgow, Gourock, Paisley Gilmour Street and Clydebank. Allan Maliska, who is the project manager at In-Work, has said:

“Our trainees value the programme greatly and get great job satisfaction from growing the plants from seeds, improving their knowledge and skill-set. Trainees enjoy looking at the final product and take pride in the compliments that they have received from members of the public, showing appreciation for brightening up the platform areas.”

The value of the project to both passengers and volunteers is clear.

Stuart McMillan also said that the Friends of Wemyss Bay Station group, which was formed in 2009 by local people, has been an excellent example of local groups that take an interest in their station. He mentioned that they were recognised as Britain’s best station-adopter group in 2010 in recognition of their work with the empty accommodation at the station, which they used to create a bookshop and gallery. Their work has been recognised previously in Parliament: one or two older members in the chamber today might remember signing a motion congratulating the group on its success. There are many other examples, but there is not time this evening to list them all, unfortunately.

It is clear that there has been some excellent work done through the adopt-a-station programme and I hope that stations and communities will continue to benefit from the programme for years to come.

17:24  

I thank Christine Grahame for the opportunity to discuss the railways, which is one of my favourite topics.

I am a former transport minister and I am president of the Scottish Association for Public Transport, which was founded because of the closure of the Borders railway. I am also honorary vice-president for Railfuture UK. The only thing that I lack in my railway credentials is a railway in my constituency, but I note that my ScotRail saltire card does not expire until 2031, so there is still time to remedy that, if I might gently nudge the minister on the matter of getting a railway into my constituency at some future date within the currency of my card.

I join others in congratulating the many volunteers and ScotRail on opening its stations to such a programme. Their joint efforts in the adopt-a-station programme enhance our railways, cheer up travellers and create a talking point as we stand on platforms.

I travelled on the Borders railway the first Sunday after it opened, all the way down to Tweedbank, where I had a delightful lunch and then came back. I have not yet got off at any of the other stations, although I am sure that, as Christine Grahame told us, the stations are improving and being enhanced. It is a spectacular line that is the longest new piece of railway in over a century. As is almost invariably the case with new openings, usage levels are substantially ahead of what the model said. Therefore, when the model says that taking a line from Dyce up to Ellon might not be that great, we should remember that the model has lied to us pretty regularly on a whole series of things. We have now had 1 million people on the Borders railway, and we could do something similar in the north-east. Of course, the economic benefits are substantial. Interestingly, on the Borders railway, end-to-end journeys appear to be a much bigger proportion of journeys than was anticipated.

It was interesting to hear Christine Grahame talk about the need to get a plaque in every station. Become transport minister, and that becomes easy. I have got plaques on the west platform of Queen Street station—I will check that it is still there after the recent refurbishment—and on Laurencekirk, Elgin, Markinch, and Alloa stations. I think, although I cannot be quite certain, that there is also one at Bathgate.

Stations are places of happy memories for me. The porter at Cupar railway station where I lived was Stanislaw Skrodski, who had been a captain in the Polish cavalry and who stayed in Cupar after the war. He had great skill with his welding kit. Given the rather imperfect old cars that my friends and I had, we used to rely on him and we went to the station to get welding done.

My earliest railway journey that I remember was from Benderloch to Oban when I was taken to hospital because I had sunstroke—1956 was a very warm year and railways were very important in my life. They are also very important in the matter of climate change. In 2015, 72 per cent of our transport emissions were from road transport, while 1.3 per cent of transport emissions were from rail.

Rural communities in particular, such as those that are supported by the opening of the Borders railway, get a particular value from railways, because they are further away from the places that people wish to travel to. A railway dramatically opens up those areas. I am sure that there is still much more potential to be opened up from the Borders railway.

On the subject of libraries in railway stations, on the line down to Kyle of Lochalsh, many of the stops are request stops and have little libraries, and one actually has a games room. There are not a lot of trains, so if someone misses one, they will be there for several hours, but they can play dice or poker in the games room. People can do many different things in the rooms of some of those little stations. Stations are loved throughout Scotland. I love the Borders railway, but I would love a railway line to Buchan even more.

17:28  

I think that Stewart Stevenson is the first person in Scotland to actually get sunstroke.

Initiatives such as adopt a station highlight the value that communities place on local train services. They exhibit the feeling among us that trains play an important role in the community and promote a feeling of pride in us. I have lived and worked in the Borders for many years and, like all members, was delighted to see the reintroduction of the Borders railway 50 years after Beeching’s report on British railways, which led to hundreds of stations and 650 miles of railway line being closed in Scotland. The closure left the Scottish Borders as the only region in Britain without a train service.

The Scottish Borders has been reawakened by the reopening of the Waverley line. Public and private sector employers can recruit and attract people to posts that would otherwise be unfilled, opportunities for school leavers have broadened and Borders attractions have seen an upturn. For example, visitor numbers at Abbotsford have increased by 12 per cent.

I remember with fondness the day that the railway was reopened. Although the weather was a little damp, it was not enough to dampen the spirits and deter the Queen from cutting the ribbon. Indeed, the Queen coming to the Borders to reopen Tweedbank station shows the importance and value that we all place on the Borders railway.

We must thank everyone who was involved in bringing about the railway’s reintroduction. The effort involved was incredible. For the first time since 1969, 30 miles of track were renewed and refreshed at a cost of £294 million. Every penny spent on the Scottish Borders railway is worth it. It has been—for the most part—a success. I want visitors to experience the same delightful journey through the Borders as I do. The train follows the winding Gala water, past the imposing St Mary of Wedale kirk in Stow, where my parents-in-law were married, the patchwork fields that follow the seasonal farming calendar and the pretty stations along the line.

Celebrating the line’s first birthday along with Christine Grahame’s birthday, ScotRail was delighted to announce that the new railway’s 21,000 train services had carried 1 million passengers, which exceeded all expectations. However, the Borders railway has had some difficulties and performance has been a problem. ScotRail has given reassurances that the service will be improved, and I welcome that commitment. We all want there to be a reliable Borders rail service that departs and arrives on time. We want it to be the best that it can be and I hope that the issues that passengers have encountered will become a thing of the past.

Does Rachael Hamilton agree that, to judge by my experience and my inbox, there has been an improvement in the service’s reliability in recent months? It was a bit bumpy at the beginning but it is not now.

I agree with Christine Grahame. The figures that I am talking about were for between 1 January and the end of August. I hope that we can continue to make improvements.

I ask members to allow me to jump on the success of the Borders railway to make a plea to the Minister for Transport and the Islands to reopen the East Linton and Reston stations—a proposal that has huge public support. Those two stations would provide a valuable commuter link, ease overcrowding and, more importantly, bring people to the south of Scotland. Scottish Borders Council and East Lothian Council are committed to their reopening and the Scottish Government has agreed to provide 50 per cent of the funding for the project. However, due to the size of the investment, we need to find further funding.

It is great that schools, local businesses, charities, clubs and individuals work together to help to make commuter and visitor journeys a welcoming experience. I thank Christine Grahame for bringing the motion to the chamber and congratulate everyone who is involved in the voluntary work.

17:33  

I am grateful to Christine Grahame for bringing the motion to the chamber, which gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the success of the reopening of the Borders railway. That is not to take anything away from the performance issues about which Rachael Hamilton spoke. However, overall, the people who are involved in the Borders railway and those who use it would say that it has been a great success. It is a story of regeneration, passion from the people who were committed to fighting the campaign over the years and belief in the success of our railways throughout the country. I thank everyone who was involved in the campaign.

Of course, the railway was reopened on Christine Grahame’s birthday. I do not understand how she managed to campaign for five decades for the Borders railway to be reopened when she is only 29. Nonetheless, she would be first to say that the credit for the reopening goes to the grass-roots campaigners in her constituency who, over the years, were told that the railway would never be reopened. It must have been an incredible moment last year when the reopening happened.

I would not wish to take the credit. It was lucky that we had the Parliament to give the campaigners a voice. It was the Campaign for Borders Rail and the 17,000 people who signed the petition who really set the railway on its tracks.

Yes, and I continue to engage with the campaign as it continues to suggest improvements.

The Borders railway was opened to the public on time and on budget—I am pleased to say—by Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the First Minister, on 6 September last year. As Stewart Stevenson said, it is the longest new domestic railway to be constructed in Britain for more than 100 years. To go back to Stewart Stevenson’s point, I suspect that the railway has a plaque with Her Majesty’s name on it. Mr Stevenson seems to have collected numerous plaques, but there is no plaque with my name on it. To be honest, I will just be pleased if there is no picture of me on a dartboard in a train station office, but we will see what happens in that regard over the years.

The line has been transformational. As Rachael Hamilton said, it has opened up communities as new places to visit and in which to live, work, learn, play and grow businesses. Direct transport links are key to growing Scotland’s tourism industry, and the Borders railway is playing its part in transforming the tourism economy and supporting growth in the Scottish Borders, Midlothian and Edinburgh, and I think that its effects go wider than that.

As the motion does, I congratulate the communities in Gorebridge, Newtongrange, Stow, Galashiels, Tweedbank, Eskbank and Shawfair who, through their efforts, demonstrate a genuine pride in their new stations by keeping them looking beautiful for locals and visitors alike. I took note of what Christine Grahame said about an old-fashioned sense of community, which I think is very much displayed by those volunteers. I met some of the volunteers when they came to Parliament for lunch a couple of weeks ago. I do not want to be unkind, but they were not all in the age group that one might assume they would be in. People of all age groups are showing a real interest in volunteering to keep the stations looking beautiful—not only retired people but those who might well have work to do but see the stations as vital to attracting people to their communities. That is welcome.

I suggest that the minister tread carefully, because retired people also have work to do.

Yes. I maybe should not have got into that and should probably back pedal quickly. Christine Grahame’s point is well made.

There is a long tradition of railway stations having gardens created by station staff to greet the passing traveller, and it is good to see that tradition being kept alive through the work of the volunteers in the Borders. Of course, the examples that Stuart McMillan gave from his constituency show that we are talking about a scheme that is working right across Scotland.

As people know, the ScotRail franchise operates more than 2,270 train services each day, delivering more passenger journeys than ever per year, and it is the single biggest contract that is let by Scottish ministers, worth a total value of more than £7 billion over 10 years. As almost every member has noted, the performance of the franchise is not at the level that I would like it to be at. As Neil Bibby suggests, I suspect that I will receive some questions about that tomorrow.

Of course, that is not to say that everything is bad on our railways, and the adopt-a-station scheme and other community and social initiatives that have been taken forward by ScotRail show that a lot of good work is happening across the country.

Stations are among the first thing that people see when they arrive in a town, village or city, and they can help to form people’s first impressions of a place. Any improvements that can be made to them should therefore be welcomed.

More than 70 per cent of ScotRail’s stations have been adopted, with volunteers doing gardening and using surplus accommodation for purposes ranging from artists’ studios and heritage centres to community meeting rooms, clubrooms and the games rooms that Stewart Stevenson mentioned. More than 110 stations in Scotland also benefit from floral displays that are maintained by volunteers.

The scheme goes far beyond aesthetic and cosmetic concerns. It also helps the Government to achieve some of its national outcomes. For example, it contributes to tackling health inequalities. Members will be aware of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, which is the membership body for almost 50 community rail partnerships, representing more than 80 community rail lines across the UK. I was delighted at the news that, at the ACoRP community rail awards in September, NHS Lanarkshire occupational therapy and mental health teams and Clydesdale community initiatives were awarded first place in the outstanding teamwork category. CCI staff and volunteers worked in partnership with NHS Lanarkshire’s mental health and forensic occupational therapy staff and clients through the adopt-a-station project. To date, five stations in Lanarkshire have been adopted by the NHS and CCI partnership: Hamilton West, Sunnyside, Wishaw, Whifflet and Coatbridge Central. Volunteers were involved in planting, maintenance, drawing plans, woodwork and craft activities, which helped to address mental health issues, showing that there is a health benefit as well as cosmetic and aesthetic benefits.

I congratulate Christine Grahame again but perhaps she will not mind it if, more important, I congratulate the volunteers who have helped to make the adopt-a-station project such a great success, not just in the Borders but throughout Scotland.

Meeting closed at 17:40.