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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 13 July 2025
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Displaying 1342 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

Basically, we, the stakeholders and you will have to lobby the Treasury quite hard to ensure that this fund that it still holds the purse strings for is enhanced to make level boarding a reality across Scotland. Would it be fair to say that?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

You said that the UK budget for such work has been restricted. Has that budget gone up or down in the current control period?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

They are a subsidy for the passenger, but also a subsidy for the company.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

Yes.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

I think that it is significant, and I have often seen a hospitality steward on the train, when there is one, helping as well. As I said, hats off to your staff, but there is room for improvement. Folks who are not used to travelling can become a little bit anxious if they are not boarded quickly or it is quite near the time for departure.

I want to move on to the infrastructure aspect, which Joanne has mentioned, although my questions are probably for Liam. Quite a number of folks have called for level boarding. As Joanne said, we have Victorian infrastructure, and, on the journeys that I take, I hear the announcement at Dundee, for example, to watch out because there is a large step to the platform. We also have the likes of Dunkeld and Birnam station—not on a route that I normally take—which I understand is due to have its platforms upgraded. What can be done swiftly to resolve some of these problems? Has Network Rail done any analysis or any stocktake of how much it would cost to bring our stations up to modern standards for level boarding?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

We have already touched on disability access in Mark Ruskell’s questioning. Hats off to your staff—they do a good service, particularly conductors, when folk do not appear at platforms. How do you ensure that there is availability of and provision for passenger assistance when it is required? How can you do a little bit better in ensuring that those folk are timeous? I have seen—and I am sure that others have seen—a disabled passenger getting a little bit anxious because they are not being boarded quickly enough, as they see it.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

I will ask Liam Sumpter some specific questions about that soon.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

Would it be fair to say that, on those longer distance routes where EV maybe is not an option, hydrogen would be an option but that there would have to be continuity of supply?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

Before we move on to that, I want to see what we actually know at this moment and get an estimate of what the current financial cost would be of dealing with the two thirds of stations that are not fully accessible. Do you have a register? Do you have an estimate of how much it would cost, at today’s prices, to make all those stations accessible?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]

Train and Bus Services

Meeting date: 29 April 2025

Kevin Stewart

Let me play devil’s advocate a little bit here. Surely supporting service provision by means other than Government moneys would be a good thing. There has been quite a lot of talk today and at our meeting last week about the advantages of bus priority measures in increasing patronage. If the Government was to invest more in those schemes, for example, which is likely to increase your profitability, would your company—I will ask the others about this as well—use some of that increased profit to increase service provision?