Chamber and committees

Further details on plans to decarbonise Scotland’s Rail Network will be published in the refreshed Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan, which is now expected to be published in Spring 2025. It will outline a staged approach to creating a decarbonised rail system by 2045 and increasing from the current 75% of rail journeys which are already decarbonised.

896km of 2695km in Scotland is already electrified, based on ORR figures to 31 March 2024. However, 75% of ScotRail journeys are already made on electric trains. Future plans will be outlined in the refreshed Decarbonisation Action Plan.

The final subsidy for all Caledonian Sleeper services for the financial year 2024-25 will be known when the accounts for this year have been finalised and published.

The Scottish Government is considering all sensible alternative fuel options for the development of the Scottish rail network.

As with all projects, Transport Scotland Officials regularly discuss and review draft documents prepared by its technical advisors on an ongoing basis as part of the process to finalise reports prior to seeking Ministerial approval to publish. No changes were made by the Scottish Ministers to the draft outcomes of the A96 Corridor Review that identified an optimal Refined Package of improvements.

The position of the Scottish Government has not changed – the current favoured position is to fully dual the A96, and we are already taking forward the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including Nairn Bypass.

Rail is one of the transport modes with the lowest emissions. ScotRail provides details on managing its environmental impact on its website, which can be found here: Managing environmental impact

ScotRail also has a Sustainability Policy in place, which is available online at: Sustainability Policy | ScotRail

Decarbonisation infrastructure works are undertaken by Network Rail, who owns and maintains Scotland’s rail network infrastructure. Network Rail is major employer in Scotland, as are many of its supply chain partners. As recently at October 2024, Network Rail and its key suppliers held a networking event for SMEs keen to learn more about work available across Scotland’s Railway over the next five years.

In relation to the replacement Intercity trains, a transparent and fair procurement process is being held. The procurement process ensures Scottish suppliers will be able to offer to provide their services to potential bidders.

The subsidy for rail services has been published in Transport Scotland accounts. These can be found here: Annual Accounts | Transport Scotland

Legislation surrounding the use of e-bikes and e-Scooters is a reserved matter for the UK Government.

For an e-bike to be legal for use in the UK, they must be electrically assisted pedal cycles and the electric motor should not be able to propel the bike when it’s travelling more than 15.5mph. This ensures speeds similar to that of other bicycles.

In Scotland, it is illegal to ride an e-scooter on a public road, pavement, cycle paths, shared paths or any public place. It is lawful to use e-scooters on private land with the landowners permission. The previous UK Government had intended to bring forward legislation to fully legalise e-scooters in 2022, however this was paused due to a change of Prime Minister and a Cabinet reshuffle.

As such, electric scooters are covered by the same UK-wide laws and regulations that apply to all motor vehicles. It is every road and path users responsibility to respect others and the Highway Code outlines both rules and guidance for everyone.

There has been no change to the scope of the Aberdeen Central Belt Service Improvements Project.

As regards project timelines, in January 2024, Ms McAllan, then Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition informed the Net Zero, Energy and Transport committee, that the time over which the commitment to deliver journey time improvements and increase capacity, between Aberdeen and the Central Belt, was under review. This remains the position.