Chamber and committees

Of the 114,869 premises currently expected to be connected through the R100 contracts, only 1,600 will be connected through Fibre To The Cabinet broadband. The remaining 113,269 will be connected with Fibre To The Premises which is a gigabit-capable technology.

Of the 36,100 premises connected so far through the R100 contracts, 1,600 have been connected through Fibre To The Cabinet broadband which can provide a minimum of a superfast service. The remaining 34,500 connections have been delivered utilising Fibre To The Premises which is capable of delivering a gigabit broadband service.

Over the next five-year investment period, the Scottish Government has committed to invest £4.2 billion in the Scottish rail infrastructure in line with our High-Level Output Specification.

The total invested to 9th December 2023 on projects to reduce journey times between Aberdeen and the Central Belt by 2026 is £15.5m. Of this figure, £8.7m has been spent on the Aberdeen – Central Belt Journey Time Improvement project, and £6.8m has been spent on the project to improve rail line speeds in the Barnhill area between Perth and Dundee. The investment at Barnhill remodelled a junction between the Tay Viaduct at Perth and Barnhill to increase line speeds over it from 20mph to 50mph. It is a direct enabler for the plan to reduce rail journey times between the Central Belt and the North-East, improving connectivity and enhancing capacity for both passenger and freight trains on the route.

The Scottish Government is continuing to develop the business case for Aberdeen to Central Belt rail enhancements. This will be considered in in the coming months and within the context of the funding available for rail enhancements next year. We remain firmly committed to infrastructure investment as a key factor in securing economic growth and high-quality public infrastructure across Scotland, including spending over £1.6 billion in 2024-25 to operate, maintain and improve Scotland’s railway.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Member may wish to contact ScotRail, who might have the information relating to the period from April 2022.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Member may wish to contact ScotRail, who might have the information relating to the period from April 2022.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Member may wish to contact ScotRail, who might have the information relating to the period from April 2022.

Whilst this is an operational matter for ScotRail as the service provider, the Member might wish to note that Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes information on the most frequented stations on its website: Regional rail usage | ORR Data Portal Also, ScotRail Trains regularly publishes information on busiest services on its website Busiest trains | ScotRail

The Member may wish to contact ScotRail who might be able to provide a more detailed information, if required.

Whilst this is an operational matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022, ScotRail advises that, as part of the Grant Agreement, ScotRail conducts an annual survey of ticketless travel. The fieldwork for the most recent survey was carried out between 9 September and 23 September 2023 and the results reported that ticketless travel was 5.9%, down from 8.8% in 2022, a reduction of 2.9%.

ScotRail also advises that it invested in a mobile revenue protection team of 42 officers in 2023 who conduct revenue protection experience across the network to ensure that passengers pay their fares. In addition, over 130 frontline roles were recruited to ensure trains and automatic ticket gates are staffed.

All homes and businesses across Scotland can currently access a superfast broadband service. The R100 contracts are going beyond that by extending access to gigabit-capable broadband – over 30 times faster than our original commitment.

The contracts remain on track to complete build in 2028. So far, over 36,100 of the 114,869 premises currently expected to receive R100 contract build have been connected. This means that approximately 68% of the total premises remain scheduled for build between now and 2028.

Specific allocations for the Rail Enhancement programmes and projects in 2024-25 continue to be considered. The 2024-25 budget allocation for the Aberdeen – Central Belt Journey Time Improvement Project will be made in the coming months before the end of the current financial year.