Chamber and committees

Where ticket prices are not regulated by the Strategic Rail Authority they are for the Train Operating Company to determine. However, the process for the letting of the next Scottish passenger rail franchise will give bidders the opportunity to come forward with ways of reducing the costs to passengers of all rail travel, including that between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scottish Executive is considering a range of options for taking the Scottish passenger rail franchise forward after 2004 to ensure the best value for money. The Executive believes that what is needed is more rather than less integration of Scottish rail services, and that letting the next franchise to more than one operator could lead to fragmentation of services.

The refranchising process will provide an opportunity for all tenderers for the renewal of the Scottish rail passenger franchise to come forward with innovative schemes in their bids to improve the rapidity and reliability of all rail services, including on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route.

The next Scottish rail passenger franchise will be subject to the Strategic Rail Authority's performance regime.

The timetable for the renewal of the Scottish rail passenger franchise is as follows:

• the Scottish Executive's Directions and Guidance to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) will be issued this summer;
• the SRA will subsequently invite bids later in 2002;
• initial bids will then be evaluated and short-listed;
• short listed bidders will be invited to submit a Best and Final Offer before a preferred bidder is selected, with whom to negotiate a new franchise agreement, and

the new franchise will begin on 1 April 2004.

Data provided by Scottish Water concerning the drinking water quality results for the water supply zones covering postcode area EH9 during 2001 indicated that there were no breaches of the drinking water regulations for that postcode in 2001.

The Scottish Executive's report demonstrated that in the short term the priority should be strengthening partnership working amongst the local authorities in the Highlands and Islands. Consequently, joint working between the partners in the region has been strengthened. This is illustrated by the move from a forum to a Strategic Partnership; the implementation of the partnership's successful bid to the Public Transport Fund in 2001; the creation of HITRANS and the recent formalisation of its constitution and funding arrangements. This has been aided by a commitment from the Scottish Executive to match fund HITRANS' constituent councils' contributions to the development of a Joint Transport Strategy for the area, on which work is substantially under way.

Passengers to and from Glasgow Prestwick International Airport are able to benefit from lower cost rail and bus travel through the airport's partnership arrangements with Strathclyde Passenger Transport and Scotrail, and with Stagecoach and Scottish Citylink. The Scottish Executive has no plans to enhance those arrangements. Completion of the proposed M77 between Newton Mearns and Fenwick will benefit passengers travelling to and from the airport by road.

A wide range of publicly available research into the determinants of rail demand has been undertaken by academic and other interests. In addition, the rail industry has undertaken a large amount of commercial-in-confidence research.

This is one of a wide range of issues that will be considered during the evaluation of bids received for the Scottish rail passenger franchise.