This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/7350407.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Rail extension 'rushed through' | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
The Scottish Government has defended its controversial decision to extend the ScotRail franchise by three years. | |
Opposition parties hit out at the decision not to consult on the move, but ministers said it would bring quicker improvements to services. | |
Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said the extension, until 2014, came after an exceptional performance by operator First ScotRail. | |
Labour and the Lib Dems said the move was discourteous to train workers. | |
Labour transport spokesman Des McNulty also questioned whether it had been brought forward to disguise a hole in the transport budget. | |
'Not acceptable' | |
"There is no adequate explanation for the urgency with which this has been rushed through," he said. | |
"It also is an affront to the stakeholders of this industry - the people who work in it, the people who use it - that we've got a hole in the corner exercise here." | |
Mr Stevenson said the decision was within the terms of the current rail contract and, as there was no re-franchising process to undergo, ministers were permitted to give it the go-ahead. | |
Under the contract, First ScotRail will oversee improved rail services during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. | |
And more than £70m will be returned to the Scottish Government to be spent on new services and other improvements, including extra express services between Edinburgh and Glasgow. | |
Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, said: "The ScotRail franchise is the biggest contract let by Scottish ministers and it is not acceptable that it should be done with no consultation and no scrutiny." |