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ScotRail extension 'within rules' Rail extension 'rushed through'
(about 4 hours later)
First Minister Alex Salmond has defended the government's controversial decision to extend the ScotRail franchise by three years. The Scottish Government has defended its controversial decision to extend the ScotRail franchise by three years.
Speaking at question time in Holyrood he said the move, which means the contract will run until 2014, met the rules and would boost services. Opposition parties hit out at the decision not to consult on the move, but ministers said it would bring quicker improvements to services.
Labour backbencher Karen Whitefield branded the decision "shambolic and lacking in transparency". Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said the extension, until 2014, came after an exceptional performance by operator First ScotRail.
Transport minister Stewart Stevenson will make a statement to MSPs later. Labour and the Lib Dems said the move was discourteous to train workers.
Scots unions also expressed concern the extension, announced earlier this month, had been awarded without consultation or scrutiny. Labour transport spokesman Des McNulty also questioned whether it had been brought forward to disguise a hole in the transport budget.
The first minister said the move was contractually above board, pointing out the decision was commercially and share sensitive. 'Not acceptable'
Under the deal, First ScotRail's franchise to provide passenger rail services across Scotland will be extended to 2014, and will also include improved rail services during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. "There is no adequate explanation for the urgency with which this has been rushed through," he said.
As part of the extension, 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. "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."
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. 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.
"We await the minister's statement with interest." 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."