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Road and rail plan to be unveiled Cut-price Forth crossing outlined
(about 7 hours later)
A 10-year investment plan for future road and rail projects is to be outlined by the Scottish Government. A new cut-price Forth crossing has been announced by the Scottish Government as it outlined its transport vision for the next 20 years.
The planned new Forth road crossing is expected to dominate, with questions over how the estimated £3.2bn to £4.2bn cost will be met. The cost of the toll-free bridge, previously estimated at £4bn, has been reduced to between £1.72bn and £2.34bn.
Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson will set out details for road upgrades, such as the A9 to the Highlands. Holyrood ministers want to publicly fund the crossing by bringing capital investment forward.
Rail plans may include Glasgow's crossrail project and improvements to the Inverness to Aberdeen link. Labour claimed the move showed the SNP's alternative to PPP/PFI funding had failed.
Environmental campaigners will also be looking to see how the government intends to deliver on climate promises. Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson also outlined plans to improve roads and train services across Scotland under the transport vision, which will take in 29 projects.
Last week the government published the Scottish Climate Change Bill, which commits it to a 77% reduction in climate change emissions by 2050. Under government plans, the existing Forth road bridge would remain open for public transport, cyclists and pedestrians alongside the new one, due for completion in 2016.
While other sectors of the economy have seen falls in emissions, the transport sector continues to see increases. There is continuing uncertainty in the financial markets Stewart StevensonScottish transport minister class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/12/bridging_the_gap.html">Read Brian Taylor's blog class="" href="/1/hi/scotland/7775123.stm">MSPs issue private funding call
The new crossing will be an acid test for the Scottish Futures Trust, which was supposed to be the SNP's big idea for major projects Andy Kerr MSPLabour Party Holyrood ministers have approached the Treasury about increasing the capital budget to fund the new crossing while it was being paid for, with a reduction in later years.
Other projects could include improvements to the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen, high speed rail between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a cross-Forth ferry. However, the Scottish Government has yet to receive an answer.
The findings of a transport review which began in 2006 will be announced in a statement to parliament. Mr Stevenson told parliament the new Forth bridge would dominate the investment programme until it opened, while warning parliament that the financial climate had "materially changed".
It will not make recommendations for transport projects which the government is already committed to, such as the Borders rail link, the M74 extension and the Aberdeen western by-pass. This, he said, included an estimated £1bn being taken from the Scottish budget between 2010 and 2012 in the wake of the chancellor's pre-Budget report.
Ahead of the statement, Labour called on ministers to explain how they planned to pay for the new Forth road bridge. "There are external factors outwith this government's control which will have an impact on how and when we can deliver on the infrastructure investment this country needs," said Mr Stevenson.
Andy Kerr MSP said: "The new crossing will be an acid test for the Scottish Futures Trust, which was supposed to be the SNP's big idea for major projects. Instead, it has been an embarrassing failure. "There is continuing uncertainty in the financial markets. The cost of borrowing and the availability of funds are fluctuating daily."
"The SNP's inability to bring forward a workable model for funding public sector construction projects is Alex Salmond's personal contribution to the unemployment statistics." Labour transport spokesman Des McNulty said the Scottish Government had been humiliated by a decision not to use its Scottish Futures Trust alternative to tie-ups with the private sector.
Main artery "Funding Scotland's biggest engineering project in a generation by conventional procurement, at a cost of up to £2.3bn, will have a massive impact on the Scottish Government's ability to deliver other projects," he said.
Green MSP Robin Harper said the Scottish Government should be considering alternatives to a new road bridge. Under the overall plans, Glasgow to Edinburgh rail journeys would increase to 13 services an hour by 2016, with the journey time cut to about 35 minutes.
"What about spending it on the rail network so that we can get more people across the bridge," he said. The number of trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Inverness would also be increased and journey times would be cut by half an hour, while the main road to the Highlands, the A9, is to be dualled between Inverness and Perth.
"What about spending it on a ferry from Kirkcaldy or Burntisland - because this is really about people in cars." The A96 Inverness to Aberdeen road will also be upgraded to dual carriageway between the A9 and Nairn under the government's plan.
Alan Russell from the Fife Chamber of Commerce said the new crossing was vital and was "one of the main arteries of the Scottish economy".