Current Petitions

The final petition is PE556, from Mr Tom Thorburn, which calls on the Parliament to take the necessary steps to encourage the relevant agencies to work together to extend rail commuter services on the east coast main line and to seek a review of opportunities to restore stations across Scotland in order to reduce traffic congestion in major towns and cities. We have received responses from the Executive, the Strategic Rail Authority, Great North Eastern Railway, Scottish Borders Council and the south-east Scotland transport partnership. We also have an additional letter from the petitioner, and Euan Robson is here.

Would you rather wait until you hear what the suggested action is?

It is clear from the responses that the introduction of a new station at Reston would not be straightforward. The possible siting of a new freight loop at Reston by the Strategic Rail Authority does not appear to provide a suitable opportunity to build a new station, as the petitioners had hoped. In addition, there are real concerns that any new commuter services and stations on the east coast main line could have an adverse impact on existing passenger services. Several of the bodies that were consulted make the point that specific proposals such as those in the petition should be considered in the context of a wider review of rail provision.The Executive makes it clear that it is for local authorities or the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority to identify opportunities for the re-opening of local railway stations and to proceed with any projects. Scottish Borders Council's willingness to move towards a feasibility study on a new station at Reston in partnership with other key stakeholders before the next ScotRail franchise seems to offer the most appropriate route for the petitioner.It is suggested that we write to Scottish Borders Council to welcome its suggestion of conducting a feasibility study into the Reston proposal in advance of the next ScotRail franchise. We should urge the council to proceed with the study. We should also recommend to the petitioners that they develop contacts with Scottish Borders Council with a view to participating in the exercise. We should then take no further action on the petition.

As the convener of the cross-party group on strategic rail services for Scotland, I inform members that we are having Mr Richard Bowker, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, to our February meeting. Members might wish to make a note of that meeting and take the opportunity to come along and raise the matter if they wish. The Labour party's business manager has raised a further important issue, which comes up frequently and is relevant throughout Scotland: that of one authority passing the buck on to another. We must recognise that Scotland must be organised in a way that enables one lead authority to bring together all the other agencies that are stakeholders in any project that comes up. That way, the authority would be given the powers to drive the project forward. I return to my idea of the mutual option in the context of care homes, and to the co-operative ideology whereby people, together with mutual stakeholders, can fund a proposal. In the case of Reston, it would not simply be down to Network Rail, Scottish Borders Council, GNER or Virgin Trains to fund the station; every single stakeholder who uses that railway line would automatically become a stakeholder for that particular project. In my opinion, the matter should be in the hands of SESTRANS or of Scottish Borders Council. One of those bodies should become the project leader and get all the stakeholders signed up. The new station is a good idea, so let us find a solution. We do not know what the solution is yet—perhaps it is a loop—but the people want a station there and we want to encourage the use of railways, so let us try to put a station at Reston.

That almost sounds like the subject of a new petition. It has been suggested that, when we write to Scottish Borders Council, welcoming its suggestion to conduct a feasibility study, we make it clear that we think that that should be done in advance of the next ScotRail franchise renewal, and that we urge the council to take the matter forward. We could perhaps also ask the council to keep us informed of the progress made towards that feasibility study, which would at least keep this committee involved. We should remember to ask the council to ensure that the study involves all the key stakeholders, as Helen Eadie suggested. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.