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Scottish budget

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Jan Mayen

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Was there anything in the Scottish budget for the railways? I'm sure I heard something about roads, but not railways.

Edit: Here is something from the BBC website
Green banner that says transport


  • Removal of peak season fares for residents of Orkney and Shetland on Northern Isles ferries
  • Investment in railways, the ferry fleet and nearly £200m for the dualling of the A9 and key sections of A96
  • A new railway station at the Winchburgh new town in West Lothian
  • An air departure tax on all eligible passengers, with the Highlands and Islands to be exempted. A private jet tax is to be levied through this new tax
And the link:
www.bbc.co.uk

Scottish Budget 2026-27: Key points at a glance

A summary of the main points from the Scottish government's draft budget for the coming financial year.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

NB: I don't think that's quite how it's meant to be done on this forum, but I don't think I can do any better with this smartphone. Sorry!
 
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allancmcd

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Just a brief line on the Scottish Government website:

"In the coming year, we will make record investment in public transport to deliver new ferries, upgrade ports and harbours and replace ScotRail’s Intercity fleet, as well as maintaining existing bus, ferry and rail services. We will invest £4 million in 2026-27 to support Local Authorities to build business cases for local bus improvements through franchising, using powers created in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. We will continue to support Regional Transport Partnerships and we are investing in Scottish Canals to ensure they remain a valuable resource for biodiversity, active living and tourism."
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== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

allancmcd said:
Just a brief line on the Scottish Government website:
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In fact it's a fairly substantial cut in capital projects and, I think, most of the funding going to scrapping of peak fares:

1768335919926.png
 
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Jan Mayen

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Well, the good news is the Inter7City Fleet is being replaced.

The bad news is, probably with Pacers...
 
RiverDon

RiverDon

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GRALISTAIR said:
I thought Scotland was enlightened regarding railways. So I find this disappointing.
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I think the problem is the ScotGov has no money. The railway isn't the only public service here that's suffering!

Jan Mayen said:
Well, the good news is the Inter7City Fleet is being replaced.

The bad news is, probably with Pacers...
Click to expand...
What is/are 'Pacers'?
 
D1511

D1511

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RiverDon said:
What is/are 'Pacers'?
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Originally known as "Opal Mints", Pacers were plain white coloured chewy  spearmint flavoured sweets, launched as a sister product to Opal Fruits (now known as Starburst ). The product was subsequently relaunched as Pacers around 1976, and later, three green peppermint stripes were added to the sweet. They were discontinued in 1985. :D

It's a terrible bus-based multiple unit (Classes 140-144) and the suggestion wasn't serious as they're all withdrawn..
 
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Jan Mayen

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D1511 said:
Originally known as "Opal Mints", Pacers were plain white coloured chewy  spearmint flavoured sweets, launched as a sister product to Opal Fruits (now known as Starburst ). The product was subsequently relaunched as Pacers around 1976, and later, three green peppermint stripes were added to the sweet. They were discontinued in 1985. :D

It's a terrible bus-based multiple unit (Classes 140-144) and the suggestion wasn't serious as they're all withdrawn..
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Indeed, I wasn't being serious.
 
RiverDon

RiverDon

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sannox said:
There is money- it's a government choice on how to allocate it.
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Police Scotland didn't get funding for 850 officers and 348 civis, much needed. Fire and Prison services also didn't get the settlement they need -

www.bbc.co.uk

Emergency services lose out on extra funding in Scottish budget

The police, fire service and prison service had all asked for extra funding to strengthen their numbers and resources.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Emergency services lose out on extra funding in Scottish Budget​

Police Scotland's commanding officer has failed to persuade the Scottish government to provide funding for an extra 850 officers and 348 civilian staff.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell had asked for an additional £33.7m to strengthen frontline policing and modernise the workforce in the face of increasing online harm, gangland violence and public protests.
But the new funding allocation of a record £1,729m for policing falls short of what she said the force needed to "stand still."
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and Scottish Prison Service (SPS) also expressed disappointment after receiving less than they had asked for.
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The police is on its knees already. It's at breaking point. No wonder funding the railway is slowing down.
 
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380101

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GRALISTAIR said:
I thought Scotland was enlightened regarding railways. So I find this disappointing.
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The funding options for the new electric fleet is still being finalised. Likely to be funded by the issuing of Scottish bonds. Whilst the budget looks to be less than last year for rail projects, the fleet replacement plans are still ongoing. Replacement of the HSTs should be announced shortly once some operational details are ironed out.
 
rower40

rower40

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380101 said:
The funding options for the new electric fleet is still being finalised. Likely to be funded by the issuing of Scottish bonds. Whilst the budget looks to be less than last year for rail projects, the fleet replacement plans are still ongoing. Replacement of the HSTs should be announced shortly once some operational details are ironed out.
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There's only one Scottish Bond. And he died in 2020.
 
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waverley47

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This year will see completion of Balgray station, and commencement of work on Winchburgh station.

The contract to replace the HSTs with the 222s will be finalised, and a preferred bidder for the BEMUs named, both of which adds up to a big chunk of change.

Wiring will begin in earnest in Fife and the Borders.

If you're looking for things that may be announced this year or next, then unfortunately the state of public finances makes that unlikely, and given the last few years, there's now a much larger portion of the infrastructure fund spend on climate mitigation works every year, which is good in the long run, but very expensive in the short term.

On other things to look out for, it's unlikely there will be an application for remodelling and rebuilding Perth station, as I am pretty sure that's pushed back to next year. There may be an application for one or two new stations, extending wiring here and there, but infrastructure wise, we're reaching the end of the list of projects that were paid for when interest rates were so low that borrowing money was basically free.

Any project this year would usually have been started around about 2020, when everyone was focusing on COVID. Therefore, the projects in the next couple of years would have been affected during their infancy by sky high inflation after COVID, a lack of brains working on enhancements during the pandemic, institutional pessimism as passenger numbers cratered, and the generally awful state of public finances. It will be a couple of lean years for the railways.
 
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Nicholas Lewis

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There was also an Infrastructure Delivery Plan issued yesterday which confirms Fife and Borders electrification has 519m allocated to it with delivery to be complete by 2029. There is also a 1 Billion allocated to rolling stock renewal and associated projects.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/infrastructure-delivery-pipeline-2026/pages/3/

The Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline sets out the infrastructure projects and programmes the Scottish Government will fund over the next four financial years.
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Detail is limited but positive they are still committed to their vision on electrification.
 
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kkong

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BeijingDave said:
Probably an updated set of vinyls now that Dunfermline has been given city status
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Unlikely, because Dunfermline isn't - and as far as I'm aware isn't planned to be - one of the seven cities served by the HSTs. ;)
 
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