FIFE region has been given the go-ahead to spend #8.8m to improve rail
links with Edinburgh, Scottish Transport Minister Lord James
Douglas-Hamilton announced yesterday after meeting council
representatives.
Support for the rail plan is part of the Government's Setting Forth
package of transport improvements for the Firth of Forth. The most
controversial -- a second road bridge -- has yet to be decided.
Lord James said: ''The Government's decision to provide the financial
resources necessary to carry forward Fife region's plans for rail
improvements represents firm evidence of our commitment to improve
transport infrastructure in the Firth of Forth area.
''The Fife rail link is a vital public transport artery between South
Fife and Edinburgh. By allowing for extra capacity on services through
the provision of four new train sets and three new stations, this plan
will bring tangible benefits to rail users, extend the accessibility of
train services in Fife, and assist in the relief of road congestion in
the Forth bridgehead area and Edinburgh.''
Funding of up to #8.8m for the rail proposals will be made available
to Fife Regional Council over four years from 1995-96 to 1998-99. The
resources will be in the form of further capital allocations.
Three new rail stations are to be constructed at Dalgety Bay (with
private sector support, due to open by 1996), Dysart (opening 1998) and
at Dunfermline East (1999). Car parking will be extended at Dunfermline
railway station.
Fife Region's leader, Councillor John MacDougall, said they had spent
#50m in the last five years on public transport links, including
park-and-ride facilities.
''However, any solution in the longer term to the problem of the Forth
Road Bridge fast reaching its total capacity must, in our view, include
a new road crossing of the estuary,'' he said.
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