Delighted that daft idea for trains to stop at Edinburgh ditched

I am really pleased that the SNP Government has ditched the daft plan to stop trains at Edinburgh which would have meant no through trains to England from Dundee. I raised my concerns about these daft ideas when they were published and I responded to the consultation highlighting that this was a daft idea.

I have been told that these were not Scottish Government proposals and nothing to do with the SNP, it is therefore passing strange that an SNP Government Minister came to Dundee to inform us that he had ditched these proposals. I think this makes clear that these were Scottish Government proposals.

There are still a number of issues which need to clarified about the rest of the proposals which my colleague Richard Baker MSP has described as ludicrous. We need reassurance on the future of sleeper services which are crucial for business and tourist links. We need to know what is planned for journey times. We need to know about plans to make more passengers stand.

In Dundee, the Labour Party will be arguing for better rail services for our city. We want a station fit for purpose in the twenty-first century. We should be looking for more services along the Tay Estuary. We should be looking to cut journey times to London, and to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

I am pleased that trains will travel beyond Edinburgh going to and from England and it was important that this daft idea was ditched.