Edinburgh, Glasgow and Highlands journey time enhancements projects: FOI release

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.


FOI reference: FOI/17/01772
Date received: 19 July 2017
Date responded: 17 August 2017

Information requested

  • Any information relating to the average costs of routine journeys, such as Edinburgh-Glasgow, Inverness-Glasgow etc. on a) the railways and b) the buses, in comparison with the prices of a) each of these modes of transport in other European nations and b) the costs of these journeys if made by car in Scotland.

  • Any information relating to the journey times between cities in Scotland at this current point, in comparison with the past and with the projected improvement in journey times scheduled with improvements to public transport infrastructure on-going or in the future, such as EGIP.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the specific information you have requested in respect of average costs of routine journeys, such as Edinburgh-Glasgow, Inverness-Glasgow etc. on the railways in comparison with the prices of;

(a) each of these modes of transport in other European nations and (b) the costs of these journeys if made by car in Scotland.

However as the information requested relates to the franchise operator, Abellio ScotRail, they may be able to help you. Abellio ScotRail can be contacted at;

Atrium Court 50 Waterloo St Glasgow G2 6HQ United Kingdom

The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

With regard to the same information relating to buses, the bus industry is not regulated, and the Scottish Government, through Transport Scotland, does not have powers to mandate fares or timetables. As such, you may wish to consider contacting the individual bus operators for this information.

With regard to the second part of your request, the tables below show the quickest inter-city journey times taken from the current May 2017 timetable (Monday – Saturday).

Origin Destination Fastest Origin Destination Fastest
Glasgow Edinburgh 49min Dundee Glasgow 1hour 20min
Glasgow Stirling 26min Dundee Edinburgh 1hour 9min
Glasgow Perth 55min Dundee Stirling 48min
Glasgow Dundee 1hour 16min Dundee Perth 20min
Glasgow Aberdeen 2hour 32min Dundee Aberdeen 1hour 10min
Glasgow Inverness 3hours 13min Dundee Inverness 2hour 30min
Origin Destination Fastest Origin Destination Fastest
Edinburgh Glasgow 48min Aberdeen Glasgow 2hour 33min
Edinburgh Stirling 41min Aberdeen Edinburgh 2hour 22min
Edinburgh Perth 1hour 16min Aberdeen Stirling 2hour 1min
Edinburgh Dundee 1hour 5min Aberdeen Perth 1hour 33min
Edinburgh Aberdeen 2hour 18min Aberdeen Dundee 1hour 8min
Edinburgh Inverness 3hour 20min Aberdeen Inverness 2hour 9min
Origin Destination Fastest Origin Destination Fastest
Stirling Glasgow 30min Inverness Glasgow 3hours 15min
Stirling Edinburgh 45min Inverness Edinburgh 3hours 18min
Stirling Perth 29min Inverness Stirling 2hours 34min
Stirling Dundee 51min Inverness Perth 1hour 59min
Stirling Aberdeen 2hour 4min Inverness Dundee 2hour 34min
Stirling Inverness 2hour 41min Inverness Aberdeen 2hour 9min
Origin Destination Fastest
Perth Glasgow 59min
Perth Edinburgh 1hour 18min
Perth Stirling 27min
Perth Dundee 21min
Perth Aberdeen 1hour 34min
Perth Inverness 2hour 2min

Future journey time enhancements will be delivered by the following projects;

  • Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) plans to deliver a 42 minute fastest journey time between Edinburgh and Glasgow by December 2018.

  • Highland Main Line "phase 2" plans to deliver journey time reductions of around 10 minutes by March 2019.

Work is on-going to develop timetables associated with each project, with the detail to be made publically available 12 weeks before any timetable change date as per the standard industry process.

Longer-term aspirations are to further reduce Highland Main Line journey times to a fastest of 2 hours 45 minutes between Inverness and the Central Belt and an average 3 hours by 2025, Aberdeen Central Belt to deliver a 20 minute journey time saving by 2030, and Aberdeen to Inverness to deliver a 20 minute journey time saving and 2 hour journey time by 2030.

With regard to when the past is, to allow comparison I would need more specific information from you to be able to respond.

Reasons for not providing information

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because it does not hold details of the average costs of routine journeys, such as Edinburgh-Glasgow, Inverness-Glasgow etc. on a) the railways and b) the buses, in comparison with the prices of a) each of these modes of transport in other European nations and b) the costs of these journeys if made by car in Scotland. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference

Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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