Publication - FOI/EIR release

Final Business Case for the Edinburgh Glasgow Rail Improvement project: EIR appeal

Published: 9 August 2019
Topic: Public sector, Transport
FOI reference: FOI/19/00541
Date received: 30 May 2019
Date responded: 9 August 2019

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

Information requested

Further to you application to the Scottish Information Commissioner in relation to your request reference number FOI/19/541 for:

a) available on the Transport Scotland website is a version of the Final Business Case for the Edinburgh Glasgow Rail Improvement project, (EGIP). The version available there is dated October 2013, and notes that some of the information in the document has been removed due to the commercial sensitivity of the information involved. Due to the time which has now elapsed since the FBC was produced, however, it is difficult to envisage that the relevant information will still be commercially sensitive. Accordingly, this request is for a full, unredacted, version of the Full Business case for EGIP.

b) In common with other projects of a Public Private Partnership like nature, I take it that Network Rail will have produced detailed financial projections for the income and expenditure of EGIP through its life, (including the effect on Network Rail’s RAB), and that these projections will have been made available to Transport Scotland at about the time the contract for EGIP was signed. The second element of this FOI request is for a full copy of these projections.

Response

I am writing to advise you that we have given further consideration to the information previously withheld under section 33(1)(b) (commercial interests) and have determined that this information can now be disclosed. I have therefore enclosed a revised copy of the EGIP final business case and our intention is to publish this document later this month on the Transport Scotland website.

In relation to part b) of your request, Transport Scotland holds a spreadsheet which contains some information that falls within the scope of your request. In line with FOI guidance I have extracted the relevant information from the spreadsheet which falls into the scope of your information request and enclose it with this letter. This information provides the forecasted breakdown as at 2013 of the £742 million financial modelling by year for EGIP.

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