Publication - FOI/EIR release

Transport studies and appraisals concerning specific rail lines since 2003: EIR release

Published: 26 August 2021
Part of: Public sector, Transport
FOI reference: FOI/202100226181
Date received: 27 July 2021
Date responded: 18 August 2021

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

Information requested

Details of any transport studies/STAG appraisals that Transport Scotland either carried out, or are aware of, that have been done since 2003 that directly affect the rail lines between:

Westerton to Milngavie
Dumbarton Central to Helensburgh Central
Dumbarton Central to Balloch
Ardrossan South Beach to Largs
Dumbreck to Paisley Canal

For each study, please provide a link to or copy of the study report where possible.

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

In response to your request I have outlined below the appraisal work undertaken by Transport Scotland that includes the routes / corridors cover in your request. In addition I have also noted studies commissioned by others that Transport Scotland is aware of related to this request.

The Scottish Strategic Rail Study, (attached as Annex A) published in 2003 by the Scottish Executive, was undertaken with the purpose of identifying the costs and benefits of potential improvements to passenger rail services in Central and North East Scotland and to outline the strategic priorities for the railways in these parts of the country.

The first Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR1), completed in 2008, covered all parts of the rail network in Scotland. Given the corridor, strategic node and urban network approach used for STPR1 the most relevant details related to the locations noted in the question are contained within the Glasgow urban network section of the review, with cross reference to Corridor 7 - Glasgow to Oban / Fort William and Western Isles; Corridor 15 - Glasgow to Stranraer and South West and Corridor 17 - Glasgow to Inverclyde and Islands. Full details of the appraisal are available here: Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Work on the second Strategic Transport Projects Review is currently on-going and is due to report later this year. This review has taken a regional approach to the appraisal process with the most relevant reports that cover the routes noted in the question identified below:

National Case for Change – Main Report: Initial appraisal: Case for Change - National - STPR2 (transport.gov.scot)
Glasgow City Region: Initial appraisal: Case for Change - Glasgow City Region - STPR2 (transport.gov.scot)
Ayrshire and Arran Region: Initial appraisal: Case for Change - Ayrshire and Arran - STPR2 (transport.gov.scot)

All rail based options (approximately 200) that have emerged from the sifting exercise undertaken as part of the development of the Initial Appraisal: Case for Change element of the review are now subject to more detailed appraisal. The draft recommendations from the review together with the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Statutory Impact Assessments will be published later this year.

The Scottish Government is aware of appraisal work relevant to the named corridors, that has been undertaken or ongoing by other parties:

Scottish Planning Assessment (which informed the Route Utilisation Study), August 2006, Network Rail (attached as Annex B)
Route Utilisation Study, March 2007, Network Rail (attached Annex C)
Scotland Route Study, 2016, Network Rail Scotland Route Study (networkrail.co.uk)
Westerton-Milngavie - A81 Milngavie – Bearsden Corridor Study, STAG Final Report, March 2015, East Dunbartonshire Council; A81 Milngavie – Bearsden Corridor Study 2015 | East Dunbartonshire Council.
A81 Transport Options Appraisal Study, February 2017, East Dunbartonshire Council A81 TRANSPORT OPTIONS APPRAISAL STUDY (www.gov.scot).
Helensburgh Central – Fastline Faslane STAG Study, Hitrans (with funding from Scottish Government – Local Rail Development Fund) [Work is underway currently and is not complete].

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