Transport Scotland - Dualling of the Glasgow South Western Railway Line between Glasgow and Carlisle query: EIR release

Information requested

1 - Would you happen to know what the timeframe is for electrifying the Glasgow South Western line South of Barrhead? Will it be done in phases or all at once?

2 - Also, do you have any intention of doubling the single track sections of the Glasgow South Western line? I don’t understand why it is still single between Kilmarnock and Lugton.

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.

Point 1 of your request

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

This is a notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Whilst electrification remains an option for the entire line from Barrhead to Carlisle via Kilmarnock, no timescale has been established for the decarbonisation of this route. The Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising the network in Scotland by 2045 and will set out how it will be achieved before the end of this Parliamentary term.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Despite not holding this information, we have a statutory obligation to apply this 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. This is because we are not able to provide information, which we do not hold.

Point 2 of your request

There are currently no active projects to dual the Glasgow South Western Railway Line between Glasgow and Carlisle.

About FOI

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