 Paddym yn credu'r iawn i'w caith i weld cyweldiaeth i gael ysgolig. Y credu'r iawn ei bod yn oed ar yr ysgolig peth yn ymdyn nhw'n ddweud o eich nameu Alex Rowley ac yn honi'u cychydigau'r hyn, mwy oed yn chweithio y gwaith hynny i ddweud yr iawn. Felly, os ydych chi'n dwygfano, dydyn ni'n fwy o'r iawn i ddwy i ddweud, ydw i'n oed a'r adnodd Cynch iawn i chi'n gwaith i ddoron nhw i ddebyg mewn i chi arall y ddawr, yn ym 열찬 gan yn cael eu cyd-dengau, gweithio i wedi ei ddim yn ei pwysig i ddweud, mae'r dweud i'n amddian nhw i ddweud o wg brinidol iawn i gynnwys i ddim yn dweud. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In opening the debate, I acknowledge that… We are here to discuss the Hobbeath park in Two's and that was established by investment of £7 million from the Scottish Government and £2.5 million for Europe ac nid oeddwn yn gweithio dafnod a'r cyfnod o'r cyfnod â'r cyfnod, ac yn nid oedd y minister yn ei gael i'r cyfnod Cysiwr Park Calahan yn y cyfnod i'r cyfnod o'r ffasiliaid. Ieithi'n gwelliannau, rwy'n cael ei ddau a'r Gwladau'r Ffondiau Scotiau yn cael ei ddau, oedd yn cael ei ddau i'r ffondiau fy modd, sy'r cyfnod o'r cyfnod o'r rai fel y Hobbydd ond that is situated in my constituency at Crossgate and is accessible for people throughout Fife and much further afield. A rail hall at Hallbeath would help to take some of the pressure off the rail hall and car parts at the Enver Keaton station, which is a greatly improved choice at Hallbeath, as well as taking the pressure off that station. Hallbeath is strategically llwyddiad cyfle yn ei gael, i'r 90, y 90 i'r 92, i cael ei gael, ac yn gyffin i ysgolio'r ysgol crimes yn sprwm bwrdd yng nghymraegion bryddiol. Eich hyn o ymgyrchol cyfle y diwylliant y nytr 2009 efallai'r parking ride bus-site a parking ride rail hall, ac i gyd yn lleffyng yng Nghymbr Caedyn a Hall-Breath. The first step in achieving that objective would be to put the rail hall in. This could be linked to the five-circle route and give people access to the railway that is currently operated. This would also achieve the aim of making public transport more competitive with the car by providing visible and accessible park and choose by adding a rail hall and increasing the choice. Currently there are 23 million vehicles crossing the fourth road bridge every year. Approximately 3,500 vehicles per hour flown into Edinburgh and the Lodians. Peak times trains running southbound are eight per hour with an average of 400 passengers per train. So 3,200 passengers an hour meaning that over 10,000 passengers every morning coming out of five by train into Edinburgh and the Lodians. There are over 100 train services each day in each direction. I believe that it makes sense therefore to build a rail hall at Hallbeath. Indeed if you look at the traffic flows onto the bridge, 20 per cent of the traffic comes from Perth and can cross down the M90, passing Hallbeath, a park and choose and then onto the bridge. 25 per cent of the traffic comes from Kirkwde Glenrothes area along the A92, passing the park and choose and on to the bridge. 29 per cent of that traffic comes from Dunfermline next to the park and choose and on to the bridge. In the medium term it makes even more sense to make the investment that would see the construction of a direct dual track link between Invercadence and Hallbeath to the park and choose. Such an investment would reduce train journeys times between Edinburgh to Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness as well as to five services and would improve the access to the port of Rhesaith and in doing so would be an economic boost to the port itself. The Hallbeath park and choose would then I believe be at full capacity which is currently 100 cars park in places and we would have a good problem in having to look for more car parking places. Not just cars, the park and choose has buses running into it from communities across Fife so the investment that I am calling for would mean we would have a proper integrated public transport system. So step one is the rail hall and then step two is the new rail link direct between Invercadence and Hallbeath. Such a development would improve journey times and connections to tackle congestion and the lack of integration and connections in transport that impact on the potential for continued economic growth both in Fife and in the east of Scotland. It would also be reducing emissions, tackling the issues of climate change, air quality and health improvement and it would also be accessible and affordable given people a choice of public transport where availability means better quality transport services and value for money and an alternative to the car. I am totally committed to better transport links between Edinburgh and Glasgow because I recognise that they are the two cities that are the key drivers of the Scottish economy but crucial to that strategy is the city region agenda and the city region link and crucial to that in the east of Scotland is the investment into the Fife infrastructure including the railways. Creating a new rail link between Invercadence and Hallbeath is crucial to that connectivity and putting in place as a first step the rail hall and the station at the park and choose is what I am calling for today. I am grateful for the members that have stayed for the debate and I hope that we can progress this in the interest of the east of Scotland economy. Many thanks. We now turn to the open debate speeches of around four minutes and I call Annabelle Ewing to be followed by Cara Hilton. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to congratulate Alex Rowley on securing this debate this evening and as you know Presiding Officer I am afraid that I will not be able to stay for the entire debate or to hear the minister's response and I apologise to you at the outset and also to the minister and to the member but I will of course look forward to reading the debate in the official report tomorrow. It is clear that the Hallbeath park and ride scheme, funded principally by the Scottish Government as we have heard, has been a great success notwithstanding that it only opened in December or late November last year and indeed the offer of some 1,000 potentially free car parking spaces including 48 disabled bays and 12 electric car charging bays is hugely attractive to the residents of Cowdenbeath and Firmland and indeed the surrounding area and that is why this excellent facility is being enthusiastically made use of by five residents and it is worth mentioning too that there are also facilities at the hub building which is important for the convenience of travellers using the facility but looking to the future it is to be noted that the strategic transport projects review recommendations do include a railway line between Inverkeething and Hallbeath in the form of a new double track rail link and as far as I understand it, while such a development would not see a significant reduction in passenger journey times the greater benefit would be indeed in respect of freight transportation as far as Recythe Port is concerned and that would of course be very welcome and I note that Alex Rowley of course welcomed that potential as well and of course the strategic transport projects review covers a 20-year period to the year 2032 so it is clear that the timing of any such development will obviously depend on resources becoming available and in that regard I think it is worth pointing out that we in this Parliament do not at this time control all our resources but rather operate by way of a fixed budget metered out by Westminster so instead of controlling 100% of our tax base we control the miserly sum of 7% and added to that we have seen since 2010-11 a cut of over 25% to our capital budget and hence I would submit that any calls for major capital expenditure must be considered within that constrained budgetary context constraints I would add that those like myself who advocate a yes vote do not consider acceptable in what could be the 14th richest country in the world but of course this SNP Government has made considerable investment in our transport network notwithstanding the constraints currently applicable and a key example I would suggest of that as far as residents of Fife are concerned is the new fourth crossing and there will be I think importantly related bus lanes included already in the M9 and M90 links to facilitate shorter travel times between Halbyth and Edinburgh as far as the rail halt itself Halbyth is concerned I did in fact recently write to Cestran because I note that on the face of the STPR recommendations there's not provision for a rail halt and in reply from Cestran to me dated 9 April of this year they responded and I quote in answer to your specific question I can advise scheme does not feature in the Cestran and Fife council projects in our bid for the Scottish stations fund and I was a bit surprised by that because of course there is a 30 million Scottish stations fund and it's not clear to me why it has not yet been considered a priority to have commenced the preparatory work that would be needed to be carried out prior to making such an application to that fund so in conclusion Presiding Officer I hope that Cestran and Fife council changed their minds that they do prioritise this suggestion and ensure that the preparatory work can now be commenced with a view to making that application and finally Presiding Officer whilst they're at it I would like to suggest that they also have a look at the lack of reasonable disabled access to Cowdenbeath train station and see what can be done to tackle that long-standing problem thank you Presiding Officer Many thanks and I now call Cara Hilton to be followed by Jane Baxter Thank you Presiding Officer can I begin by congratulating Alec Rowley on securing this member's debate on Hallbeath park and ride while the park and ride itself is inside Alec's Cowdenbeath constituency Hallbeath village is in my constituency and it's a facility that's accessed by a large number of my constituents across Dunfermline and West Fife Hallbeath itself is a rapidly growing and changing area hundreds of new houses have been built right next to Hallbeath village and many more are in the pipeline in the nearby Shepherd offshore site and in the wider Drillock area Indeed I met with NHPC recently and they told me that there's more house completions in this area than in any other part of Scotland and while that's good news for the area, I represent the infrastructure that we presently have including the schools and the transport links have struggled to keep pace with change. One of the biggest issues that constituents are raising with me is difficulty parking at train stations with most car parks in the area full by 8 o'clock in the morning making it difficult to access train services into Edinburgh and beyond many commuters from across Fife and Perthshire park at Inverkeith and train station which is struggling to cope with demand for many of my constituents there is simply no option but to face the traffic and drive across the 4th bridge as Alec Rowley has already said 23 million vehicles across the 4th road bridge every year that's around 30,000 a day from Monday to Friday every week Transport Scotland have found that 29% of all journeys across the 4th bridge start at Dunfermline the majority commuting into the Edinburgh area for work and that's a flow that's only going to increase as Dunfermline's population continues to expand as people take advantage not only of Dunfermline being a fantastic place to live but also of the house prices being substantially lower than the Edinburgh area at Hallbeith park and ride there are a thousand car parking spaces it's already a popular transport hub catering not just for those who want to park and ride but also those who want to car share but it could be much more a place location just off the M90, A90, A92 corridor and off the 5th railway circle means it's ideally placed as Alec Rowley has said to be one of Scotland's key multimodal transport interchanges a train station and rail hall at Hallbeith would be a huge boost for my constituents in Dunfermline for Fife and for Scotland a real boost for our local economy, for local jobs and for local businesses and it would provide much needed infrastructure to support the ever grown eastern expansion in my area as a new expansion plan for the north of Dunfermline it would also make public transport more accessible and more of a viable alternative improving journey times into Edinburgh and beyond not just for Fife first but for all those travelling by train between Aberdeen, Inverness, Perth and Edinburgh and crucially it would also help in the drive to ensure that Scotland meets its ambitious climate change targets reducing air pollution levels and carbon emissions a link to that must be an investment in making Hallbeith Park and Chws more accessible to pedestrians and here I'd like to commend the excellent work of Living Streets Scotland who have been working closely with Hallbeith tenants and residents association in my constituency to help improve the environment for pedestrians of all ages and abilities one of the key long-term issues raised by local residents is access to the Hallbeith facility because currently unless you travel there by car or bus it's simply there's simply no safe way for local residents to get there from Hallbeith or from the Duloc area Both Transport Scotland and Fife council need to do more then to make the Hallbeith facility a genuine travel option for many of my constituents who either don't have a car or simply want to leave the car at home One of the six Transport Scotland objectives for the ScotRail franchise is to improve accessibility to services and stations and so it's absolutely vital that any plans for a new railway station would include accessible, well-lit walking routes so that the local community on its doorstep can walk or cycle there safely Clearly as Alec has already highlighted this all comes at a cost but I believe that this is an investment that the Scottish Government should be prepared to make an investment that will deliver real returns not just for Fife but for Scotland it's time to be more ambitious for our railways and for the public transport cycling and walking network across Scotland Alec's already asked the minister to commit to ensuring that the funding is in place to make this a reality and I would echo his request, I hope that today the minister will confirm that the funding and timescale for this vital and strategically important project will be put in place because it will make a huge difference not just to the Fife economy and to Fife commuters but to Scotland Many thanks, can I remind members that it's important to use full names as a matter of accessibility Jane Baxter who will be then followed by the minister Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer I too would like to add my congratulations to Alec Rowley for securing this member's debate on the Hallbeath Park and Ride The new fourth bridge is an exciting development and one which is essential to the continued growth of Fife and indeed of Scotland's economy and one for which I and other Labour Party members in Fife campaigned over a long period There has been a huge increase in West Fife's population in recent years and improved transport links over the fourth are needed to support the economies of Edinburgh, Fife and the central belt Since I became an MSP I have become a regular user of public transport between Fife and Edinburgh and have gained an insight into the trials and tribulations of the travel choices facing commuters from West Fife Like many other commuters, the decision to take the car, bus or train is influenced by the weather, my diary and things that have to do later in the day which might include work or family commitments, shopping or even socialising and timing is critical I have learned that the car parks at Inverkeething, Recythe, Dunfermintown and Queen Margaret stations are usually full on weekdays by 8 o'clock and it's often standing room only on the peak time trains between Edinburgh and Fife and if you do have to use your car to drive over the bridge the traffic on the approach can often tail back well beyond the junctions of the M90 and then of course you have to find somewhere to park at an affordable rate when you do get to Edinburgh Car sharing is of course an option but in my own experience, despite there now being three Libre MSPs travelling from West Fife to the Scottish Parliament every day different schedules can make car sharing difficult So although it has only been open a matter of months, the success of the new park and ride at Hall Beath and boosting bus travel is entirely understandable That said, I think there is more which could be done and I'm pleased that the motion recognises the opportunity to increase the potential of the scheme because we now have 1000 spaces at Hall Beath where the choice for car drivers is limited to bus or car share This in a facility which is surrounded by new housing development in the eastern expansion at Dunfermint, at Kelty just off an extension on the M90 and the village of Crossskates which is located right beside the park and ride and which has seen several new neighbourhoods added to the village in recent years and is still growing I believe there is much that could be done to improve the value of the site in promoting model shift away from car use and the most obvious improvement would be the installation of a rail halt and a railway station There is a clear demand for this and as I mentioned earlier many of the car parks at stations in West Fife are often full to overflowing which creates inevitable overspill into surrounding streets and inconvenience for local residents It has even been suggested that some of the well documented parking problems at Queen Margaret hospital are caused by overspill parking from the nearby Queen Margaret station and although I live in Dunfermint and it's only 1.6 miles from my house to the station I do tend to take the car to the station Walking is not always convenient and for many people it's not possible because of time constraints or mobility problems so access to transport interchanges is a key factor in considering whether the travelling public will use them and I should also like to thank at this point Living Streets who have made me aware of the work they did with residents of Hall Beath which has called for improvements to the local environment for pedestrians of all ages and abilities and the removal of barriers and creation of new paths in the local community which should bring the opportunity for local residents as well as those arriving by car to use a new facility This is something I'll be asking Fife Council to keep on its radar Until just a few weeks ago I was a Fife Councillor for Crossgates where the park and ride is cited and the community council regularly complained to me that firstly the facility should be called Crossgates Park and Ride and secondly that it should be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists from their village Having failed to get the name changed I'm keen to do what I can to widen access for local people Crossgates has a proud record of environmental activism which they want to see extended to their travel choices and similarly there is an access issue in Cowdenbeath whose train station is just over three miles from the new park and ride Anyone who made the journey to Cowdenbeath for the recent by-election will know that the station is not currently accessible for people with mobility problems and there is no adjacent taxi access or parking A new rail halt, whilst not in the town itself could provide additional accessible options for rail travellers in Fife whilst easing the pressure on stations like Cowdenbeath because at the heart of the park and ride and any public transport development should be a commitment to the needs of those who use the services and those who could be encouraged or assisted to do so and equally important is to improve the quality of life for people who live around railways stations and other transport hubs in the surrounding communities The facility has the potential to deliver model shift support low-carbon options increase local access and provide for increased mobility and this must surely be our aim Many thanks and can I now invite Keith Brown to respond to the debate Minister, do you have around seven minutes please? Thank you, Presiding Officer and can I also congratulate Alec Rowley on securing this debate which I think might be his first member's debate so congratulations to him He has raised an important issue which is important not just to the people of Fife but everyone who travels across the fourth which I do myself on a regular basis using that route as well and I think as a number of members have said the benefits of the whole beef park and ride scheme are undeniable I was as Alec Rowley mentioned very pleased to go on to both the start of the works and also the completion and it's a fantastic facility also delivered by a local company with Fife Council it does provide additional capacity as has been mentioned for Edinburgh commuters it provides an alternative interchange for journeys across Fife and it provides a service for travellers to Edinburgh airport as well it also provides a further facility for longer distance coach services and that project together with the existing and highly successful Embrokeething park and ride which was mentioned earlier complements the force replacement crossing the Queensferry crossing which is the largest civil engineering scheme in Scotland for a generation and when it opens in 2016 bus passengers using the park and ride facilities will enjoy substantial journey time reductions it will become a public transport the existing bridge will become a public transport corridor at that time and those reductions of up to 30 minutes between Hall Beef and West Edinburgh are due to our investment in new motorway bus lanes and the creation of a dedicated public transport corridor on the existing fourth bridge much of what we'd want to do in terms of transport comes down to an issue of resources and I would say that even within five councils area and this can be replicated across Scotland we have demands for the St Andrews rail link we have demands for rail development leaving and if you take that in addition to the £1.4 billion which has been spent on the fourth crossing the money which is spent on the park and ride which has been linked to the fourth crossing as well there is substantial investment and there are substantial demands for further investment which is true across the country but there has to be a level of prioritisation in relation to that we have had as has been mentioned by Annabelle Ewing's substantial cuts over a quarter of our capital budget cuts since 2010-11 despite that we have sought to try and maintain our investment in Scotland's infrastructure and some of the points mentioned by members about the pressure on train station parking facilities is also down to the fact that we're seeing record numbers of passenger journeys by a train up to £85 million and there has been substantial investment in our rail infrastructure with another £5 billion over the next control period I was interested in the point that Kara Hilton made about walking to the park and ride and I would say to her that there is scope just now Fife Council can bid for the Sustrans money which she made available for joint projects and I think it's welcome that she's mentioned this because very often it's talked about only in relation to cycling and it's important and as she said that it should be well lit and it should feel safe to the people that want to use it so there is scope to do that just now and I'm certainly interested in listening to any proposals which would have to come forward with the co-operation of Fife Council in relation to that but we're happy to look at that I would say also in relation to the importance of infrastructure we recognise that's important to sustain our economy again as Alec Rowley said provide access to opportunities and to bring our communities together and they've helped to deliver that in the midst of constructing those we've also managed to help the economy in terms of jobs, these capital projects tend to be labour intensive we remain committed to delivering the recommendations of the 2008 strategic transport project and that review includes the ever-caring haul beef line although it is over the timescale that was mentioned previously by Annabelle Ewing and the reason for that is to make sure we can do these things as and when resources allow and it has to be conditional on delivering the funds to deliver these projects but we do accept the fact that the ever-caring haul beef line will deliver benefits, we recognise that and some of the benefits have been mentioned we don't have the current plans just now to open a railway station at the Hallbeath Park and Ride site we do remain committed to improving access to the Scottish rail network and when I attended the opening with local council representatives the point was made to me about the station and the availability of the £30 million station investment fund and I suppose probably anticipated as Annabelle Ewing said a proposal would come forward it really has to be done first of all with Fife Council and the local regional transport partnership they will have to go through a process of looking at the first of all probably a stag process to look at whether this is a priority whether a rail halt is the best investment we can make we do that with all of our rail investments it's not enough simply to say that's what we should have it has to be evidenced by a proper study so for those who wish to have a station at Hallbeath I would suggest as a first step as we're saying around the country that they discuss the proposals with the regional transport partnership Cestran and Cestran in turn can assess the proposal in line with their local and regional transport priorities and if Cestran wish to progress the proposal they'll undertake as I've mentioned a transport appraisal in line with stag guidance and that work will first identify if there's a need for improved transport connectivity in the area and if so that all potential transport options not just rail are considered objectively that's not to say you wouldn't do rail but you have to say that's why that's the best investment to make so that's the route that I would recommend promoters to take I'll just say briefly our commitment to railways I think has reflected in the £5 billion package of funding and investment until 2019 that will support major projects and improvements to infrastructure the impact that was mentioned of the next ScotRail franchise next year will have very exciting franchises in operation and the specification for the ScotRail and Caledron and Sleeper franchises underlines the Government's commitment to providing enhanced rail services across Scotland we're keen to see improvements across the network to ensure that rail is competitive with travel by car and our desire for improvement relates to all aspects of the journey experience including improvements to the passenger environment, onboard service service frequency as well as the journey time reductions which have been mentioned already to and from major cities so I do believe in concluding that our transport record of investment is substantial and it stands for itself I'm very proud of the investment that we've made and will continue to make and just to underline the obvious point perhaps that an efficient transport network in Scotland creates employment, it stimulates growth which in turn creates conditions of advantage and opportunity, allows business access to a skilled workforce and enables businesses to deliver goods and services to market and on the central point about the development of rail services I reiterate my point that a discussion with Cestran and the council will be the first port of call Thank you